Who does good carving

[jamesthomas]

I plan on Getting Pecatonica to inlet a .45 cal. Rice Barrel in a nice grade of Red Maple from Allen Martin I'll have the do a lot of stuff, and I'll do some more, Who does some excellent carving of his type? I would like to do it Who has a good book on carving that a novice can understand and execute? I do have some pieces to practice on. This will be the second rifle that will have some carving on and I would like for it to be nice. Could someone throw up some carving that he used on his rifles? My brother has RCA No. 1 but I don't when I'll get a chance t look at it.

 

[Col. Batguano]

If you're talking about Allen Martin you're talking about Bethlehem / Allentown / Lehigh schooled rifles, and he's known as one of the Lehigh Jedi Masters, along with Eric Kettenburg,and Eric von Aschwege. The architecture of that school is really tricky to get "right", as, hundredths of an inch matter as much as the curve radii of the comb and belly lines. The wrist and comb profiles will give you the biggest fits.

Both the usual suspect books out there (Gunsmith of Grenville County, and Recreating the American Long Rifle) will give you good basics on carving. They spend most of their time discussing raised carving which takes more time to execute, but is actually easier to do than incise carving, as, you are creating an image in the positive rather than in the negative. And of course, Lehighs were mostly carved as incise carving.

But the key to good carving is having a good design to begin with. If you're doing a Lehigh get the Kentucky Rifle Assn disc 2010 Volume 1 # 3, Guns of the Lehigh Valley for some very well photographed originals from Jacob Kuntz, Peter Kuntz, John Moll, Nicholas Hawk, and George Rupp. And poke around on the net a whole bunch for more pictures.

 

[ehoff]

The style of rifle you are going to build will dictate they style of carving. Since you mentioned Allan Martin I'm going to guess your thinking about a Lehigh style rifle. Lehigh rifles use a lot of incised carving, incised caving is accomplished in several ways. Some builders use a v tool, some use knives and some gouges. I would recommend a DVD like "Beginning Carving by Jack Brooks" as they are long rifle specific.

 

[jamesthomas]

I just bought the wood from Mr. Martin, What I want to build is an A. Vernier from Pecatonica because they can do it in left-hand. I keep getting told that the Butt-Plate,trigger guard and side plate that T.O.T.W. and MBS, sell as Vernier parts are not correct but nobody will put up any pictures so that I compare "The correct parts" vs what T.O.T.W. and MBS sell. I also just want to do a little carving on it, I'm not planning on making a complete copy of a Vernier.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Armakiller,
The Verner butt plate and triggerguard from TOW can be made into a very credible A. Verner gun. They both need some work but I think enough material is there to do the job. Do an internet search for "d. taylor sapergia verner rifle". Taylor did a pretty good copy of the original and several sites show good photos of that gun. With respect to carving, do an internet search for "Jim Kibler learning to carve a longrifle". His kit, which includes a book, cast butt stock with carving, and practice blank, will get you started nicely. Finally, red maple may not carve well. Some blanks are nice and hard, good for carving but others can have soft patches, which are a nightmare. I am working on one that has hard and soft spots and I have to be very vigilant and careful during carving to prevent tearing and damage to detail. The original Verner had extensive incised carving, which can be a challenge to do well but with the right, sharp tools (V parting, small gouges) it is doable. Good luck.

dave

 

[Ed Wingenroth]

Merry Christmas to all !!!

I have built myself many Rifle's and on a few very special one's I have had the desire to embellish them with a carving !!!
INMO, Carving is an art-form that may or may-not fit your talent's !!! Leave it to the Pro's and support their skill's, it take's many year's to develop the skill and then sell it !!!

Good Carver's can be found on Google and you can see an example of their work... During these Winter Month's they often have Workshop's where you can express your need's...
My last carving I had done was of a small Buffalo Head on the end of my Forearm on my 45-70-500 RRB !!! The work detail was superb and is something I could never accomplish !!!

This is not to say you should not enter into the art, go forth and enjoy !!!

Ed...

 

[LRB]

Jim Kibler has a nice beginners kit with instructions and a shaped practice board for $30.00 something dollars. Kiblers work is super fine done with the Bivins style of carving.

 

[Pete G]

Jim Kibler has a nice beginners kit with instructions and a shaped practice board for $30.00 something dollars. Kiblers work is super fine done with the Bivins style of carving.

Need to add about $100 to that price quote.
http://kiblerslongrifles.com/products/carving-kit

 

[LRB]

Jim Kibler Carving practice kit, $25.00