Brass Matchbox

[Bob Rearley]

Gentlemen,

Gathering all the info I can find on patchbox construction and engraving.
I have read all the tutorials I can find and the best I can tell most engrave after the brass is inlet and screwed down to the stock.  Is there anyone who does the engraving before mounting the brass to the stock?  i don't want to do anything that I will later regret.  Thanks in advance.
Bob

[Grischi]

Engraving the patchbox before installing it is a bit risky. If you have to file or sand the transition between wood and metal, the engraving may be damaged or removed.

Christian

[JLayne]

Check out some of the later videos in the “Building a Lancaster Rifle” thread by Bill Raby on this forum. He inlets his brass patch box, then removes the pieces and temporarily attaches them to scrap wood that can be held in a vice so that he can engrave them while off the rifle. He uses some sort of green shellac that he melts to attach the pieces to the wood block.

[Mike Brooks]

I inlet the box , then remove it and bondo the pieces to blocks of wood. When I'm done engraving I use a little heat and the bondo releases.

[J. Talbert]

If you use Mike’s method, it’s important to get the whole piece solidly mounted.
You don’t want any part of the metal loose where it can bounce as you are trying to engrave it.
That would definitely hinder the process.

Jeff

[Gaeckle]

I inlet the box , then remove it and bondo the pieces to blocks of wood. When I'm done engraving I use a little heat and the bondo releases.

Exactly what I do

[smart dog]

Hi,
I would never try to engrave the box while on the gun unless it is really simple engraving.  There is no substitute for being able to spin the brass in a vise while engraving.

dave

[TommyG]

What Mike, Jeff and Dave said.  The other thing I do when engraving the lid, is to attach a short piece of fuel line tubing to the latch post that extends down thru a hole on my wood engraving block.  This prevents a %$#@ show when removing the lid from the Bondo.  Same goes for any screw holes, I use a small piece of tape to cover to keep the Bondo from getting places I don't want it.

[Bob Rearley]

This engraving is not very sophisticated and is pretty shallow.  Priceless comments that will help in flattening the learning curve.  Thanks to all.
Bob