My 4 examples of excellent Flintlocks built by TVM...

[nmdd]

I think he means the person saying "nice wood" is bypassing the workmanship of the gun.... :hmm:

 

[roundball]

Petty, bitter, jealous attitudes are easy to spot, and not worth wasting your time on
:grin:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

I think he means the person saying "nice wood" is bypassing the workmanship of the gun.... :hmm:

Yes that is what it means. It is an old saying that is considered the worst thing to say about a hand crafted gun. It is usually innocently used in this modern era by novices who know little of the aspects hand craftsmanship and as a running joke by those who do.

 

Well, it usually IS the first thing you notice on such a rifle. Which is not at all to discount the metal and finish work. I'm a sucker for well-done metalwork and will find any flaws but the wood is always the first and last thing I notice. It is usually quite important to those who have custom guns built and in this day and age of very plain factory guns, "nice wood" is definitely a standout.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Petty, bitter, jealous attitudes are easy to spot, and not worth wasting your time on
:grin:

There's the button I was looking for. :haha:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Go to the contemporary makers blog and do a search for Jim Kibler and check out the plain wood on his latest.

 

[nc_cooter]

Mr. Brooks are you admitting that you made the statement about " nice wood " just to push buttons . So it's a running joke for those in the know. Wow! I learn so much from your vast knowledge. Know a lot of us know "the joke".

 

[roundball]

Mr. Brooks...
Wow! I learn so much from your vast knowledge.

:rotf:

 

[Mike Brooks]

What I find amusing is nobody seriously wants to seriously learn something from my comments about "nice wood".
I guess it really makes no difference to those who feel they already know enough to get by.
And, there are no sour grapes here as was suggested. When I see good guns on the internet I'm one of the first to step forward with positive compliments.

 

[nc_cooter]

Mr. Brooks,
is it possible that people would take the information more seriously if it was presented in a manner that did not "push buttons" for the amusement of the presenter. Maybe the grapes wouldn't be sour to anyone and could be enjoyed by all.

 

Usually, when you tell a gunmaker "nice wood" it's not a compliment...... :wink:

Nor is it an insult. The gunmaker is not here so I'm not sure what relevance this has anyway.

 

[Mike Brooks]

ok guys, what ever. Keep on keepin on. :thumbsup:

 

Are you telling us that you are so pretentious that you take offense when someone looks at one of your rifles and says "nice wood"? Or do you just never use "nice wood" to prevent anybody from hurting your feelings? I'm really trying to understand the purpose of your post because my first impression was not very good. Because I've dealt with several custom gunsmiths, have had four custom guns built and if any of them had come off the way you have here, I would not be patronizing them in the future. And it has nothing to do with my ability or inability to recognize fine metal and finish work.

 

[Robby]

When you spend countless hours in the design and execution of creating one of these things and you finally have before your eyes that which you envisioned, and someone, especially another maker looks at it and says "nice wood"! How would you feel!?! You don't know, because you have never been in that arena. That's why I always use crappy wood :wink: Keeping on!
Robby

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

I suspect it's like looking a master chef in the eye when he puts his masterpiece in front of you and saying, "Got any ketchup?"

 

[Mike Brooks]

Are you telling us that you are so pretentious that you take offense when someone looks at one of your rifles and says "nice wood"? Or do you just never use "nice wood" to prevent anybody from hurting your feelings? I'm really trying to understand the purpose of your post because my first impression was not very good. Because I've dealt with several custom gunsmiths, have had four custom guns built and if any of them had come off the way you have here, I would not be patronizing them in the future. And it has nothing to do with my ability or inability to recognize fine metal and finish work.

Yes, I would take the comment "nice wood' as a slap in the face if it was the first and foremost comment. I'd feel I failed miserably.
First and foremost you should judge a gun on it's artistic merit, and, it doesn't have to have any carving or engraving to have artistic merit. The most important feature is architecture. If the foundation isn't right the cause is lost. Second in importance is fit and finish. One of the last features of importance to me is the wood. The builder has nothing at all to do with the pattern of curl.
Most guns I have seen out of the Corinth school of gun making suffer from architectural flaws, Barrel burried in the wood, web between the barrel and ram rod channel too thick, atrocious lock panels, Tail of the lock above the middle of the wrist and about 1/8" to 1/4" too much wood left every where.
So, I guess with the above list of basic archetectural problems maybe "nice wood" is indeed quite positive a comment. :hmm: If I saw that group of guns at a gun show I'd think to my self "nice stringer of dead fish". NO SOUL MAN!
I do admire TVM. Their production rate is incredible and I have no idea how they keep their prices as low as they do.
Now that I have re read this I realise there are about 8 people here that are even going to have the remotest understanding of what I just wrote....we'll see... :wink:

 

Petty, bitter, jealous attitudes are easy to spot, and not worth wasting your time on.

Generally speaking, nobody wants to buy anything from a person with a bad attitude, no matter how skilled he/she might be. Buying a custom anything is as much about supporting the artist as it is having the item. Someone could be the best craftsman in the world, but if they're an a-hole, who wants to own a reminder of them? I'd much rather have a nice, factory made item.

 

[rabjr]

Damn, I wish that were true! Then I wouldn't have had to wait 2 and a half years for my name to come up on his list...

 

[Keb]

Most artistes are odd people. It doesn't take away from their art or the popularity of it though. Every time I go here I look at the pictures and say, "yup".

I got the odd part down pat. All I gotta work on is my art and it's popularity. A string of fish could apply to many of mine all pretty in a row. :/

 

First and foremost you should judge a gun on it's artistic merit, and, it doesn't have to have any carving or engraving to have artistic merit. The most important feature is architecture. If the foundation isn't right the cause is lost. Second in importance is fit and finish. One of the last features of importance to me is the wood. The builder has nothing at all to do with the pattern of curl.

I agree 100% but you're missing my point entirely! My point, as I said in my first post, is that highly figured wood is ALWAYS the first thing you notice about a custom rifle with, well, nicely figured wood. That's the whole point, is it not? It is also just about the ONLY THING you can discern from a wide view picture showing all of a rifle that is nearly 6ft long.

Yes, I would take the comment "nice wood' as a slap in the face if it was the first and foremost comment.

Well, you know what they say, only a fool takes offense where none was intended. Maybe you guys are too thin skinned to be building rifles for folks if you get this bent outta shape over a comment like that. Now, if "nice wood" is the only thing someone notices about your creation, that could be the result of one of three things. Either the one doing the inspecting doesn't know enough to know what to look for in a custom gun, he doesn't care about such details or the workmanship is lacking. My money is on one of the first two. Fact is, most people are unable or unwilling to appreciate a custom gun. Most think it's a waste of resources. Their ignorance says nothing about you and everything about them. This YOU cannot help. However, what YOU can help is how YOU respond and your response here has been unimpressive to anyone who reads it. I wouldn't buy one of your rifles today if it was a fraction of what it should cost, strictly because I think your attitude sucks. You've somehow taken a thread about TVM and made it about you. Which suggests all sorts of unflattering things about your character.

Personally, I would rather have a handful of really nice, well-done custom guns than a truckload of factory guns. So I guarantee you "I" will notice your wood to metal fit, how well your inletting was done, the quality of your polishing, the intricate detailing, the uniformity of your checkering, the cleanliless of your engraving and the quality of your finish work. However, I'm human and a sucker for good wood so you will have to forgive me if my first comment is about the figure in the stock. It was the first thing I noticed about these TVM rifles. Only afterwards did I start noticing things about the wood to metal fit that bother me but I'm not gonna sit here and deride someone else's shootin' iron. Especially when I would be proud to own any of them. They appear to be very good guns for their modest price.