Jaeger rifle stock options?

[Nailcreek]

Really enjoying this thread ... great work!

[Jakob]

Lock work is still in progress. (still filing away), but I took a small detour to test something that I think will make a big difference to the final look.
The original has iron mounting with lots of gold inlay. I have brass mounts, but especially as I intent to keep it fairly bright, I was concerned about it looking too yellow...and I wanted to get closer to the original if possible.
 I don't have the skills to do inlay and I toyed with the idea of using silver leaf or maybe even keum-bo, but neither will really stand up to be handled and aren't easy to do that precise either. I then started looking at various plating solutions. Most diy solutions were too pricey/complex for a 1-off experiment, but then I found this:
https://goldensolution.co.uk/collections/silver-plating-solution-cyanide-free/products/silver-plating-solution-100ml

Confirmed with the owner that I could use nail varnish for masking and ordered solution + wand (I have bench power supply already).
Experimented on a piece of scrap first to get the voltage right (3.0v in my case, 3.2v was turning it grey) and then masked up the entrypipe, as this would be the easiest to clean up, should it all go wrong.


But..it didn't!


The pictures don't really do it justice, but I'm very happy with this. Need to test durability, etc, but after masking it up, it's literally 5 minutes work, dunk it in acetone and wipe off the mask and done.
The only thing I want to differently next time is to find a less viscous and slower drying nail varnish. I'll probably pop into one of the nearby nail salons and ask...if nothing else, it'll be worth it for the reaction.

Edit:
I should just be able to use basic hobby style enamel paint. It'll have a much better consistency and drying time for this and should be easily removable with acetone too.

[Mike Brooks]

Did you do the sculpting on this pipe?

[Jakob]

Hah, I wish. No, it's a casting from Ron Scott.

[Jakob]

So, with a rather drastic job change and relocation, everything ground to halt a week or so ago and I wont pick it up again until I've found a new place and sorted out some sort of work space.  Worst case, I'll make a small bench for the kitchen or something.
Before that, I did make good progress on the lock.

This is what I started with:


And this is where I am now:

Still some clean-up work to do, but it's close.

If nothing, the move will give me a break from filing and boy, did I need that.

[Nailcreek]

Beautiful work 

[Craig Wilcox]

I've usually found good results with gilding - using 24K gold leaf.  You can use the sizing to determine where the gold leaf will stick, and it is reasonably permanent.  Supplies are available at most jewelry supply stores.  You WILL need a squirrel-hair brush to pick up and place little "scraps" of the gold leaf.
Sizing is the adhesive that the ultra-thin gold adheres to.

[Nailcreek]

Any updates to share?

[Jakob]

I'm *almost* ready to build a new work bench. Hopefully get started on it this weekend.  As I'm now in a smaller apartment, this will take some careful planning and I've also lost access to workshops with handy tools (table saws, planer, jointer, etc), so it'll all have to be done with a handsaw and a crappy old plane.



I'll just be using 8x2 construction lumber and probably take me a couple of weeks.

Still debating whether to use normal bench dogs on top, T-tracks or micro-jig tracks.

[Jakob]

Since a couple of people have recently asked, yes this is still ongoing and slowly creeping towards the finish line.
Working on finalizing the area around wrist/lock/side panels and comb.
Forestock needs a final pass as well, but is pretty close.
Plenty of mistakes were made a long the way, but I think I managed to work my way around most of them.
Still plenty of opportunities to screw this up, but this weekend was a bit of a breakthrough, as I could start to see the final shape of the gun.

Next gun will be a lot simpler!

[Jakob]

Slowly getting there. Mostly need to figure out what design to use on the lock/side panels and around the nose of the comb and I can finalize the last bit around the wrist/lock area.

[Daryl]

Butt plate inletting looks great, top and sides, Jakob.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Jakob:  do you still need drills and taps for Chambers' White lightning liners?  I have a set of all three, ie:  1/4 x 32, 5/16 x 32 and 3/8 x 32 surplus that I'd like to move.  Your rifle is coming along nicely, I suspect nicer than you first imagined.

[Jakob]

No, I got drill/taps, thank you!.
And yes, there's been several times where I thought I'd completely messed it up, but I'm now very happy with how it looks and handles.
Still plenty of opportunities to mess it up, but at least the base is there.

[Jakob]

I've more or less settled on this type of design and as this is one of the best pictures I got of that style, I'll use that as reference.

I use Adobe Illustrator to trace it.

I scale it to fit my tang and width of the stock.


And then print it out for a quick mock-up:


I'll tweak this to fit better, but I'm happy with that concept and I think I'll be able to pull that off. I will do a practice run or 2 on some scrap walnut.

[wogden]

Jakob,

Thanks for the tip about Adobe Illustrator.  Jaeger carving is difficult.  Enjoying this thread.

Warren

[Pukka Bundook]

Most Germanic carving be it mannerist or later, is not usually exact, and looks better if not Too perfect.
I find I can do less than perfect!

Best,
R.

[Jakob]

Yes, I'm aware that they're rarely symmetrical and given that the side panels are different shapes, the carvings obviously wont be.
Also, as much as I try, I definitely wont be perfect.

[alacran]

I could draw that 100 times before I could learn to use Adobe Illustrator LOL.

[Jakob]

I've used Illustrator for....30 years? Might as well take advantage of that knowledge!

[alacran]

If I had the knowledge, I would use it too!

[Jakob]

The problem is that I still find it hard to 'draw' on the computer, even with a tablet. I can tweak, modify, etc, but original lines is hard for me. (It's hard enough on paper).
So, I took a picture of the stock, draw the outline in Illustrator (and the still rough cheekrest) and then print out a handful of copies to sketch on.



This is probably the basic layout I will go with. (Stuff on the wrist/comb is TBD).
I'm on medevac duty tomorrow, which most likely means sitting in a trailer all day, so I'll bring a stack of copies with me and will develop this further.

[Pukka Bundook]

Jacob,
I might be very wrong, but I'd push the nose of the comb back a bit.
To me it looks a bit choked at present.

I am not sure how many people there are in the world, but my opinion is worth exactly One of them!

You are doing a grand job on your design and layout!
Best,
R.

[Ron Scott]

Hi Jakob,

Here is a photo of a nice Suhl style Jaeger that I find extremely good architecture and has some great transitions from the curved edge of the cheek area into the carving . Your proposed tang carving is symmetrical while your sketch of the carving around the check rest looks somewhat Rococo. I'd like to encourage you to enlarge the carving around the check area, it is a bit wispy compared with the boldness of the tang carving.

[Jakob]

Hi Ron,

Yes, this is just 'general shapes, but point taken.  I am well aware of that Suhl rifle, but I also know that I can't carry out that level of carving to a satisfactory quality and will have to simplify it. I'll post some more when I get closer and would love your feedback again.

Edit:
The tang carving came from this one:

and it was more along that level of complexity I had in mind.