to inlet or not to inlet ?

[JohnN]

Should this plate be inlet or sit on the surface ?

 

[Ames]

Clean it up and let it sit on the surface. My 2 cents.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
It should be inlet. The depth will be very shallow.

dave

 

[Crewdawg445]

Definitely inlet as Dave mentioned.

I recently inlayed a similar plate, certainly worth the efforts.

Not to critique, but just some friendly advice, it appears from your image the breech end of the barrel is not sitting flush against the shoulder of the stock. Very important you take care in making sure you have a good breech to shoulder fit.

That particular area including the tang inlet is very important!

 

[Black Hand]

Cleaned-up and inlet slightly.

 

[Black Hand]

...it appears from your image the breech end of the barrel is not sitting flush against the shoulder of the stock. Very important you take care in making sure you have a good breech to shoulder fit.

That particular area including the tang inlet is very important!

Good catch! The breech end of the barrel should be flush with the wood - I see a considerable gap that should not be there. Looks like the barrel needed to be inlet further to the rear.

 

[wattlebuster]

For certain an for sure inlet :thumbsup:

 

[Keb]

inlet it.

 

[Pete G]

Should be inlet to be correct.

 

[JohnN]

The inlets have it. Now, how do you fill the gaps ?

 

[dave_person]

What gaps? There shouldn't be any gaps.

dave

 

[Black Hand]

What gaps? There shouldn't be any gaps.

dave

What Dave said...

Are you referring to the gap between the barrel and the stock?

 

[JohnN]

Yes.

 

[talkingamoeba]

2-cents from someone without the experience of the other commenters- the sideplate/lock 'nails' will look better if you look at photos of originals and put a file and abrasive paper to the heads so they aren't glaringly machine made. It's a small detail, but makes a world of difference.

 

[Zonie]

The inlets have it. Now, how do you fill the gaps ?

There won't be any gaps if you use my method.

Some will say trace around the part with a pencil and then try to cut to the line but I have yet to see a pencil line that is thinner than a human hair. (.003").
Also, I'll add that using this method has never worked well for me.

I would rather use the hard metal edge of the inlay to position the tip of the blade exactly tight to the edge.

Using my method, any gap that exists will be no larger than that and a .003 gap is all but invisible.

Get a Hobby Knife like an Exacto, with a pointed blade. (The Chinese handles work just as well as Exacto and are a lot cheaper.)
You should buy some extra pointed blades and the ones sold by Ace hardware are almost as good as the Exacto brand.

You also should buy some super glue and have a fine tooth flat file.

My inletting tools look like this



You don't need to make or buy the little chisels I made and a good 1/4" chisel will do 90 percent of the work of removing the wood in the central area.

If you have access to a grinder it would be wise to buy an extra 1/4" chisel and grind its width down to about 1/8". If you do this, dip the tip into some water often to keep it cool as you grind away the excess metal.

The very first thing to do with a new blade is to use a whet stone or sandpaper to dull up at least 1/4" of the hobby knife blade that is nearest to the handle. If you don't, you will accidentally bump that area with your finger and cut yourself.

It is a good idea to file the sides of the inlay with a taper so the place where the side meets the bottom is slightly smaller.
In the case of your inlay, very little filing will be needed but on inlays with thick edges, this step is more important.

With the edges filed, determine the best place for the inlay. Once you figure that out, you can lightly trace around the inlay with a pencil so you can put it back in the right place.

Put a few drops of super glue on the back side and position it on the wood, pressing it down with some force to activate the glue.

Now, holding the hobby knife so that the handle is tipped outward a bit, place the tip of the pointed blade right against the side of the inlay and press the tip into the wood about 1/16".
Do NOT try to cut away any wood. You are trying to form a clean razor sharp cut around the inlay.

Move the knife a little bit along the side of the inlay and repeat this, pressing the tip into the wood. This is known as incising.

Continue this until you have a incised cut completely around the inlay.

Now, do it again, completely around every edge of the inlay to make sure you haven't missed any places.

Once the incising is done, rap the inlay with the plastic screw driver handle or plastic mallet.
The super glue will break and the inlay will fall off.

Using your chisel, carefully remove all of the wood inside the incised cuts so the inlay will fit into the inlet.

As others have said, your inlay will only need to be sunk into the wood about 1/32" or whatever the thickness of the edge is.

You may find the inlay doesn't want to fit into the cut out area.
If this happens, fit it in as well as you can and then, using the sides of the inlay as a guide for the pointed blade, retrace the cut around all of the edges.
You really don't want to try cutting away any wood. The blade will find everything that needs removing by itself. Just remember to keep the side of the pointed blade snuggly against the side of the inlay.

When the bottom of the area has been lowered and the edges recut, just pressing it into the stock with your thumbs should hold it in place when the lock screws are removed.

With inlays with thick edges, usually they are sunk in to a depth that puts the corner of the chamfer most of them have, right even with the surface of the wood.
Without a chamfer, inlays like yours need to just have the edge embedded into the wood.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Excellent write up Zonie, always enjoy you sharing your knowledge, thank you! :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[JohnN]

Thanks for the info Zonie. I have the Exacto blades and will give it a try. As far as the screws go I may switch to a more rounded head. Still far from the finishing stages.

 

[Black Hand]

Are you referring to the gap between the barrel and the stock?

Yes.

The best thing would have been to move the barrel back until fully seated. Since the tang appears to be fully inlet, this would likely leave gaps in the inletting. I used sheet brass on a gun with a similar gap. Cut it to shape and made sure it was a snug fit and supported the breech. Has held up for over 10 years. If there is a gap, rather than the recoil being transferred to the stock, the lock and tang bolts take the force of the recoil which could crack the stock.

 

[Donny]

Since we are kickin' you in the arse, get a screwdriver that fits. :grin: :grin:

 

[schreck5]

Amen to Crew's advice. I split a beautiful Issac Haines from the breech face,thru the tang inlet, and down the wrist just a little ways. Was able to repair it though.