Colonial on its way...

[Psycho Mike]

if you haven't started on the wood finish yet and if you are near Edmonton. i have some ferric nitrate crystals that you could do your stock with. way nicer than stain. i could give you enough to do your stock. freebee.

a word of advice. the only way you will get that curl to pop is to aqua fortis. ferric nitrate. its not that hard to do. i made that mistake and had to scrape off the whole finish and redo it.

you can pm me and i will give you my phone number if you are interested.
ou

Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but the dye is actually doing a pretty good job of it and I'm getting the start of some good chatoyance as well. Trying to stay a bit lighter and not darken with time.

I'll keep you posted as I continue to work on my oil finish. Not sure if I'll do a wipe coat or two of varathane, or just go straight to the Renaissance wax.

 

[old ugly]

dave_person on this forum is the man when it comes to building guns. watch the gun builder section, huge amount of info there. when i ran into issues he jumped in and helped me. very talented craftsman. watch for him.

 

[Psycho Mike]

dave_person on this forum is the man when it comes to building guns. watch the gun builder section, huge amount of info there. when i ran into issues he jumped in and helped me. very talented craftsman. watch for him.

Yeah, he's a great resource with a great attitude when it comes to helping others.

I had originally been looking to go quite blond, like the Lyman Plains I use for my avatar...had a few others chime in with less than helpful advice (i.e. along the lines of "do it my way 'cause it's the only way"). I ended up falling in love with another color instead, though Dave's posts inspired me to do my first molding lines, carving and inletting...all of which have been great learning experiences and, overall, have turned out great.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Fourth coat of oil went on the stock tonight....the "lightly cut" version. I think I've just about slaked the thirst of most of the wood, just a few areas left where the cut of the stock cuts across the curl exposing the stripes and the wood that tends to take on more oil. I'm going to see if one more coat will finish it off in terms of the areas still drinking pretty good, and then I'll switch to the straight oil.

Then comes the waiting game as I let it sit for the Tung oil to cure. :/

Oh well, at least I can finish the barrel and get to work casting some round balls to feed this thing in the interim. Not sure if I'll put the long neglected inexpensive rock polisher to use with some graphite lube yet (to get rid of the last of the sprue....it's a custom brass barrel mold), but I have that option too

 

[old ugly]

 

[Psycho Mike]

Another coat on this weekend. I'm down to very few areas that are still drinking thirstily, but the chatoyance of the wood is really starting to come up now (it's gonna be 'purdy).

Also cast my first roundballs with the new set-up. I'm suitably impressed with the results (275gr, +/- 1 gr for .569")

 

[Psycho Mike]

Working on the "straight" oil now. The stock is starting to get the oil finish chatoyance coming through and the orangy-red is starting to glow / dance. Can't wait to get the oil on to the point of being able to let it cure.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Another coat applied....it's getting closer

 

[Fu Manchu]

Looking forward to seeing a photo of the finished rifle

 

[Psycho Mike]

Looking forward to seeing a photo of the finished rifle

I'll try to get some decent outside shots of the stock next week when I am off. I think the patch box is about done for Tung oil and the stock is getting close...I've only got a few spots left to build up / even out....Then I can work on the barrel while I let the oil cure.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Yet another coat today....we'll see how it looks once dry, but I have to say it's close.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Now working to build up a few smaller areas, mostly on the forestock, where the oil has not built up quite the same finish. I figure it'd because I'm resting the stock vertically on the butt, so the oil is naturally "sliding" a bit due to gravity. I'll do spot hits, let it dry and then do full wipe coats to help it blend as things build.

Once I get the last of these spots dealt with, I'll set it up to cure and move on to the barrel....planning on just draw filing and French greying using the mustard technique. I think I have what I need to do some muzzle decoration, should I decide to go that way too (simple 8 dot pattern in line with the "corners" if I do).

 

[Psycho Mike]

Ok...the finish looks like it is now "full," so I'll likely give it 1-2 more coats to get it all evened out and then the stock will sit to cure.

With that in mind, I made a jig, got out a ruler, punch, hammer and optivisor and did this... still has some Sharpie on it and needs to be sanded/filed back flush, but I figure it'll clean up nice as I work on finishing the barrel. Wasn't sure I'd do it with the .58cal, but I went 3 passes with fairly light taps...I think it's going to look nice when finished.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Did I mention I found my old supply of powder? Had a bit squirrelled away in an old ammo box that I finally got around to opening up this weekend. I've got ~3/4 lb of FFFFg for priming and >1lb of FFg for main charges...original Goex. Amazing what happens when you pack things away right and "keep yer powder dry"...it will hold for a good number of years!

I also found and cleaned up my old powder flask....an old CVA brass flask that looked like cardboard it was so patina-ed up. A little Brasso, some Renaissance wax and the thing shines (almost) like new.

I'm thinking I have one more coat for the stock (just evening it out as I "spot oiled" the previously mentioned spots) and then it's time to let it sit and cure fully and onto the barrel

 

[Psycho Mike]

Well, I think I'm going to let this cure and see where it ends up...in the sun, it shows off the orange undertones, that's for sure!

 

[Fu Manchu]

That looks fantastic

 

[yonderin]

It has made it through customs and is winging its way to me. Yay! Now comes the hard part....seeing if I can actually put it together the way I want.

Mine isn't going to be a typical long....I'm after a "fresh from the gunsmith" look with bright finished hardware and a light finished stock (personal preference...everyone is going for aqua fortis / iron nitrate these days and I want something closer to an old Lyman I had). Still going to try to highlight the figure (looked pretty good for "regular" maple....maybe was an in-between grade), but aiming to have an overall honey-brown color. I'm also going to attempt some minor carving (molding lines, patch box lid) and will try my hand at insetting a "coin" in the comb of the stock.

Hopefully the rest of the build will go better than getting that darn coin ready... While not fully period correct (the symbolism of a Maltese cross could have been seen on a select few rifles, depending on the owner), it will reflect me well. I'm making use of a cut-down old hat brass in this case and I figured it'd look period unless you get super close and read the text around the cross itself (which is from about 100 years later than when the Colonial "fits"). It might not be fully period, but neither is a CNC'd stock

I figured using the brass would be a great idea and easy way to try with a first inset...but man alive, did they ever know how to metal plate those old hat brasses! I originally thought it was chrome over brass...you know, strip the chrome and it would match the hardware. Well, HCl / muriatic acid couldn't touch the silver colored plating. Tried cola, tried vinegar, tried caustic....nada. So, I filed the edge to see what I was dealing with and to give it the bevel needed to get ready for future insetting. The base metal looks like bronze, not brass...surprise!! Meh, it still works for what I want to do. So, I ended up trying a variety of the acids we have at work with no joy....until I decided to tempt fate with some nitric acid (will eat away at bronze). Well, that worked like a charm...that plating vanished pretty dang quick and I managed to do it without a loss of much base metal / detail. Now to get this little bugger all polished up so it's waiting when I get to that stage

I'll keep the gang here in the loop, if you are interested, as I build.

Any update? Please?

 

[Psycho Mike]

Any update? Please?

With how I was applying the Tung oil (roughly a coat per week), I think it's pretty well cured at this point...over three weeks since it last saw oil.

I noticed there were a few spots where the oil had come up a bit much and I wasn't 100% happy with it. So tonight I hauled out a really fine sandpaper and gave it a little dusting to help even it out a bit. I was a bit forceful in a couple spots, so I've had to do some touching up, but I think it is good to go on to the next step now. I should be starting on the Renaissance wax in the next few days...viva multiple coats!

Then, it's just some bench time to get the barrel drawn and polished up a bit, some re-assembly and, hopefully, she;s good to go.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Okay....put in the medallion last night and cleaned out the excess adhesive this morning. I'll clean up the nose cap a little (has some cured tung oil on it) and then I'm off to the land of elbow grease and Renaissance wax.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Cleaned off the nose cap tonight (had some cured Tung oil on it) and then started to wax...first coat is on, but it will take a good number to be done.