My Apprentice and Her English Fowler

[SOLANCO]

This young lady is a remarkable human being. She is a credit to her family, to you, and to our country.
I wonder if she had considered the service academies? Annapolis or West Point?

 

[PathfinderNC]

Hi,
Just a short post. I worked on finishing the wrist plate. Maria will work on the final details but I needed to get us moving and it will take time for her to acquire the metal working skills. This stuff is not easy. Anyway, here is the plate on Saturday.



Here it is today.





My preliminary polish always shows up rough areas that have to be worked on. There are also some engraving needed before it goes into the wood. However, you can see what a fine wrist plate it will be. Hopefully, in the next session, she will inlet it and get to work on the breech carving.

dave

You work magic

 

[deerstalkert]

Saw Maria in the Muzzleloader this month. made me proud for her! Dave you have raised a gem even if she isn't yours or ours.

 

[2 shots]

I predict she will have a very successful life.

will have ? she already does

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
We did not get quite as much done today as I hoped but we are on the home stretch. Maria inlet the wrist plate. This is the first one she has ever done but she now has excellent inletting skills. I find the easiest way is to gouge out the a portion of the center of the mortise so the plate sits flatter on the stock.



Then trace the plate with pencil. On this plate, we started inletting the top half first working down to the bottom as the plate set in deeper.



Maria was in a horse competion the evening before where she won ribbons for barrel riding and other events. She was telling me all about the event as she was putting inletting black on the wrist plate. She just kept talking and absent mindedly slathering it on and I let her do it knowing the mess that would result. She got back at me by smearing some on my face.



Eventually the plate sat down nicely in the mortise. We don't have a bolster on this plate for a screw coming up from under the trigger guard. We are simply going to pin the plate. The middle lug of the guard would interfere with that screw. It came out well.





We moved on to carving the rococo shell. Maria removed background on the inside of the design.





We ended the day with her drawing in the details in the shell to be cut next time.



dave

 

[necchi]

Slow down, it's spring/summer,, and youth,, Remember?

 

[Story]

This is the Way​

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
We had a shorter day today so we did not get everything done I wanted to accomplish. That is OK. Maria has never carved a design like this on a gunstock before. She got some carving experience doing the lock panels and carving the wax model for the wrist plate. However, this is her first relief carving on a stock. She had the edges of the carving already cut and background removed. Today she did most of the detailing using small gouges, small skew chisels, small round scrapers, and a little bit of riffler work. First, she carved the concave surfaces of the shell. We are closely copying the Heylin fowler with a few changes.





Then she went back and smoothed the details and worked forward on the design. She worked slowly because she never did this before. This is where we ended up for today.








We still have some detailing and refining to do but she did a great job on her first relief carved design. The fowler is almost done and you can see how elegant it will be.





dave

 

[Bad Karma]

Thank you both for inviting us along on the journey. She has come far since she began and as audience we’re privileged to watch it happening…. Now, Maria, about this mustang…

 

[Youngblood]

When she opens her own shop someday, i will be sure and place an order.

 

[david w]

When she opens her own shop someday, i will be sure and place an order.

I see a bright future for this young lady!

 

[maria_gray]

Hello All,

Another day in the shop completed and what an exciting one it was! The first small portion of the day was spent staining my stock. We tested some different stains on some of my scrap wood and then chose which one I liked best. (This is why it is important to keep the pieces you chop off guys!) The stain chosen was mixed from 4 different water-soluble aniline dyes from Brownells; scarlet, resorcin brown, tartrazine, and nigrosine.

I painted the stain on the stock.

Dave and I then performed his ritual of spinning around three times reciting the Pledge of Allegiance backwards, whilst burning some sage and sniffing acetone so the stain would come out correctly. As many have seen with his work, his stains are beautiful, so obviously the ritual works and should not be questioned (nor performed at home).

We let the stain dry outside in the sun and painted it with some alkaline dye. This really emphasizes the figure in the grain and adds to the beautiful, rich, red brown color.

After letting the alkaline dye dry, I put the first layer of finish on. For the finish I am using Southerland Wells' Medium Sheen Polymerized Tung Oil. I diluted the finish 1 to 1 with Turpentine and applied the finish while lightly sanding with some 220-grit wet-dry sandpaper: creating a brown slurry.

The slurry really helps seal up the pores of the wood and then it dries creating a crust that will be sanded off prior to another layer of finish.

I waited and watched the finish dry for a while before putting it out in the sun.

While my stock was drying, I got to work polishing up the barrel and sideplate. I did some draw filing on the octagonal flats of the barrel and then moved on to 220 grit wet sandpaper and did some barrel-shining.

The sideplate took some finesse and a lot of patience (as to which Dave will tell you I do not have) to polish but will turn out to be quite stunning once done.

I can't believe this project is almost done. It is quite bittersweet.

-Maria

 

[oldwood]

Truely a once in a lifetime great experience for Maria , and her teacher. How fortunate for both of you.

 

[Bad Karma]

I’ve used that slurry method for filling pores and often with a contrasting color so the pores really pop.. that is one stunning piece Maria. Now, for your next project… ;-)

Dave may believe you lack patience and probably compared with him it might seem so but frankly, I believe the results of your efforts speak otherwise.

 

[david w]

Hello All,

Another day in the shop completed and what an exciting one it was! The first small portion of the day was spent staining my stock. We tested some different stains on some of my scrap wood and then chose which one I liked best. (This is why it is important to keep the pieces you chop off guys!) The stain chosen was mixed from 4 different water-soluble aniline dyes from Brownells; scarlet, resorcin brown, tartrazine, and nigrosine.
View attachment 223171

View attachment 223172
I painted the stain on the stock.

Dave and I then performed his ritual of spinning around three times reciting the Pledge of Allegiance backwards, whilst burning some sage and sniffing acetone so the stain would come out correctly. As many have seen with his work, his stains are beautiful, so obviously the ritual works and should not be questioned (nor performed at home).
View attachment 223173
We let the stain dry outside in the sun and painted it with some alkaline dye. This really emphasizes the figure in the grain and adds to the beautiful, rich, red brown color.

After letting the alkaline dye dry, I put the first layer of finish on. For the finish I am using Southerland Wells' Medium Sheen Polymerized Tung Oil. I diluted the finish 1 to 1 with Turpentine and applied the finish while lightly sanding with some 220-grit wet-dry sandpaper: creating a brown slurry.
View attachment 223174
The slurry really helps seal up the pores of the wood and then it dries creating a crust that will be sanded off prior to another layer of finish.

View attachment 223175

View attachment 223176
I waited and watched the finish dry for a while before putting it out in the sun.

View attachment 223177

View attachment 223178

While my stock was drying, I got to work polishing up the barrel and sideplate. I did some draw filing on the octagonal flats of the barrel and then moved on to 220 grit wet sandpaper and did some barrel-shining.

View attachment 223179

View attachment 223180
The sideplate took some finesse and a lot of patience (as to which Dave will tell you I do not have) to polish but will turn out to be quite stunning once done.

I can't believe this project is almost done. It is quite bittersweet.

-Maria

You aren't going to stop there, I hope!

 

[oldwood]

Maria.......Don't forget the last , and maintenance coat of finish , on your stock........Minwax Special dark furniture wax. Goes on stock , lock plate , and barrel ,excluding the frizzen face. You won't be sorry. If you like wax , that's a good kind.

 

[WALT53]

Maria.......Don't forget the last , and maintenance coat of finish , on your stock........Minwax Special dark furniture wax. Goes on stock , lock plate , and barrel ,excluding the frizzen face. You won't be sorry. If you like wax , that's a good kind.

Hello All,

Another day in the shop completed and what an exciting one it was! The first small portion of the day was spent staining my stock. We tested some different stains on some of my scrap wood and then chose which one I liked best. (This is why it is important to keep the pieces you chop off guys!) The stain chosen was mixed from 4 different water-soluble aniline dyes from Brownells; scarlet, resorcin brown, tartrazine, and nigrosine.
View attachment 223171

View attachment 223172
I painted the stain on the stock.

Dave and I then performed his ritual of spinning around three times reciting the Pledge of Allegiance backwards, whilst burning some sage and sniffing acetone so the stain would come out correctly. As many have seen with his work, his stains are beautiful, so obviously the ritual works and should not be questioned (nor performed at home).
View attachment 223173
We let the stain dry outside in the sun and painted it with some alkaline dye. This really emphasizes the figure in the grain and adds to the beautiful, rich, red brown color.

After letting the alkaline dye dry, I put the first layer of finish on. For the finish I am using Southerland Wells' Medium Sheen Polymerized Tung Oil. I diluted the finish 1 to 1 with Turpentine and applied the finish while lightly sanding with some 220-grit wet-dry sandpaper: creating a brown slurry.
View attachment 223174
The slurry really helps seal up the pores of the wood and then it dries creating a crust that will be sanded off prior to another layer of finish.

View attachment 223175

View attachment 223176
I waited and watched the finish dry for a while before putting it out in the sun.

View attachment 223177

View attachment 223178

While my stock was drying, I got to work polishing up the barrel and sideplate. I did some draw filing on the octagonal flats of the barrel and then moved on to 220 grit wet sandpaper and did some barrel-shining.

View attachment 223179

View attachment 223180
The sideplate took some finesse and a lot of patience (as to which Dave will tell you I do not have) to polish but will turn out to be quite stunning once done.

I can't believe this project is almost done. It is quite bittersweet.

-Maria

Well Maria all I have to say is you have done a beautiful job and are lucky to have a good teacher like Dave,
Well done young lady.

 

[Mooney 78865]

Really going to miss Monday mornings and looking at the progress you've made on the build. It has been a real pleasure following this thread!

 

[oldwood]

Maria , as many here on the forum have intimated , you have perhaps , inadvertently jumped down the muzzleloading rabbit hole , with both feet. Hope you build another , perhaps rifle. Ya gotta have more than one. I was so afflicted by this m/l fun , I've done this for over a half century , and still can't stop. The best to you, and may God Bless you........oldwood

 

[Rifleman1776]

Maria.......Don't forget the last , and maintenance coat of finish , on your stock........Minwax Special dark furniture wax. Goes on stock , lock plate , and barrel ,excluding the frizzen face. You won't be sorry. If you like wax , that's a good kind.

I doubt Dave will forget instructing her on how to maintain it.