Inletting a stock blank

[Bubba45]

What methods do some of you fellas use for inletting the barrel channel & ramrod channel.

 

[Birddog6]

I would do it Exactly like the Books tell me. I would not even think of doing one without a book to go by.
I have probably bought over a dozen parts sets that were sold because the guys screwed the stocks up & gave up & sold the parts.

I suggest:

Gunsmiths of Grenville County
Chuck Dixons builders book
or Building the Ky Longrifle

:thumbsup:

 

[szihn]

Howdy Bubba
I agree. The gunsmith of Grenvill County is the "Bible' when it comes to building flintlocks.
If you need help, write to me. I build full time, and I will advise you for free if you need help
Steve Zihn

 

[wulf]

I use a router..with router bits/cutters I made..
Very fast and a tight fit.

 

[Bubba45]

Thanks for replies, I've built several from scratch build parts over the years and two from blanks.When I did the blanks ,I used a router for the channels with a guide I made but no longer have.
I also routed the inside ramrod channel in the rear of stock like the old Fort Hill Gunstock Co. did,I chickened out trying to deep hole drill and opted to just drill the first couple inches past the entry pipe :redface:
I was curios as to if most just hogged out the excess wood to varying depths/widths and chiseled and scraped to final depth .
When I was using the router I was a bit nervous of it getting away and ruining the works. :cursing:

 

[Slowpoke]

I'm not a professional gun builder but if I were doing a swamped barrel... it's well worth the money to send it off to Fred Miller or This Guy (Link). For a straight barrel, I use a milling machine, get the stock level, and just turn the handle.
SP

 

[54JNoll]

I use the "Fred Miller" method as well. :grin:

Seriously he does a wounderful job inletting the barrel and drilling the ramrod hole full depth. And he has a good turn around time as well.

 

[Roy]

Here lately I have been inletting them by hand using chisels, depth gauges and scrapers. One of my favorite depth gauges is this one.

It does oct. and round all diffent sizes. If your inletting the barrel halfway down when the point and the sides are both touching wood its at its final depth. The top of the barrel channel has to be square and flat.

I use old files to make my scrapers, even have one that is a 5/16 round for the ramrod channel.

 

[44-henry]

There is information in Gunsmithing Tips and Projects (a must have book) on inletting both straight and swamped barrels. If you are doing a straight barrel a router is probably the quickest way, and if you do it as presented in this book it is pretty sure thing. The swamped barrel is a different sort and John Bivins system of using rails and a modified saw is probably the best I've seen, it also works with straight barrels. I would definitely recommend you buy some books on the subject before you start.

 

[Henry]

The router is to hard on my nerve ( I have a cheap one ) it could destroy the blank in a fraction of a second. I do it by hand with a chisel and a scraper , I use barrel black
for the final adjustment .
It takes a whole evening and I enjoy
every minute of it ... well... I enjoy most of it .

My book choice for the job is Kit Ravenshear .

 

[Bubba45]

Thanks for the replies guys ! I've got the Tips & Projects book but didnt want to put a passle of screws in the top rails. I was thinking of a guide/fence on the drill press with a forstner bit to hog out the channel a bit shallow then finish with chisels and scraper.
10 or 12 years ago I built a guide for my router to do the channels but I dont have it any more and was looking for an easier/quicker way without going through building another barrel inletting fixture.
Thanks :hatsoff:

 

[Stophel]

Here's how I inlet a barrel by hand. [url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/Flintlocks2[/url]

the photos are in reverse order. I made myself a plane to make my "starter groove", which is just a groove about a quarter inch wide and 3/8" deep...less than the depth of the narrowest part of any barrel I'll ever use. It saves a LOT of time and just gets some of the bulk of the wood out of the way. You CAN make yourself a starter groove with a Skil saw.

I inlet my last barrel a week or so ago in about 2 1/2 hours, which was a record time for me. It was in walnut, which cuts SO much easier than sugar maple. If the stock were hard maple, it generally takes me about 3 1/2 hours to completely inlet a tapered and flared octagon barrel. Round/part round barrels are actually harder for me, and I detest doing them.

 

[CrackStock]

Why not a table saw?

CS

 

[Mike Brooks]

I did my first 14 swamped barrels by hand, then Dave Wagner introduced my to Fred Miller...it was love at first sight.... :redface: :haha: Fred has done a couple hundred barrels for me now with nary a hitch. I'd be out of business now if it wasn't for fred, my elbows and wrists would never take the abuse of inletting all of those barrels by hand.
I never minded inleting barrels by hand, it's just time consuming is all.....and those ram rod holes...talk about anxiety... :winking:

 

[BLAHMAN]

I'm lucky....I just take them over to Log Cabin and they put the channel in for me, being 15 minutes away it's great.

 

[Pork Chop]

Sounds like just one more reason that I need
Blahman as a buddy!