Don't Carve That Stock!

[PathfinderNC]

...Unless you are good at it.
I've seen a lot of well made rifles, some even with very nice metal engravings, but then come the photos of the cheek piece or whatever, with some terribly done carvings (or more like attempts at carving).
Bad carving can absolutely ruin your fine gun.
Take the time to develop the skill, know your skill level and proceed with caution. It's better to leave it plain sometimes, honestly.
Cheers.

 

[IanH]

The exact same advise could be dispensed appropriately to many gun makers across the past 500 years. In fact, I keep researching original work looking for carving patterns to copy and have found the majority of the work to be fairly crude, not precision work done by an expert specialist.

 

[oldwood]

Many new "carvers" , actually have problems understanding design concepts. If you can't design a carving , it might turn out clunky looking , and not delecate , like most actual original carvings were. Get help from someone that knows how to translate carving from original pictures , as in Shumway's books. I got lucky when I first started to do m/l carving art. The legendary Lou Sanchez , sat down with me , and taught me the ropes of design with pencil and paper , at a national shoot , Friendship Ind. , back in the 1970's. More advice , try to put the correct carving on a gun from a specific school. Putting Lancaster school carving on a Lehigh valley stock , looks awkward and inappropriate.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I have to agree, bad carving is nothing new. That's why I don't attempt it. Simple work done well looks good while a complicated carving or checkering job that is done poorly looks terrible.

 

[deerstalkert]

amen on this advice. I checkered for close to 50 years and when i observe examples from some manufacturers i want to break some ones fingers.
i have seen checkering on the most beautiful wood that looked as if done using a screw driver.

 

[acavdragoon]

A Dremel is not a carving tool!

 

[Kmcmichael]

It is my gun. If inherited a medium job done by me would mean more than a beautiful job done by others. If doing something for someone else I am very conservative.

 

[longcruise]

It's better to leave it plain sometimes, honestly.

Completely agree. A rifle with good architecture and no carving is very appealing. I don't carve, but that doesn't mean I create good architecture!

 

[Cavalry Joe]

 

[The Appalachian]

If most originals were indeed "crude," and if we strive for period correctness, who is more accurate. The crude carver, or the Picasso of all things carved?

And a rhetorical question, what's the reason behind originals being mostly crude. They had the same tools, and the ability to take the time and the ability to do intricate work. So why be crude about it.

 

[stikshooter]

If most originals were indeed "crude," and if we strive for period correctness, who is more accurate. The crude carver, or the Picasso of all things carved?

And a rhetorical question, what's the reason behind originals being mostly crude. They had the same tools, and the ability to take the time and the ability to do intricate work. So why be crude about it.

I think you had the answer all along , (tool) is what comes to mind . I in that time period might not be able to carve my shovel handle , my other tool my rifle would be easier with less breakage /Ed

 

[Tumbledown]

My gun, my art. I'm not worried about what someone is going to think about it long after I'm dead.

 

[LME]

My gun, my art. I'm not worried about what someone is going to think about it long after I'm dead.

I am pretty sure a lot of old timers screwed with carving their stocks and wound up with a ugly mess? Like my father use to say when someone was in the shop needing a part repaired that they had worked on,''Looks like a bears a$$ sewed up with grape vine""!
He had a special way with the kings english!

 

[oldwood]

My dear old Dad did checkering on modern rifles for about 30 yrs. , as a hobby , because he loved doing it. He had a small bench set up next to the furnace in the cellar. He would checker many evenings after work . I watched him work , but I had no desire to do the hours of repetitious lines it took to do checkering. He did. His work was flawless.

 

[Sean E Bug]

This is an attitude that really frustrates me. nobody gets to be good at something without practice. My carving and engraving is amateurish to be generous but I get better every time I try. it is not sophisticated or a beautiful design or well executed but at least I am making mistakes and learning. I am not great at building the rest of the gun either but if I let my limited skill stop me I would sit in front of a tv for the rest of my life never getting better at anything. I really wish someone would write a book on drawing and design for Longrifles. disregard the naysayers and give it a go.

 

[Bnewberry]

I don’t often carve a stock, but when I do, I hope to do this well!

 

[waksupi]

The biggest problem that results in a poor job, is lack of understanding of the golden mean. If you can't draw a flowing design correctly with no flat spots, don't try to put it on a gun. When I was being taught engraving, I was put to work drawing designs on paper for a month before I was permitted to put a graver to metal. The actual execution can be a bit crude, as long as the artistic expression is done correctly.

You don't need to practice on a gun stock. Make cribbage boards, walking sticks, any piece of wood you can get your hands on, you can practice your drawing and carving skills.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I bought a .54 flint rifle with good parts, but with poor to mediocre relief carvings on the stock. Does this bother me? Not one bit. Those carvings have nothing to do with how the rifle shoots. Aesthetics come in second place for me. Functionality is a hard first.

 

[Daveboone]

And we cherish the historic arm with the owners name crudely carved in it, or a jack knife carved deer on the stock....Makes me wonder if two hundred years from now our rifles with "Jim Bob", or a "Squatch" carved in the side will also be looked upon as lovingly.....

 

[nchawkeye]

Bnewberry...Here is my attempt at it, feel like I did pretty good on the carving but not as good on the background cleanup...