Is this the worst inletting job you've ever seen?

[Redlemur60]

Erics advise is sage!
Find a good mentor if you can
Next one will be better
But it might make you feel better to look at some originals inside mortices they often looked worser!

 

[waksupi]

Don't be shimming it, stop and do it right. Something isn't inlet properly. If you end up with a small gap between lock plate and barrel, that is corrected by removing material from the bolster to bring the plate to contact the barrel. Use some lacquer thinner to remove all the black, and start over.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Dude,
you need a mentor, or at least some books.
First…. Move that barrl back till it’s solid, flat against the rear of the inlet.
Second…. Fit the lock plate, by itself, to the barrel.
Third, …… fit each piece back in the plate till complete. Make sure the hole for the sear is deep enough. You may need to shorten the sear lever for clearance.
It looks like a pretty soft piece of maple, so inlets should not be that difficult. Most of the depth inlets can be done with forstner bits to depth. Then cleaned up with chisels and knives.
Keep the inlet black VERY minimal. Learn how to sharpen your tools.
Hope this helps.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Back to the original question, this was the worst inlet I’d seen until this. This one is in the firewood bin, I just kept the metal parts.
AA44C057-4A21-4247-B999-1CD62F22C4D2 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[oreclan]

Perhaps you have inlet the bottom side of the lock in further than the top so that the lock is not parallel to the side of the barrel.

 

[ord sgt]

There are some good videos on YouTube about sharpening your chisels. I wish I had seen them before I built my first rifles. take some time to view them, then work on your chisels and get those edges SHARP. Trust me on this.

 

[Tenmile]

Carving is something like 10% skill, 20% layout, and 70% sharp tools. Forty years in millwork taught me that happiness is sharp tools.

 

[Trapper1993]

Get A Xacto knife and #11 blades You can clean the edges up with that then see where your at

thanks

 

[Eric Krewson]

This should be your first cut with an Exacto knife, I tried a pencil line around the lock plate as guide but that didn't give me the precise line like a cut with an Exacto knife. I strop the Exato knife blade a bunch of times before and during the cut to make sure it cuts cleanly. As you can see, I cut out a place for the bolster first so I could lay the lock plate flat on the wood.

I have trouble cutting the round nose on a lock inlet and keeping it neat and a close fit. I made what I call a "nose chisel" out of a concrete nail that I shaped to cut a perfect half circle to fit in a Chambers late Ketland lock.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

This should be your first cut with an Exacto knife, I tried a pencil line around the lock plate as guide but that didn't give me the precise line like a cut with an Exacto knife. I strop the Exato knife blade a bunch of times before and during the cut to make sure it cuts cleanly. As you can see, I cut out a place for the bolster first so I could lay the lock plate flat on the wood.

View attachment 172386

I have trouble cutting the round nose on a lock inlet and keeping it neat and a close fit. I made what I call a "nose chisel" out of a concrete nail that I shaped to cut a perfect half circle to fit in a Chambers late Ketland lock.

View attachment 172387

 

[Rifleman1776]

You took lessons from me. You learned well, Grasshopper.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

I agree with Eric. Use the sharpest pencil you can make and trace your outline around the lock plate. Stay to the insides of any line so its smaller than whats intended. That way you can get to the exact size methodically. using an exacto or make a blade from a sheet rock knife blade and mount it in a dowel. They are friendly and allow you to make more exact cuts on radius areas that are the most difficult. On intial depth I put a piece of tape across the blade to act as a depth gauge. tapping down equally so that the cut is all the same depth. I pencil a series of cross hatches inside the area and do the same. That way wood removal becomes less aggressive and more even. It reduces the slipping and gouging that comes with trying to remove too much wood. Slower..but more precise. Finally get an old swiss army knife and grind your own custom tips on it. Cheap but effective. SM

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Eric...thinking out of the box....good deal!

 

[Shadowalker164]

No expert here, I have not tried something this ambitious as this, but I found that a set of lenolem sp carving tools were ideal for fine work. Think art store stuff. These cutting tools are intended for block printing. Very fine, very detailed work. And they take a good edge.
Again on the for what it’s worth category I also really like this strop setup. In my opinion it’s better than leather alone. Again you are a braver man than i

 

[Shadowalker164]

The carving tools

 

[HighUintas]

I second that suggestion for the flexcut slipstrop. I have one and it's very worth having.

Here is my first lock inlet. I think I used 3-4 chisels and regular drill bits. It's not the best, but very functional. I just took my time and used inletting color sparingly.

Best advice I found that helped me was:

- keep chisels sharp!
- you can sharpen chisels with wet/dry paper taped on a flat hard surface. 800, 1200, 2000 grit
- strop after sharpening and often during use
- stay inside your pencil line
- take your time
- use as thin a layer of inletting color as possible

 

[Mike in FL]

I surely do admire the skill involved. I dare not try it. So very easy to screw up. I once bought a cheat HHawken, finished, and worked for weeks redoing it to make it more authentic. I knew then I'd never be a builder.

 

[Trapper1993]

Here are my recent inletting jobs. They're not perfect but I think i'm doing way better that the hack job i did previously. Im still working on the trigger inlay. The star is flush with the wood

 

[oldwood]

Trapper.........If you need to see poor inletting , look at some old originals. ( gasp) , Many folks today ,seat their inlays , barrel tangs , patch boxes , etc. , in dye colored epoxie. No sin in that. It's an easy way to make perfect inletting. One common antique m/l barrel inletting job I've seen , is an octagon barrel seated in a round barrel channel. Due to the location , and style of the couple original examples seen , they were probably built in a Pittsburgh , Pa. production shop , of which there were many post 1800. Back then , as is now , "time is money" , that's the only explanation , I can expound. It's all good.............oldwood

 

[oldwood]

One item most folks don't mention about , when marking part outlines for inletting , is the lead pencil . Drafting pencils are hard lead , and make super thin lines when sharp. Their designation is a #4 lead hardness. A standard pencil for correspondence and notation is , a #2 or #2 1/2 softer lead. Try a sharp #4 , that should improve your inletting from the start...........oldwood