The rifle with the meteor sights

[davec2]

I received an email asking about the rifle that the meteorite sights I made will go on. It is a copy of a Jim Kibler rifle that showed up on the Contemporary Maker's blog a couple of months ago. Here is a link to Jim's rifle
http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2014/06/jim-kibler.html

Here is the link to the post about the sights
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/290869/

Here is how the copy stands at the moment.....

Just finished up the last of the rough carving.  All of it needs to be gone over, straightened out, sculpted a little more, and the background cleaned up.  However, forward progress will have to wait for now.  (This working for a living stuff is really cramping my style....)  At any rate, here is where I will have to leave it for a couple of weeks.

 

[M. De Land]

Beautiful work , thanks for sharing the photos!

 

[Jim Vatt]

Nicely done! :thumbsup:

 

[19283]

Drool drool.....

Hi Dave, as a neophyte builder who just finished his first carvings on a gun stock, I'm looking at your carvings with a critical eye, and I have to ask...how'd you do that? My carvings, at least me, look rather crude, and yours look like they were carved by a CNC machine :bow: Do you use a v-gouge to outline the scrolls, an exacto knife, or something else? Inquiring minds wish to know!!!

Thanks

 

[stuartg]

Very very clean work. Thanks for sharing!

 

[davec2]

19283,

I don't use many tools to do my stock work. Here are the primary ones:

The red handles tools are made by Ramelson. The riflers I use to smooth the background around the carving are sold by Gesswein. (Part numbers 700-9110, 700-9112, 700-9130, 700-9132, 700-9510, 700-9512). Not cheap, but really perfect for the job.

I draw the design on the stock and cut all around it with the knife shown to a depth of about 0.030". Then I remove a small amount of wood all around the design with the flat chisels and blend the contour into the surrounding stock shape. I sculpt the carving with the same chisels as well, sometimes accentuating the outside of the design with the "V" tool or using the curved chisel to contour. Incised cuts are made with the "V" tool. Then I use the riflers to smooth the background. I usually grind the tips of the riflers to a rounded front end (they come with a square end) and sometimes grind the teeth off one side so that one edge doesn't cut. For final smoothing I either use small scrapers I make from box cutter blades or glue sand paper to popcycle sticks then cut them to a sharp point to sand in small places. Just re-cut the point back some when the abrasive wears out on the tip.

 

[Artificer]

REALLY NICE work, Dave.:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

Gus

 

[19283]

Thanks for the information Dave! Your work is simply stunning.

 

[MSW]

gorgeous! thanks for the post!

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Very beautiful! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[jamesthomas]

Beautiful work! :thumbsup: Don't let the cat back up to it and "Mark it". :grin: .

 

[Grumpa]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing the finished rifle, with meteorite sights in place, and how she shoots.
Thanks. :thumbsup:
Grumpa

 

[84bronze]

Awesome attention to detail and clean looks! That's going to be one nice rifle when finished.

I like that wooden patch box cover. :thumbsup:

 

[Mickc01]

Wow!! :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[davec2]

Well....for better or for worse, I have completed my attempt at a copy of a Jim Kibler rifle.  No one would ever confuse the two, but this has been an excellent learning experience for me and, as usual, digital photography shows me many more of my mistakes than the naked eye.  Nonetheless, here is the final result:

 

[Artificer]

Just have two things to write:

1. WOW!!! :thumbsup:

2. I would be proud to own that rifle!!
:hatsoff:

Gus

 

[Rifleman1776]

Biggest criticizm I have is that it is not in my gun cabinet.
:wink: Beyond beautiful. :bow:

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Thats a work of art right there, thanks for sharing Dave.

:hatsoff:

 

[Grumpa]

A beautiful rifle!

Now, the "final result" will be when you send lead downrange, and we get to see the synergy of rifle and sights.

This is truly a special project.

 

[Grumpa]

Note: Original post on the meteorite sights was under "The Gun Builder's Bench" - topic # 290869
Sights made from unusual material, on 09-21-14.