Barrel fit on Chambers Kit?

[Onojutta]

I'm surprised how many responses that the barrel should fit without any work.

Given that the difference between a good barrel fit and a sloppy fit is about 2 thousandths of an inch, you would hope that the carvers air on the side of leaving a little too much wood. I was under the impression this was standard practice hence the surprise that so many say they've had them drop right in.

I had a precarve from TOTW that needed a lot of barrel fitting. But, that's part of the fun of building one of these.

As for the guys who posted pictures of those "mandrels", I assume those are for straight barrels?

I have good success using a scraper to shave down the sidewalls of the swamped barrel channel.

 

[Black Hand]

Just checked mine. To un-tutored eye, it will need to be fitted. I guess my first task is to build a scraper out of an old file or something and then set to it...

Sharp chisels will work much better for fitting, with scrapers being used for a final clean-up

 

[Allan Gray]

I wouldn't expect a pre-carve stock to accept a barrel right out of the box.

I use barrel inleting scrapers followed by small hardwood blocks wrapped in sandpaper.

 

[kanati]

When we bought kits back in the 70's and 80's, they took virtually no fitting whatsoever. The lock and barrel were generally just a push fit. I can't understand why they cannot do that now?? Unless it just comes down to cost, everyone wanting a 400 dollar kit with quality parts, doesn't leave much time to spend on the stock machining.

-Ron

 

[kanati]

""As for the guys who posted pictures of those "mandrels", I assume those are for straight barrels?""

If you're referring to the sanding tool I posted, no I used it on a swamped barrel. Where the flat gets wider, just cock it slightly. The paper should be no wider than the narrowest portion of the flat.

That thing works really good, it's long for it's width, it stays very flat in the channel and tracks very well, looks like it was machined afterwards.

-Ron