Fence Post #2

[ylhatch]

Wow, that's fantastic. You have a very special talent. W

 

[jerrywh]

Dave -- You pass. That's as good as I have ever seen. Looks like your about ready for your masters degree.

 

[davec2]

Jerry,

Thanks for the vote of confidence ! I'm working on getting better at this.

Had a chance to get the muzzle cap and trigger guard engraved today:

 

[jerrywh]

That's real nice Dave and thanks again for the real neat oil bottle. To bad you have to waste your time building rockets all the time.

 

[M. De Land]

Boy, that is mighty fine, I can't draw a straight line. Thanks for showing that. I wish more people would share pictures of the stuff they do. MD

 

[MSW]

tremendous looking work!

 

[davec2]

Well, after the conclusion of a long and arduous aerospace contract, I finally had some time to finish the second poorly designed rifle I referenced in some previous posts.  

This is the second rifle that I almost threw out or made into a fence post when I started building and realized how much I didn't know.  I have completed it for another brother-in-law and, again, learned a lot along the way thanks to many of those much better builders and engravers.  My sincere thanks again for all their lessons and suggestions.  As before, I am looking for any and all suggestions and critiques. This is the last of the old projects that I started before I found this and other sites dedicated to this type of work.  I have started the next rifle now and will have no excuses this time around for making the nitwit mistakes I have made previously.

Some specifics:

.50 caliber, 7/8" straight GM barrel
L & R lock
Wood stain: Shop made aqua fortis stain (per Mad Monk's excellent directions) & neutralized post heat blush with baking soda paste
Wood finish: Daly's Seafin Ship'n Shore Sealer and Daly's Teak Oil

 

[MarTay6]

Wow... what I wouldn't give to be your Brother-in-law!!! That is simply amazingly gorgeous worksmanship... *bowing*
Your 2nd effort??? Fence post??? Uhhhhhh- come down here and visit us mere mortals sometime....
*sigh*
Wes

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Stunning work!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[larry wv]

Very nice. :thumbsup: Larry

 

[Wes/Tex]

Hey, you got any more unmarried sisters? Seriously, that's truly outstanding attention to detail and some serious raw talent! My heartiest congratulations!! :hatsoff:

 

[Birddog6]

As always...... :bow: Absolutely Superb !!

If I could engrave like that, I could never sell a one..... :redface:

Keith Lisle

 

[Swamp Rat]

That is just SOOOO wrong. Thought I was doing well on my build. I'm suffering from depression now. Good thing it's not finished I'd be sucking on the end of the barrel trying to reach the trigger. :v: We need a Green smiley guy, cause I sure am Green with envy. Ya Done good! Oh next time it's spelt "Swamp Rat" for the patch box.

 

[Lock Nut]

I'm too embarrassed to even post any of my stuff now. :wink:

Awesome job!

 

[jamesthomas]

I wish I could even dream of building a fence post like that one :surrender: . You need to take it hunting and fall down with it a few times, or get it tangled up in a briar bush to help it get that "aged and used" look :grin: .

 

[Col. Batguano]

What did you use to blacken the engraving brass with?

Was this all hammer & chase engraving, or done with power tools?

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Excuse me while I scoop my jaw off the floor :grin: Outstanding work!! :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[Ken Cormier]

Hi. IMHO this rifle is useless for several reasons..
1. You can't load it cuz you would have to take one hand off it to pour powder down the barrel.
2.You can not use the ramrod as it might slip and scratch the nose cap.
3. You have a hard time to get the lock to work with a cow's knee on it. That you need to keep the drool from running down over the lock getting the wood wet and ruining the finish.
4. Last but not least you could not site it as you would have to keep putting it down to look at it.
5. Like I said ussless . It is like a trophy wife all I could do would be to look at it and drool.
Just a rant.

 

[Doug Lykins]

Sheeesh....That is a functional work of art. :bow:

 

[davec2]

Col. Batguano,

After I engrave the brass, I use Birchwood Casey's "Brass Black" to darken the cuts. It also darkens the rest of the surface, so I polish it back with 2000 grit abrasive paper before I antique the surface a little.

The engraving is all done by hand, some push, some hammer, and some with a 30 year old Gravermeister. For this rifle I only used two graver shapes, a square and a flat. Both very small.