Kibler Woodsrunner Assembly Progress

[Bnewberry]

I just watched a video Jim Kibler has on scraping. Is this any specific type of steel? Or any thin scrap laying around will do the trick?

It is essentially a flat piece of steel that is worked to create a wire edge that is work hardened and sharp.

You can create an edge like this on a thin bit of steel, or you can use broken glass. I bought this as a set from Woodcraft:

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...21f469702d06760016cd,57641b8969702d65930008c9
Worth the money as they work great and the different shapes make finding the right radius a bit easier in the tight spots.

 

[garypl]

It is essentially a flat piece of steel that is worked to create a wire edge that is work hardened and sharp.

You can create an edge like this on a thin bit of steel, or you can use broken glass. I bought this as a set from Woodcraft:

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...21f469702d06760016cd,57641b8969702d65930008c9
Worth the money as they work great and the different shapes make finding the right radius a bit easier in the tight spots.

What @Bnewberry says - before I bought regular wood scrapers I would put a beer bottle in a bag, hit it with a hammer and pick out pieces to use as scrapers. Really work well, although not all the pieces have an edge suitable for scraping. You just have to pick a piece and try it!

You also have to polish and burnish steel scrapers to create a wire edge - you can search YouTube for instructions on how to do this. It's very simple but you do need a hard steel to turn the edge of the scraper.

 

[CuNosecap]

As mentioned above, scrapers need to be prepared before use. There is info on YouTube on how to form the wire edge. This edge needs to be reformed frequently, much like sharpening a chisel. This repeated step may make sandpaper more attractive to you. I tend to use paper abrasives to 400 grit way more often than I use scrapers.
I also like steel wool in successive finer grits but do so only after using aqua fortis or the residual steel will show rusty marks.
Burnishing and whiskering is also quite helpful in getting a smooth finish.
Another post mentioned TruOil. I am not a big fan of it on traditional muzzleloader builds as it is way shiny.
Some of the products from Laurel Forge works well for long rifle reproduction. More natural appearing.

 

[Trapper Scott]

But, worse comes to worse, you can always order another stock. Personally, a couple of years ago, I tried my hand at incise carvings on an old Marlin Glennfied .22 stock of mine. Wasn't very pleased with the results. Definitely something that needs repeated practice. And I carve wood spirits as a hobby too (my avatar is one of my carvings). Even with good carving tools I found it to be a different skill set.

I do a fair job checkering, but hand me some carving tools and I can quickly turn a work of art back into kindling. I'm not very creative in drawing and carving. I am acutely aware of my skill sets and limitations.

 

[Bnewberry]

Finally got some time in the shop to practice carving. After looking at photos of thw original (thanks to all who shared them) and the examples Jim Kibler provided I crudely sketched this on a bit of scrap ash to do my first practice carving.

I hesitate to share this because it is so crude compared to the art Jim and others do. But it is a start. I plan to practice on some maple next.

 

[Capnball]

The Woodsrunner stock came pretty smooth, not much sanding or scraping is needed. I tried to show the difference in a couple of side by side pictures. See if you can spot the scraped vs. unscraped sections.

Beautiful photos BTW

 

[jackpine54]

I've been trying my hand at some relief carving and am still in the practicing stage, but making progress. I'd say your carving is looking good.

 

[Greg_E]

Finally got some time in the shop to practice carving. After looking at photos of thw original (thanks to all who shared them) and the examples Jim Kibler provided I crudely sketched this on a bit of scrap ash to do my first practice carving.

I hesitate to share this because it is so crude compared to the art Jim and others do. But it is a start. I plan to practice on some maple next.

It is no worse than what I can do, and very likely a fair bit better than I can do. I grasp the concept, but putting that into practice never comes out very good for me.

 

[kcullers]

I am in the early stages of assembling my Woodsrunner. I am no expert so this is no guide, just me sharing my experiences building this kit.

My kit was evidently one of the first 25 kits to be shipped. Jim Kibler posted that he did a partial assembly on the first 25 as a quality check. This means that my Woodsrunner came with the buttplate and ramrod thimbles installed.

Hi,
When did you order your woodsrunner? I ordered mine on July 7th but have not received yet. Would love to see pictures of your finished rifle when you're done. Thanks.

 

[Bnewberry]

Hi,
When did you order your woodsrunner? I ordered mine on July 7th but have not received yet. Would love to see pictures of your finished rifle when you're done. Thanks.

I ordered and paid in May. They exact order for shipping will probably depend a bit on barre availability and production run in their shop.

I am wanting to get the rifle carved, to the minimal level I am capable by January and will be posting pictures as I get things done. I also hope to be ready to shoot mine in January!

 

[kcullers]

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Bnewberry]

I vacillated between carving and no carving, knowing that I had no experience doing carving on a gun. I finally decided on something simple. Still need to clean it up some.

 

[Greg_E]

That will probably pop nicely once you get some finish on the stock! I should get a practice kit and try some things.

 

[Bnewberry]

That will probably pop nicely once you get some finish on the stock! I should get a practice kit and try some things.

I hope so!

 

[garypl]

I think it looks good for your first job! Looking forward to seeing it after the stain and finish are applied.

 

[Bnewberry]

I think it looks good for your first job! Looking forward to seeing it after the stain and finish are applied.

Me too. I will do the butt carving next, then on to finishing!

 

[Bnewberry]

Carving done and aqua fortis is on. There are some areas on the wrist that did seem to take on much of the aqua fortis. I hope it evens out when The finish goes on. Funny, I think I am happy with the carving until I see it magnified.

 

[Bnewberry]

Well, more than half of the stock came out great! The wrist is troublesome. Looks like I will need to try to darken the rest of the stock with stain or sand/scrape the wrist down to bare wood and redo it.

 

[TDM]

You can put 2, even 3 coats of the aqua fortis on if you think it’s needed. When you apply your finish oil is when the colors will really start to pop.

 

[Bnewberry]

You can put 2, even 3 coats of the aqua fortis on if you think it’s needed. When you apply your finish oil is when the colors will really start to pop.

I did three applications of AF and blushed after each. The pictures are post first coat of oil. There is a lot of grain in the wrist and some of it really soaked up the AF while other parts did not. I was loving the red color in the forearm but my happiness was short lived when I got to the wrist and couldn’t rub back the dark areas without exposing the too light areas.

As with such projects one adapts and adjusts!