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

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Oldwood is dead on!
when i draw an outline i try to have my pencil tip so fine that i don't see the outline until i take the piece away.
then i stab with my sharpest chisel inside the line. only when i have a good drop into the wood will i slowly take it out TO the line. one can always take wood away, putting it back is rather difficult.
 
Deerstalkert........So , You are a stabber , too. I go one step farther , and use several sizes of straight chisels , (repurposed screw drivers) , ground on a semi circle and rock the chisel inside the pencil line , in the direction the line goes. The straight chisels are ground with a double edge , with the cutting edge in the center. Back in the 1970's , I had a friend working in the gun shop at Colonial Williamsburg. He put me onto some research done there , on original carving tools. (Don't have sell svc , so can't show pics. ) The rocking chisels are magic to use , and the smallest I use is 3 mm , while the largest is 1/2 inch. Been doing this since about 1975. I'm amazed no one else does this.........oldwood
 
I use an adjustable gauge to clamp my new chisels in to use on a double sided Arkansas stone. Mark your edges with a marker to make sure you are getting the angle on the edge. After that, I use a leather strop with Flex-Cut on it. My carving knives, drawknives, spokeshaves, chisels never see a stone again. Just keep stropping them on the leather.
 
To the original poster, take a iron and a wet rag to the outside of your lock mortise. Steam it with the hot iron and wet rag. Due to the blunt chisels I bet there’s a lot of wood compression. This will give you a second chance to close up the gappitosis.
 
This is a book every amateur woodworker should have. A good honing guide is a real help for sharpening flat chisels and plane blades. Also, after decades of using inletting black someone suggested dark lipstick. It works great without all the mess. MIght be a good idea to show the wife how you got it on your shirt though.
To answer the OP, it's pretty bad but I've seen worse. As mentioned, move the barrel back and get that right. You can still do that before you drill the touch hole.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sharpeni...+by+lenoard+lee,stripbooks,182&ref=nb_sb_noss
 
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Worst inlet I've ever seen was on this old rifle I purchased from an auction. It was basically routered out the size of the lock plate to a depth that nothing would contact the wood, then they went back and made pillars out of acraglas to support the lock.

20210420_200215.jpg
 
Has all the hallmarks of an impatient builder with the wrong set of tools.

On a positive note, i think it’s a step in the right direction in terms of understanding how to do it.

I’ve learned over the years, small tools work small areas’s, study your work heavily before starting it and and take take take your time.

Even if you’re building for someone else, take your time, if they rush you send their kit back.
 
olschool, that's hard, but funny. I am not a gun builder, but I applaud the builder who tries and is not afraid to ask for help. Hopefully the advice given will help.
 

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