Fake tiger stripes

[kansas_volunteer]

Some of the old guns, and Leman trade rifles in particular, as I understand it, had fake tiger striping applied to plane maple. What would be some good ways to do that on a modern plain maple stock?

 

[Roy]

I believe some were applied by what appears to be just painted on, others were burnt in using a string wrapped around the stock that was soaked with kerosine or another flamable liquid.

 

[Swampman]

I did it using a dark pigmented varnish. Aqua Fortis and a small brush would be another way.

 

[Bob Gular]

I would lay out the stripes in pencil and follow the pattern with an electric woodburning pen. The Old Timers probably used waxed or greased string and burnt it off or maybe burnt the stripes on with a hot piece of steel.

 

[Zonie]

In an article I read, written by a guy who put a lot of study into it (including examining original Leman Rifles), the company used special paint brushes which had bristles that were about 3/8 of an inch long. These bristles were cut off leaving about 1/8 inch wide bristles with a 3/16 inch or so gap between them (it varied some).

This created a pattern that seemed to repeat itself every so often.

He felt the stripes were painted onto the stock with a mixture of asphalt and turpentine to create the dark areas, then the wood was oiled or finished with a varnish.

That's at least the main points I remember about the article.

zonie

 

[Doc Arroyo]

These bristles were cut off leaving about 1/8 inch wide bristles with a 3/16 inch or so gap between them (it varied some).

This created a pattern that seemed to repeat itself every so often.

He felt the stripes were painted onto the stock with a mixture of asphalt and turpentine to create the dark areas, then the wood was oiled or finished with a varnish.
zonie

Yep, that is what I have thought. I have only examined 6 or 7 origianl Lemans, but none of them had any apprearance of "burned in" striping.

 

[Vaino]

Have never faked curl but read somewhere that black ink was painted on w/ an artist's brush over a sealer to prevent blotching or blotter effect. When dry, the finish is applied. Have never read where the stock was charred or burned......Fred

 

[Stophel]

I have a mind to put stripes on this gun I'm fooling with now. It's a Lehigh gun that I'm experimenting around with. Dead plain wood that I am putting red varnish on anyway...

I'll paint them on with black paint I'll make myself. Then, the red varnish over top.

Apparently somewhat commonly seen on guns from the Lehigh/Berks/Bucks county complex. Painted on freehand. The Leman guns are known to have been painted on with the spaced brushes.

 

[tom hargrove]

:rotf: :rotf:
i got your fake strips, takes 20min start to finish.

 

I have an original percussion, altho not a Leman, with artificial striping. My guess is ink, maybe india ink, and a fine paintbrush.

 

[John Archer]

If you want to try the India ink method, dampen the wood down first...the ink will blur slightly and be much easier to control.

John.

 

[Pork Chop]

I recall that a while back, someone posted photos of their rifle that had faked stripes. They used wire and a torch iirc. It looked GREAT. Perhaps someone else recalls the details...

 

[Scota4570]

This torch business on maple is not practical on a gun. I have done the Sugi technique on a rifle. It does work. It also burns the corners off the stock. The burning string idea is folklore IMO for the same reason. The best bet would be to paint on some black ink. If one used several colors or dark brown to black you might be able to get plausible fiddle back without burning up the stock. Frankly one would be ahead of the game by buying a good stick in the first place.

 

[Stophel]

You're right, burning is a myth. :winking:

Doing fake stripes is a way to reproduce a method used on original guns in a pretty limited area.

I almost bought a late Moll rifle that had been sanded down, but not too badly, and it clearly had remnants of painted-on stripes. I have photos of others with painted-on stripes and red varnish over top.