Molly's Lehigh - Picture Heavy

[rich pierce]

Whoah dang. I can see whose work you are emulating. Mighty fine work. Mighty fine.

 

[Keb]

Boy, that's a skinny little thing. Nice looking gun. The finishes are great, too. I'm wondering about that flat in front of the wood door. I think it'd look better if it was blended into the wrist more. That's just me. I know nothing about this style of gun.
Yer pal, Keb

 

[QuanLoi]

Beautiful gun! Have fun shooting it!

Decker

 

[jdkerstetter]

....I'm wondering about that flat in front of the wood door....

Odd as it may seem Keb, on the wood patchbox Lehighs I have handled and seen published all had this flat. That being said, neither of the guns that I "borrowed" carving ideas from had wood boxes....and again, I must defer to my "customer" as that's what she wanted. I like it too.

Rich, I'm not clear if you are referring to the original guns or a certain particular contemporary builder who happens to live near me....either way, that's high praise. :wink:

Thanks again all for the complements. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[TinStar]

Gorgeous!

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[cynthialee]

That is a very nice rifle!

:hatsoff:

 

[bpd303]

And Molly is a lucky girl.

 

[Dan Jordan]

absolutly beautiful rifle sir, your daughter should be proud of the rifle and the maker! And thank you for responding to my posts.

 

[agill]

Beautiful rifle! :hatsoff:

 

[jdkerstetter]

....And thank you for responding to my posts.

Thanks you....and no problem. Suffolk, VA, eh? I spent over 10 years living there before I retired from the Navy and moved here in '08. I sure miss the fishing....Lake Prince especially.

I sure appreciate all the praise. No detractors or constructive critism? Suggestions? Anyone? I can take it as well as I dished it out. :wink: Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Bruce Bogart]

Fine effort JD! I do like the FN/alky stain. I figure when I get done screwing up the carving on my latest project I'm going to give it a whirl. Molly should be pleased as should you!

 

[jdkerstetter]

Thanks Bogie. Of course you've seen the discussions on the FN crystals from the Science Company. I don't like keeping acids around since I had an incident a while back so this method really appealed to me when I read about it.

For those that don't know the ferric nitrate is basically what is commonly/mistakenly referred to as aqua fortis. It's iron disolved in nitric acid. Some proprietory blends include hydrocloric acid also. The crystals are a dry form and are purple. When reconstituted in alcohol they produce an amber colored stain.

I simply scooped out a couple of table spoons in to a glass jar and added denatured alcohol, capped it and shook it up. Wet the stock down good, let dry.

It turned the stock a sickly grass green....like the stuff you scrape out of the bottom of the lawn mower. :shocked2: If I hadn't been expecting this color reaction it would have really thrown me. I can't remember if I took pictures of it. If I did I'll post 'em.

I applied heat with my Milwaukee heat gun and it turned a rich amber/brown. It was simple and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Rick Son]

AMAZING!!!

Now why don't we have a show like this to watch on tv!!! Can you imagine havin a dad that made stuff like that!Craftsmen and women and artists have always amazed me :shocked2:

 

[jamesthomas]

Yea, I have a problem with it!! :cursing: It ain't mine!! I'll even take the angry Smurf and the heart shaped front sight!!. Really, you've made yourself an your daughter a beautiful rifle :hatsoff: .

 

[M. De Land]

Well, I went back over all the pictures and I don't see any flies on the rifle at all. The individuality of minor chip out flaws are what give a rifle it's own character and personality. Who wants an absolutely flawless gun, none of the originals were,just ain't natural.
How is the grain run through the wrist? MD

 

[Bruce Bogart]

Well JD I've been inspecting Molly's rifle, and have a few comments. First of all I really like the "blued" barrel and lock. The few original old timey rifles I've seen seem to have more of a blackish hue to the barrel. Maybe this was from a bit of rust then oiled for years and years? IDK. Secondly, yes I see a few wobbles and chips but I am certainly not in a position to point them out!!! Thirdly (?) I think your mentor (Al?) has probably given you more feedback and suggestions than any of us could. Finally, I think it is a fine representation of a Lehigh!

 

[jdkerstetter]

Thanks again all.

....individuality of minor chip out flaws are what give a rifle it's own character and personality....How is the grain run through the wrist? MD

Thanks, that's what I was going for. I fixed a couple chips in key places and left others for that very reason....that or I couldn't find them mixed in with all the other chips on the floor. :grin: Wrist grain runs good....Fred Miller's a real pro. Thanks for asking.

.....I think your mentor (Al?) has probably given you more feedback and suggestions than any of us could....

Yes, he did....and then some. :wink: And thanks Bogie. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[54ball]

Two words come to my mind, Outstanding and Authentic.
I'll offer a critique but it's more for the novices like myself rather than J.D.

Firstly the architecture is executed near perfectly. It has the lines of an original rifle. This rifle has the "look" meaning the look of an original. Note the lock panels, the comb, the fore stock, note how the lock just flows with the rifle, the slimness, all of it. To accomplish this it takes a great deal of research, as in study preferably, hands on study of originals. Study is just one major step, the other is recreating what you study into wood and metal, here it's executed near perfectly. To say that accomplishing that is hard or takes a lot of hard work is an understatement.

Secondly the carving. Again I'll use the phrase near perfectly. It's crisp, it's good and appears to be done in a workman's like manner. Note how the outlines hold the "aging". Imagine this carving with a lot of wear. It's authentic.

Thirdly the finish is pleasing and near perfect. It is slightly aged but does not look "aged". The balance of the aged wood and metal is difficult achieve on a new rifle and think it's pulled off wonderfully here. The metal engraving is near perfect.

Fourthly the wood choice is excellent and also lends to the authenticity. Honestly a high grade tightly figured piece of maple would have taken away from this piece. The wood used makes it much more interesting. Note how the tightly figured wood box "pops" compared to the rest of the rifle. Since it does not have an engraved brass box the curly maple makes the statement on the stock. Nicely done.

I said at the beginning of this post that I was a novice so I cannot give J.D. any building advice but I can say what this rifle is in the eyes of a historian.

I have said that things were executed near perfect or in a workman's like manner meaning just like original pieces.
This rifle is a continuation of the rifle builders art started some 250 years ago by frontier smiths that show the hands of the maker.
This rifle is not some antiseptic perfectly executed modern interpretation.

Kudos for a properly executed authentic rifle from an incredibly hard school to get right.

:hatsoff: :hatsoff:
Travis

 

[Mickc01]

WOW!! Awesome. :thumbsup:

 

[MSW]

tremendous!

(nice photos, too)

:hatsoff: