Leaving well enough alone

[bioprof]

I was making a cheek inlay today to replace one that was missing on the Art Holly rifle that I bought second hand. It appears that he only used epoxy to attach his inlays and 5 were missing (I'm surprised a buider of his caliber didn't pin his inlays). Anyway, I was very pleased with the fit after I cut out the inlay, but had a slight gap on one side of the outer oval. I thought I could peen the edge to fill in the gap, but when I peened it, it threw the whole inlay out of kilter. To make a long story short, it took me a couple hours of anealing and bending to undo the distortion of the overall shape caused by the peening. After all that, it was probably worse than it was before. I tenatively have decided to just bed it in with some acraglas dyed with brown pigment and live with it. Another option would be to cut out the eagle and make another outer oval out of brass. Which would be the best option???? I don't have it glued in place yet, but here's a picture of the inlay that I was working on.

Another question. Is there any kind of tape that you can put over the wood so that you can file or sand the inlay in place without ruining the finish? One thing I have learned, never rely on epoxy to attach inlays. It is much harder to replace an inlay than put one in to begin with.

 

Hi; I contacted my friend that has a holly rifle.but he hasnt sent pictures yer. Art was quite eldery when he built your rifle, those were the earlydays of wonder adhesives and he liked to experiment. Plese ship me a pm with your email and I will see if I can get you and ted together. I had one Holly that he had used wood keys on the barrel. Bob

 

[54JNoll]

At this point I think I would just bed her and be done with it.

As to tape, you might try masking tape or scoth tape. Just taker her easy but you might still have to refinish around the edges.

Good luck

 

[WRussell]

For tape, I favor a hard, tough, smooth tape like mylar, because a sharp file will go right through masking tape in one errant swipe. You have slightly better odds with something like mylar. Besides, it's thinner.