Over 50 hours of carving later...

[Col. Batguano]

As always Dave, you said it all as succinctly and clearly as could ever be asked for.

 

[Jerry Samouce]

Finished.... Taaa Daaa!

Aprintence Builder did the amazing etching on the star.

 

[gabedard]

Sweet!
Thanks for sharing

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Looks dandy, well done and way beyond my first.

 

[oldwood]

Very nice work , Jerry............As far as the star , BIGGER is BETTER.............oldwood

 

[CumberlandRiver]

Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JL]

Hoping you post some outside photos that capture the entire rifle too!

 

[Col. Batguano]

That RR jag is a neat "twist" you added to it! Very creative and attractive! I'd not seen that before.

What did you use for a finish? I like the way the concave areas and incises darkened up on you to highlight to tops. The overall gun is a nice satin dull finish, but the light seems to highlight and show reflections in the concave recesses, and the variations in the depths seem to be reflected and highlighted. I wonder if there's a way those could be dulled up a bit so as not to call attention to them? Maybe a very small piece of 4-0 steel wool or 400 grit sand paper around a tooth pick (or appropriately shaped backer)?

 

[Jerry Samouce]

Yeah, that jag was just to sexy to leave in a bag...

I used this to finish it... That "tru oil" is some amazing stuff!
and
I have always used pencil lead to darken my negative spaces in all my wood working. I discovered the technique and effect many years ago. The lead totally mixes, spreads out, and fades into the finish oils creating a killer shade effect...

 

[Col. Batguano]

Did you cut it at all? Finish has a way of "pooling" in the bottoms of recesses which is what (I think) is causing the intermittent reflections. It could just be the light and lighting too. (Looking at pictures on a screen at about 5x normal size isn't really fair compared to the more normal "in hand" examination a gun usually gets.). That's why so many thin coats and the wiping of the recesses as it is drying can just seem to take forever.

 

[Jerry Samouce]

Looks dandy, well done and way beyond my first.

Your etching work on that star was amazing and makes the rifle POP!

If anyone needs etching help...contact ApprenticeBuilder!
I cant praise his work enough!

 

[Jerry Samouce]

That RR jag is a neat "twist" you added to it! Very creative and attractive! I'd not seen that before.

What did you use for a finish? I like the way the concave areas and incises darkened up on you to highlight to tops. The overall gun is a nice satin dull finish, but the light seems to highlight and show reflections in the concave recesses, and the variations in the depths seem to be reflected and highlighted. I wonder if there's a way those could be dulled up a bit so as not to call attention to them? Maybe a very small piece of 4-0 steel wool or 400 grit sand paper around a tooth pick (or appropriately shaped backer)?

I used "tru oil" uncut (after both Laurel Mountain stain and sealer) about 4 layers.
First one applied "dripping" thick with my finger-allowed to harden 24 hours- sand paper down to almost the stain.
The other 3- applied in thinner coats with a t-shirt wrapped around my fingers- each allowed to dry 24 hours- sand papered away raised flaws which became smaller and smaller with each coat- until near glass smooth.

 

[pooch156]

You did a beautiful job!

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Your etching work on that star was amazing and makes the rifle POP!

If anyone needs etching help...contact ApprenticeBuilder!
I cant praise his work enough!

Thank you,

Hand engraving, done with the aid of hammer and chisel tooling, etching implies the use of chemicals to achieve the desired results.

Enjoy and happy you like the work.

 

[Jerry Samouce]

Yeah... my mistake... Let me correctly rephrase this!

ApprenticeBuilder's engraving work on that star was amazing and really makes the rifle POP!

If anyone needs graving help...contact ApprenticeBuilder!
I cant praise his work enough!

 

[Jerry Samouce]

 

[Jerry Samouce]