Bad mistake!

[dave_person]

Hi Folks,
I pride myself on thinking things through, measuring twice, and cutting once. However, I sometimes get complacent and lazy and I should learn to step back and stop when I feel that way. Sometimes I wish I had more discipline. I was drilling holes for barrel pins in a stock for an early pattern Brown Bess musket. I use the popular point held in the drill press vise, which requires you to locate the entry and exit holes precisely where you want them. Then you line up the drill with the tip of the point to drill a precise hole. The problem was the gimbles on one of the axes of my x-y sllde table was loose and the position of the point migrated with the vibration of the drill press. I always check these things before drilling but I got cocky and didn't. The result was a disaster for the forward pin. The hole was off so far that the drill hit the lower edge of the barrel lug and deflected down so the hole came out 3/16" below where it should, almost into the ramrod channel. I just had to laugh at my error and fix it. So I thought I would make lemonade and describe how I hide holes. Many might fill the hole with a turned piece of the same wood. In doing that you have to have the grain running the length of the plug or it will fall apart when shaping it. If you do that, the plug will take stain and oil darkly and stand out because the end grain is exposed on the surface. Instead, I cut a narrow rectangular wedge from wood with the grain running across the top of the plug. I carefully file it until it fits into the hole and then glue it in with super glue or wood glue. I make sure the grain of the wood across the top is parallel with the grain of the stock. When in place I pound the snot out of it until it is hammered into the hole. When the glue is dry, I cut and file the plug flush with the stock. Then, when I am about to stain the stock, I take a scalpel or X-acto knife and cut fine shallow lines across the top of the filled hole parallel with the grain of the stock. The hole will disappear. The hole for the rear of the trigger guard on this British carbine was plugged because the guard had to be inlet deeper after the original hole was drilled. Can you tell?



dave

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Looks great. Have had to plug, fill and re-adjust myself a couple of times. Now, my real reason for responding....where did you get that vise?

 

[oldwood]

It's amazing what can be done w/ a little imagination. A friend brought a left hand maple precarved late Lancaster stock to me. His predicament was he wanted a right hand stock. The cast of the stock was neutral . Looked through my scrap maple and found a chunk of wood for a cheek piece that roughly matched the hardness and curl of the existing stock. Shortened the stock to proper LOP , and installed the butt plate. With all that done , Located the position of the new cheek rest on the left side of the stock. Since the new cheek rest is roughly a rectangle, I shaped the piece into a slight wedge shape marked it's outline on the selected spot , and tightly inletted and clamped the block into the stock with a little brown epoxie , some rasping , a right hand stock . ......oldwood

 

[Cruzatte]

I can't tell you how many times in my limited experience I've had to plug misaligned holes in both wood and metal. The worst was when I drilled a screw hole off center on the butt plate of my recent FDC. I took a screw out of a box of hardware store screws cut the thread off and countersunk the hole then filled it with the screw head, filed it flush, and silver soldered it in place. Removed the excess solder, and you'd have to look very closely to find the repair. After I was done, I was glad I went with iron furniture.

 

[oldwood]

When I find an original brass butt plate w/ an errant hole in it, the hdw. store still sells different sizes of brass plumbing screws. Tap out the hole , install the plug screw ,solder on the inside , and finish. Same goes for an original trigger guard , brass or iron , tap out the hole , install the screw , and while your at it , solder a new pinning lug on the under side of the trig. guard. Result...Usable original guard. Many an old gun was built using recycled , repaired parts. It's always fun to hand a rifle to some self -declared "expert" and see if he can find the repair. ....oldwood

 

[wulf1928]

Dave, even your mistakes look better than the average guy's best work.....

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Thanks Wulf! Tom, the vise is a pattern maker's vise I purchased either from Woodcraft or Woodworkers Supply. I cannot remember which. I have one on each end of my bench and a rest in between.

dave

 

[Eterry]

Dave, your shop looks ENTIRELY too well organized... compared to yours mine looks like a grenade went off in it... lol.

 

[oldwood]

Take heart guys , I once saw a photo of Albert Einstein's desk and office. It was indescribably messy. Piles of papers six reams deep everywhere , behind , before , and on both sides of his desk. His level of messy gives me pause to say , "Is my shop all that bad?" My shop isn't that bad , 'cause I have shelving. Standing rule is , if I don't use or need it in a year , I'll box it and shelve it. I'm too old to be organized . Twenty years ago , most of my usable parts got sorted and put in drawers. Least that gives me a place to start looking for something. ...oldwood

 

[Dale Lilly]

Jealous Polecat