Lock panel shaping

[Onojutta]

What tool(s) do you use to shape the front of the lock panel, namely from the pan forward and down toward the bottom?

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I outline the profile with a small V gouge. Then skew chisel / files / emory board, etc.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I use a 3/8" rat tail rasp to shape the nose of the lock panel. I follow up with a round barrel channel scraper. Be sure to look at some originals before you start taking off wood.

 

[64Springer]

6mm Gouge.

3/8" rat tail.

Dowel and sandpaper.

 

[deerstalkert]

6mm Gouge.

3/8" rat tail.

Dowel and sandpaper.

and a good light to show high/low spots.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Go here:

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/an-early-vermont-rifle.154528/page-2
dave

 

[waksupi]

These are my favorite. I've used them on around 500 guns. Great for cheek piece work, too.

https://shop.brownells.com/gunsmith...files/half-round-vulcanite-file-prod6764.aspx
For directly over the front of the lock, I flattened a screw driver, and put a 90 degree bend in it. Rounded the tip, and sharpened. Makes short work of the job.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

See this.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/lock-panel-101.148554/

 

[Onojutta]

Hi,
Go here:

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/an-early-vermont-rifle.154528/page-2
dave

Just what I was looking for! Thanks d_p

 

[hawkenhunter50]

Following along.

 

[Rob M.]

What tool(s) do you use to shape the front of the lock panel, namely from the pan forward and down toward the bottom?

Put a picture of a lock and mortice that you like right there for you to see while working . With pencil or such draw that edge around d the lock front how you want it . I use a gouge and on the outside of the line I push the gouge straight down and pushing a bit forward for a swoop to the cut . Do that to the entire outline you drew . Then ....take a round rat tail rasp , I like a small course one for this , the diameter is small than my penky finger , and with gun in vice , lock pointed up at you , work that rat tail horizontal to first knock those high perks down , then taking it all down to where you want it . Now , while working g the rasp use your fingernail as a stop so the rasp dies not go past your line into your mortice . light strokes , go easy . Sometimes after doing this I'll look down , take gun out of vice and look down from top of barrel and look at depth of cut , recess around front of lock , and sometimes it isn't deep enough so I havr to repeat the process , gouge cuts down and sweep forward , then work the rasp around the mortice line , use ginger nail of other hand as stop to I dont go past my line ....then take out the gun and check it again . When it is done , look down from top , looking down past barrel , and mark where your lo k mortice stops and mark on the side plate side so when you do the mortice in front of the side plate it is the same length as the lock mortice , symmetrical ...... The tear of both mortices you font need a gouge , just the rat tail rasp . Male your lines like before and rasp it to shape tapering into the wrist . Mark both points so they are symmetrical as well ....Check from top every now and then .

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Old time makers realized that no one could see both sides of the lock area at once so they usually did not fuss too much to make them perfectly symmetrical. This was particularly true on British guns during most of the 18th century. They made sure the panels started and stopped at about the same points on the gun but the rest of the outline was dictated by the lock and the shape of the side plate. Here is an example of an original 1760s English fowler by Joseph Heylin of London. The side plate side is shaped to fit the plate rather than match the lock side but the panels start and stop at the same places.

Notice how thin the flats around the lock are. They virtually disappear. They became a bit wider later in the century and in the 19th century, as locks got smaller, but they were never as wide as you see on many modern-made pieces.

dave

 

[Col. Batguano]

After the outline is established, for the coarse work I use a half-round file, followed up by those round scrapers that Brownells sells (both the red one and the blue one). I like the look of panels essentially "growing" out of the stock, and the panel sweep curves evolving throughout the lock panel. I also like to take my time in taking off material here, because lock panel sweeps are very tricky to get right. Scrapers allow that degree of control that I lack the touch with with the coarser tools.

To me, a constant tight radius (like using a 3/8" radius rat-tail file) around the panels gives them sort of an "applied" look, rather than a "growing" one. Though, for some styles, that look is entirely correct. So it really depends on what it is that you're building too.