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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,401
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,401 |
JRGunmaker. That's a beautiful rifle. All the rifles on your website are stunners.
Fear the crabcat.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 432
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 432 |
Thanks MM Yes, the stock and metal work are all done by me. I make all my own patterns from a blank. The older I get, the more I try and put a (very)little of my own flavor on a classic style that's been around for 100 years. Kind of like a great steak. Start with top shelf ingredients and use a tried and tested method. Never fails. Change the recipe too much and it may be trendy for a while, but the novelty will always wear out. Gorgeous...
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263 |
Very elegant rifle JR it is like a classic sculpture it will never be out of style. Would you mind telling me how you finished the stock. Fine if it is proprietary. Looks like you used alkanet or it is a piece of Francotte Walnut? The color and figure is perfect, beautiful but not overwhelming.
"When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." Niccolo Machiavelli
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 296
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 296 |
Tejano The blank is a piece of California grafted English Walnut I got from Dressels. I've used alkanet with some projects like Butch Lambert's Enfield Rigby, & TC1's Mini Mauser but it's much more work than the process I used on the rifle posted above, process shown below.
Seafin Teak Oil was used seal and to fill pores. Starting by soaking stock using a small acid flux brush and keeping the spots that soak up wet for about an hour then wipe and let dry. Then wet sanding about 3 times with 320 then once with 400 &600 with a day in between. The 320 sanding slurry coats are lightly wiped with a standard paper napkin (not paper towel, too absorbent) across the pores leaving just a little haze above the surface of the wood. Looks terrible in morning. 400 & 600 are only used when the pores are filled, then you can wipe to the surface of the wood. There is no buildup of finish, It's at & in the surface, not on it. I don't use any thinner with the TeakOil. It works great right out of the bottle. I decant the finish into those little airplane booze bottles and fill then to the top. My last stock took about one little bottle. Next step is to let the finish set a week or so making sure it doesn't get cold, then I checker it. After checkering I'll fix any dingbats with teak oil&600. Finish the checkering with a tooth brush & Teak Oil keeping it wet until it stops soaking then blotting/brushing dry. Then use a small piece of 3/16" thick felt with rottenstone & Seafin Teak Oil. It kind of evens out everything. Careful not to fill the checkering with any rottenstone. On the rifle posted above, I mixed a little inletting black with teak oil and tooth brushed it into the checkering on the second coat to darken it a little. Another "clear" top coat over the checkering a day later. Then as you noticed I stained the stock. This time I used Solar-Lux NGR American Walnut with some stain retarder and reducer until it was a little darker than I wanted. Then I used Daly's BenMatte for a wipe on & wait ~15 min & wipe off for around 5 or 6 coats. One coat per day. The Daly's BenMatte does not go in the checkering and I tooth brush around the checkering borders each time to make sure it doesn't build up. BenMatte is a GREAT top coat as it doesn't dry so fast and is buttery smooth when wiping it off. Gives it a nice glow.
Easy as a microwave burrito!
I've got a lot of test blocks around the shop form trying different finishing & staining techniques. I'd recommend testing to others. I don't stain very often.
The OP was looking to build in his spare time to come up with something worth selling. I'm hoping he ends up with a rifle so nice it's worth keeping.
gunmaker ------------------ Custom Metalsmith & Stockmaker
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263 |
JR:
Thank you and very generous of you to share your expertise and methods. I looked at the photo again and that satin sheen finish is amazing. Need to make this a sticky as you didn't leave anything out. Hope my next one comes out at least a little bit as nice as that rifle. Next one is Claro and thinking I'll need a filler or a whole bunch of coats of varnish just to get started on the oil finish.
"When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." Niccolo Machiavelli
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,681
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,681 |
Figures don't lie, But Liars figure Assumption is the mother of mistakes
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 9,097
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 9,097 |
Btw, Pre-64Win.com takes the actions apart and sells them by the part. I have ZERO interest in a non-matching numbers rifle. Granted there may be no "matching numbers" specifically, however, I have no interest in a Pre-64 70 H&H, standard, or fwt for that matter, that did not leave the old Winchester Factory together. ... .
RE; Left the Win.factory together, .hmmm.....then pulled apart [ all unwanted factory parts offloaded],. then what remains is modified inside / out and from one end > to the other....thus it becomes nothing like it was 'originally from the factory'. Some original Pre64 actions are so crappy [from the factory] that some smiths prefer not to use them. IF one carefully selected action parts from an array of dissembled actions, one could come up with something noticeably better. .. there are more top notch custom rifle makers in this country than ever before. And they are producing the best rifles the world has seen with one possible exception out of Hamburg, Germany. Only one exception and only a possible one at that? ...LOL.
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,038
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,038 |
The Pre-64 is definitely a great action. But that’s not the question.
Is it worth putting money into one? Sure, if you intend to keep it put whatever into it, if you are going to use it for 40 years and die with it it’s worth whatever you want to put into it.
Are you going to make a profit? IMHO no way. Custom rifles don’t make money. I also think it interesting guys that purchase rifles because ‘they always make money...’. There’s this thing called inflation that’s a real bitch.
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