My Botched Carving Job

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It looks to me you have more than enough wood to sand it down and refinish the entire stock. You might have to take down the width of the butt plate slightly but sand it down and refinish it if you don't want to carve it further.
 
It looks to me you have more than enough wood to sand it down and refinish the entire stock. You might have to take down the width of the butt plate slightly but sand it down and refinish it if you don't want to carve it further.
Not really, it's a Pedersoli and the gouges are relatively deep. I will probably clean it up like Old-Duckman recommended, maybe add a couple of leaves.
 
Perhaps you could make up a thin shell of a cheekpiece to apply over the side of the stock. However it would not cover the outer corners of the carving and would be next to impossible to blend in. Also the Euro kentuckies tend to be pretty thin stocks anyway so there's not a lot of wood you can shave off there.
Nope, just keep what you have.

On a different note, I have several Euro kentuckies, all with that honey colored roman-nosed butt. Has anyone tried to straighten the comb out and strip/re-stain them dark? Most likely the buttplate would have to be altered a bit as well.
 
Perhaps you could make up a thin shell of a cheekpiece to apply over the side of the stock. However it would not cover the outer corners of the carving and would be next to impossible to blend in. Also the Euro kentuckies tend to be pretty thin stocks anyway so there's not a lot of wood you can shave off there.
Nope, just keep what you have.

On a different note, I have several Euro kentuckies, all with that honey colored roman-nosed butt. Has anyone tried to straighten the comb out and strip/re-stain them dark? Most likely the buttplate would have to be altered a bit as well.
I didn't mention it before but the carving is on both sides.........
 
Everytime I get the urge to carve one of my rifles I practice on a piece of similar wood and critique my finished practice piece when I am done. After seeing what I am capable of I have yet to put a chisel to one of my rifle stocks, definitely a good thing.

A plain gunstock looks ten times better than a badly carved one.
"A man's got to know his limitations." Good to know!
 
Look at stocks with raised carving.. Study the rococo style. If you felt ambitious, you could relieve the background and reshape the scrolls to something similar. Years ago I went to Jim Chambers stock carving class, and while everyone else was happily chiseling away, I couldn't make head nor tail of rococo design. Then on Wednesday afternoon it came together. Carved the stock in two days.. Study the style until it makes sense.
It's a new head set of information!
 
Both sides, eh?
Well, if it bothers you, perhaps the easy way out is to stitch a tight covering of rawhide, buckskin, or even shammy (the real leather, not "sham-wow" synthetic) over the stock. Sand it a little after it dries and bingo. Just like you repaired a split stock on the trail.
 
Look at stocks with raised carving.. Study the rococo style. If you felt ambitious, you could relieve the background and reshape the scrolls to something similar. Years ago I went to Jim Chambers stock carving class, and while everyone else was happily chiseling away, I couldn't make head nor tail of rococo design. Then on Wednesday afternoon it came together. Carved the stock in two days.. Study the style until it makes sense.
It's a new head set of information!
Rococo is too French......... Overly busy, way too decorative. I prefer Art Deco but it doesn't lend itself to muzzleloading stocks........ Now a simpler Nouveau style might work as long as people don't know what era the Art Nouveau period was. .
 
Rococo is the classic style for American golden age flintlock rifles.
Ask Homer Dangler who made some great instructional videos on the topic.
 
Rococo is the classic style for American golden age flintlock rifles.
Ask Homer Dangler who made some great instructional videos on the topic.
Yes it is, but still waaaay too busy for my tastes. That is based on the majority of samples I've seen.
 
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Everytime I get the urge to carve one of my rifles I practice on a piece of similar wood and critique my finished practice piece when I am done. After seeing what I am capable of I have yet to put a chisel to one of my rifle stocks, definitely a good thing.

A plain gunstock looks ten times better than a badly carved one.

I've done much the same thing myself, a humbling experience just to remind his Nibs that I lack the skill and time to develop it nowadays; therefore my wood stocks remain safe !
 
This is a story that should acknowledge the true craftsman with the high skills needed to carve a gun stock. Well to have it look professional and be a piece of beauty. I am a fairly good Tool Maker but not a carver. Just do not have the training to pull off the look as if I could duplicate a master’s work. I hate it when people want to know all about Tool Making in 5 min, took me a life time to get where I am. Your job probably looks better than if I did it. Keep it how is and stop making excuses for it. Looks fine and I would need to be happy with it, besides the master carver might not be able to tie his own shoes anyway.
By the way, how does it shoot?
 
This is a story that should acknowledge the true craftsman with the high skills needed to carve a gun stock. Well to have it look professional and be a piece of beauty. I am a fairly good Tool Maker but not a carver. Just do not have the training to pull off the look as if I could duplicate a master’s work. I hate it when people want to know all about Tool Making in 5 min, took me a life time to get where I am. Your job probably looks better than if I did it. Keep it how is and stop making excuses for it. Looks fine and I would need to be happy with it, besides the master carver might not be able to tie his own shoes anyway.
By the way, how does it shoot?
What?? We're supposed to shoot them??!! Nobody ever tells me nuttin'. :eek:




(It shoots fine).
 

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