Gunbuilding

[Stoner creek]

I will admit that I still use chisels and gouges for all of the perimeter work. I keep about an 1/8” away from the perimeter of the plate inlet. I can recall demonstrating a lock inlet at Friendship. I got a Deluxe Siler inlet and working without any binding in an hour and a half. 12 people watching. I was ready for a beer after that demonstration! I’m not as good a teacher as most of you guys!!!
W

[A.Merrill]

Dear mister bigham, can you show some detailed pics of the selfmade scraper.mister merril ,what kind of bits you use in your dremel tool,where to find good one.

Home Depot and Menards has a good selection of Dremel bits.  When routing be sure to only remove a 1/8 inch or less at a time that way it's less likely to get away from you and ruin the stock.   Al

[whetrock]

Hawkeye,
I think Bill in MD had some good advice. On this forum it is an under-represented voice:
"When recreating 18th and 19th century long rifles, a good rule of thumb is to use the tools that gunmakers back in 18th and 19th century used to create the originals. Never allow the destination to rob you of experiencing the journey."

The best money I ever spent on gun tools was not on routers, dremel tools, etc. (which I did spend money on). It was on good quality chisels and gouges. (In my case I went with antique English tools. But modern made Pfeil "Swiss Made" tools or Two Cherries tools are every bit as good and they come polished and ready to sharpen. Antiques usually have to be reconditioned, which is a learning curve in itself.)
One of the best investments I ever made in terms of time is closely related. It was learning to properly sharpen and use my chisels and gouges and planes and scrapers.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I'm pleased to see that I am not alone in this heresy.  I often use a Dremel as a router with the small platform that Dremel sells.  I mostly use a 1/8" router bit, though some fine work can be accomplished with a 3/32" bit.  But keep it sharp and as fast as the router can spin it.  I confess to cutting right to the pencil line of the plate, but use a thin sharp knife to carve and scrape the plate mortise for a precise fit.  I've never (knock on wood) had it "get away from me", though I've repaired others efforts when it did.  Here's my Hawken rifle whose lock mortise I cut entirely with a Dremel router...the barrel was inlet with chisels, but barrel inletting and lock inletting should not be used in the same sentence.

[mountainman]

I have used a dremel quite a bit, but I also have used a handheld router plane which has good results timewise, you have the work with the grains but still very slick.