Hey guys. Glad you like it and thanks for the nice words.
Ken Guy: If I have success with wood to metal fit, it probably comes from being a little obsessive!
Lew: We can go over inletting at the class on Saturday. Maybe we'll have time for you to get some practice yourself.
Flehto: Thankfully I didn't make all the screws! If I had, it might have sent me over the edge!
cglynn: The barrel was rusted with ordinary barrel brown. The rust was then scrubbed off and the surface that resulted had a very slightly pitted appearance. I then applied a solution which is sold for darkening brass hardware. It's sold by the name of "brass darkening solution". If you do a search for it on the net you should be able to find it. Think I bought the last stuff from a place called "Historic House Parts" It gives the steel a slightly gray appearance. Just kind of takes the edge of of bright steel or iron. I did the lock basically the same way, but skipped the rusting step.
Variflegun: The little flowers are kind of neat. Eister used these quite a bit. To me, his work was seems so creative, artistic and distinctive. Hope I captured at least a little of it. Think he was in a class of his own.
DrTim Boone: Thanks for asking what I've learned. I certainly learned how amazingly talented Eister must have been. Think I've gotten a new appreciation of his work by trying to work in his style. I've also learned a lot about engraving. Think my engraving improved a lot from this project. I hadn't done much engraving prior to this project and to be honest it scared me, but it turned out to be pretty fun and I did learn a lot. That's not to say there wasn't some frustration along the way! A final thing I learned is how much work a "golden age" gun like this is. Way more work than an earlier style.
If you have any other questions just ask! Thanks again.
-Jim
