Plain Maple Colonial is finished

[MountainSmoke]

Nicely done! First timers are always a give and take, yours is great!

Thanks! I had never assembled a muzzleloader kit however I do have many years of wood working experience building bows and such so I am used to using cabinet scrapers and finishing wood. It was the metal and brass finishing and fitting that was all new to me. I made some mistakes for sure but nothing catastrophic.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Beautiful, the simplicity and cleanliness of line are to be emulated.

 

[MountainSmoke]

Well done @MountainSmoke ! It looks great.

Thank you

 

[MountainSmoke]

Beautiful job

Thanks!

 

[MountainSmoke]

Beautiful, the simplicity and cleanliness of line are to be emulated.

Thank you! I took my time and studied a lot of pictures of originals and other people's work constantly fine tuning things along the way.

 

[oreclan]

60 hours later here it is. Standard grade sugar maple stock. This is my first attempt at putting together a muzzleloader kit. What a experience it was! I found myself constantly visiting this forum searching up old threads for guidance and help. Would have been vastly more difficult without it so huge thanks to the forum and it's members. Of course, Jim Kibler's YouTube videos were invaluable as well. I started this project expecting every step to go perfectly and quickly learned that I'd better be happy with" good enough" or I was going to drive myself crazy. There were victories and there were defeats, all part of the experience. Even long before I started this kit I had a vision in my mind of how I would want a rifle to look based on personal preference and authenticity. Dark plain maple stock with a scraped finish,a few tool marks here or there wouldn't bother me. Metal parts finished in the white. Brass not too polished. No carving. Just a plain old workhorse rifle that is going to see a lot of time in the mountains. Some details: 54 caliber, stock was stained with two fairly heavy coats of iron nitrate and then heat was applied. Tried and True varnish finish 3 coats so far but may add another one or two. If your on the fence about putting together one of these kits like I was, just do it! The experience and knowledge learned is priceless and you will have a beautiful quality made longrifle that you can be proud of forever. Thanks Jim Kibler for giving folks that opportunity.View attachment 214865View attachment 214866View attachment 214867View attachment 214868View attachment 214869View attachment 214870View attachment 214871View attachment 214872

The color brings out the wood grain and curl beautifully. Good job!

 

[MountainSmoke]

The color brings out the wood grain and curl beautifully. Good job!

Thanks, I played around with some maple scraps untill I got the color I was after to give me a rough idea on what the stock might look like and then went all in. I got lucky that it turned out exactly the color that I was hoping it would.

 

[Magungo1066]

Gorgeous! Nice work

 

[MountainSmoke]

Gorgeous! Nice work

Thanks I appreciate that!

 

[phdchemeng]

Just "good enough"? That looks like perfection to me.

 

[MountainSmoke]

Just "good enough"? That looks like perfection to me.

Thanks for the kind words, they are much appreciated.

 

[BCWILL]

Superb !!

 

[JeffG]

That's a handsome rifle!

 

[MountainSmoke]

Superb !!

Thank you!

 

[MountainSmoke]

That's a handsome rifle!

Thank you Jeff!

 

[MSW]

simple and straightforward ... i like it!

 

[MountainSmoke]

simple and straightforward ... i like it!

Thank you

 

[Monk]

60 hours later here it is. Standard grade sugar maple stock. This is my first attempt at putting together a muzzleloader kit. What a experience it was! I found myself constantly visiting this forum searching up old threads for guidance and help. Would have been vastly more difficult without it so huge thanks to the forum and it's members. Of course, Jim Kibler's YouTube videos were invaluable as well. I started this project expecting every step to go perfectly and quickly learned that I'd better be happy with" good enough" or I was going to drive myself crazy. There were victories and there were defeats, all part of the experience. Even long before I started this kit I had a vision in my mind of how I would want a rifle to look based on personal preference and authenticity. Dark plain maple stock with a scraped finish,a few tool marks here or there wouldn't bother me. Metal parts finished in the white. Brass not too polished. No carving. Just a plain old workhorse rifle that is going to see a lot of time in the mountains. Some details: 54 caliber, stock was stained with two fairly heavy coats of iron nitrate and then heat was applied. Tried and True varnish finish 3 coats so far but may add another one or two. If your on the fence about putting together one of these kits like I was, just do it! The experience and knowledge learned is priceless and you will have a beautiful quality made longrifle that you can be proud of forever. Thanks Jim Kibler for giving folks that opportunity.View attachment 214865View attachment 214866View attachment 214867View attachment 214868View attachment 214869View attachment 214870View attachment 214871View attachment 214872

Could I ask you how you polished up the brass so nicely? It looks remarkable.

Tnx

 

[MountainSmoke]

Could I ask you how you polished up the brass so nicely? It looks remarkable.

Tnx

All I did was knocked off the rough stuff with a fine mill file and then used 220 grit wet dry sand paper that I cut in small pieces and wrapped around the file. A small round piece of dowel rod or piece of a wood arrow shaft wrapped with sand paper was extremely handy to get the round areas. To get some of the tight spots on the trigger guard and around the wedding bands I wrapped a very dull thin bladed knife with sandpaper.After all was good with 220 I went to 320 grit wet dry. That's as high as I went then just buffed it a little with maroon scotch brite. I wasn't going for a mirror finish, there are still small scratches from the sand paper and even a few small file marks here and there that I didn't worry too much about. The hardest part by far was the trigger guard. Spent 5 hours on it to get it where I was happy, I probably could have spent another 5 on it if I wanted it perfect.

 

[Monk]

All I did was knocked off the rough stuff with a fine mill file and then used 220 grit wet dry sand paper that I cut in small pieces and wrapped around the file. A small round piece of dowel rod or piece of a wood arrow shaft wrapped with sand paper was extremely handy to get the round areas. To get some of the tight spots on the trigger guard and around the wedding bands I wrapped a very dull thin bladed knife with sandpaper.After all was good with 220 I went to 320 grit wet dry. That's as high as I went then just buffed it a little with maroon scotch brite. I wasn't going for a mirror finish, there are still small scratches from the sand paper and even a few small file marks here and there that I didn't worry too much about. The hardest part by far was the trigger guard. Spent 5 hours on it to get it where I was happy, I probably could have spent another 5 on it if I wanted it perfect.

Super helpful, I used a file and a red Scotchbrite. But don't quite have the polish that you do.
And it think there is a lot of value in your statement about 5 hours, and could use another 5.
There is a point where you have to stop, realizing that I want this is look like a rifle used by a Continental Army solider, in other words, a work tool, and not a showpiece.