Author Topic: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner - Comparison to the Colonial box lid  (Read 3819 times)

Offline davec2

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OK....having enjoyed assembling and decorating one of Jim's outstanding Colonial rifles back in late 2019, (https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=57140.0), I ordered a Woodsrunner last October.  It showed up a couple of weeks ago, and since I am up to my neck in work and other projects that I have left hanging, I took it out of the box and put it aside.  However, while looking at it on my work bench the other day, I noticed that Jim had included a small piece of 1/16" thick brass roughly cut into a rectangle.  In the moment I wasn't sure what that was for.....until I looked at the sliding wood patch box....and realized that it was included in case you wanted to go to the trouble of putting a brass shoe on the end of the patch box.  I really didn't intend to but thought, "How would I do that.....if I wanted to?"  Well, an hour later I noticed that I had almost finished the task.  I don't have time to finish the rifle now (although I am engraving the lock for another Woodsrunner for a fellow ALR member  :o) but I thought some of you might be interested in putting a brass end plate on a wood patch box lid.

The piece of brass plate Jim sent with the kit is flat.  The perfectly fitted wood patch box lid has a very smoothly curved end that blends nicely into the butt plate.  So to use the 1/16" material, and keep the same nice contour, it would need to be curved to match the wood.  And the wood would need to be shortened by a little less than the 1/16" thickness of the brass to leave enough material to blend.

So, the first thing I did was to use a round piece of steel bar stock, about 3/4 inch in diameter, and a lead block to hammer a matching curve in the brass plate.  It took a bit of trial and error to get it to match the CNC'd curve at the end of the patch box lid, but in short order the brass fit the contour nicely.  Once it did, I roughly cut away a lot of the excess brass material with a jeweler's saw with the intent that I would file the final matching contour once the brass was firmly mounted to the box lid.

To shorten the wood, while keeping the curved convex contour, I used a hack saw blade (removed from its frame) to cut four or five parallel grooves (top surface to bottom surface) a little less that 1/16 inch deep.  Then I filed the wood surface down until the grooves disappeared.  With a few more strokes of the file, I got the wood back to matching the curvature of the brass.

From prior experience I knew that I wanted to mount the plate to the lid with small wood screws.  Drilling and installing the tiny screws with a loose plate and on a thin wood lid was a bit of a challenge that I knew would be much easier if the plate was not loose to begin with.  So.....carefully avoiding any excess glue that would mess up future staining...I super glued the brass to the wood.  Once the brass was firmly glued in place, I drilled and counter sunk for the small screws and firmly attached the brass plate.  Now it was a fairly simple task to carefully file the contour of the brass shoe to match the wood and then make sure it still fit the dovetail on the stock and butt plate.  When it did, I filed the necessary very slightly concave surface required to get a perfect match with the butt plate contour.  With that all done, I cut the notch for the catch and mounted the catch.  A few file strokes on the catch and the box lid, with its new brass shoe, worked perfectly.















« Last Edit: April 15, 2023, 06:25:52 AM by davec2 »
"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1780

Offline TDM

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2023, 02:54:55 AM »
Very nicely done. Looks great.

Offline smart dog

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2023, 03:14:07 AM »
Hi Dave,
It is so good to see you post again.  I had to laugh because when I built a Kibler colonial it had a piece of brass for the end of the patch box. I thought at the time, "wait a minute, everything else was machined fitted almost perfectly, and now I have to actually make something from scratch"?  Of course you and I can make short work of that. 

dave 
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galudwig

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2023, 03:21:46 AM »
Thanks for doing all the legwork and making a tutorial on your process. I was wondering how to do this on my own Woodsrunner kit.

Offline davec2

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2023, 03:34:03 AM »
David.....How quickly we become spoiled !!  (I caught myself thinking, "Now why didn't Jim just CHC a block of brass to fit the wood......now wait a minute.....I can do that without a CNC machine !!!")

Galudwig - The only trick is to be careful not to shorten the wood too much.  If you do, you will need a thicker piece of brass.....or a new patch box lid... ;)
"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1780

Offline smylee grouch

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2023, 03:36:40 AM »
Nice work Dave. Thanks for the rundown on how you did it too.  :)

Offline oldtravler61

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2023, 03:49:21 PM »
   Nicely done...but I wonder how many are stuck figuring out what the brass piece is for ?

Offline Percy

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2023, 04:59:00 PM »
Very well done. Thanks for sharing.

Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2023, 05:58:41 PM »
   Nicely done Dave. What size are those little screws?  In one of his Videos Jim mentions the "Extra" piece of brass as a cap for the lid.

     Tim

Offline Marcruger

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2023, 06:02:13 PM »
Absolutely meticulous work as usual my friend. Just seeing that patchbox lid makes me want to own the finished rifle. I can’t wait to see the completed project. God bless, Marc

Offline Jim Kibler

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2023, 09:42:47 PM »
Looks nice!  Thanks for the post.

Jim

Offline davec2

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Re: Peripheral part of a Kibler Woodsrunner
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2023, 06:24:23 AM »
After thinking about this for a while, I realized that I had put a brass shoe on the wood patch box lid on the Kibler Colonial I did a couple of years ago and I didn't remember having to bend / curve the brass plate to make it fit the wood.  So I pulled the rifle out and checked.  The end of that patch box lid was almost flat and, in fact, had a very slight curve in the other direction.  Here are a few photos of the colonial patch box brass shoe plate......this one is much easier to do.....






"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1780

Offline Cody Tetachuk

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I know this is not the subject of the thread or post but I like the nick & dot applied to the toe of the butt. Always have thought it to be one of the nicest boarders. I would have never considered adding it to just the toe but I REALLY like it. Very nice detail IMO.

Offline Daryl

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Matching border on the butt plate tang as well.
Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears" King George V

Offline smylee grouch

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Nice bold carving on that lid Dave. I like the engraving on the butt plate too. An area that seldom gets an engraving treatment. Seems like a waist of " canvas " when a large area like that is left un-decorated.

Offline davec2

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Thanks for the compliment on the carving and the engraving.  I usually engrave the butt plate...sometimes more....sometimes less....but I rarely leave it unadorned.  As for the carving, I did it but the design is all Kibler.  It is my poor attempt at an unabashed dead nuts copy of one of Jim's truly magnificently carved rifles.


« Last Edit: April 15, 2023, 08:59:19 PM by davec2 »
"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1780

Offline Cody Tetachuk

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I LOVE that pineapple skin treatment in the triangle. It looks wonderful.

Offline Bob Gerard

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Such wonderful talent. Everything looks perfectly done. You’re a wonder, Dave!

Offline elkhorne

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Dave,
How about sharing some pictures of that Great Colonial for us to peruse over. If you put them on previously, maybe you can share the link to those past masterpiece photos and the comments you wrote with them. Thanks.
elkhorne

Offline davec2

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elkhorne.....link to the colonial I did......

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=57140.0
"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1780

Offline sgtmik

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Really nice work, and you carving is first class. I also am building a Woodsrunner, and I did some very basic carving to my patch box. I also plan to try my hand at more carving, but I am afraid my hands a not steady enough to get into great detail. I hope to see more of your work. Thanks for sharing.

Mike O'Donnell
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Offline DrLaw45

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DaveC2,
I really love that carving on the patchbox. It looks like it came from the 1700's

The Doc

Offline Craig Wilcox

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As usual, David, very meticulous work.  Love the precision.  Would have been a flat, sloping end had I done it.

My Woodsrunner is coming along nicely, but will have no carving - the tremor in my hands precludes placing a chisel anywhere near the spot needed.  I did put on many, many applications of Alkanet oil over a light maple stain,  will finish with several coats of wax.
Craig Wilcox
We are all elated when Dame Fortune smiles at us, but remember that she is always closely followed by her daughter, Miss Fortune.

Offline 2 shots

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 truly fine :)

Offline flatsguide

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Those little details are fun, nice work.
Cheers Richard