what are the tricks to inletting one of these?
I would imagine that the job would be much easier with a milling machine, but what do you use when you have to do one by hand and what is the procedure.

i do not know if it is any trick but the task is easier with real sharp tools and patience. i set the grip cap where i want it on the stock and mark and drill the screw holes. install the cap with the screws. scribe inside the center hole with the point of my small exacto knife. remove the cap and cut away the outside wood to a depth of about an eigth of an inch. use your favorite spotting agent and gently install the cap and let it mark the wood to tell you what has to be removed. remove the cap and cut away the offending wood. repeat as needed until you get the cap down to the full depth with the center wood slightly proud. finish the center down to level and finish with the stock. be careful when removing the cap as the edges chip easy. this is probaly as clear as mud but i hope it helps.

Jim Carmichel shows you a step by step photo layout in his book "Do-it-Yourself Gunsmithing".
Exactly the way max(hm2) suggests.

I can't see a milling machine being much help unless it is a CNC that cut the skeleton cap in the first place so you can invert the program to cut wood out where metal would be. I think this is a pure hand fit process that max explained pretty well.

Check out the article Gary Goudy wrote in Gunmaker. He uses a dremel and a modified router attachment....purdey slick too!

Guess its time to subscribe to Gunmaker Mag.

I've had much better luck using a separate piece to fill the void. As noted, the edges of the integral wood tend to chip when removing & reinstalling the cap during fitting and I've also found that I can get a much closer fit with few if any gaps when using the separate center piece. AAMOF I usually achieve a hard-press fit with no visible gaps whatever, even when taken off the rifle and held up to the light.

I've discussed this method with David Christman and gave him a skeleton cap with scrimmed ivory inlay. He seemed favorably impressed with the lack of gaps, he said that his usual gaps with the integral method weren't very noticeable after the stock finish was applied but it still hurt his feelings just knowing they were there.

You can cut a piece off the bottom of the stock's grip so as to match 'perfectly', but IMO any matching appearance goes largely unnoticed unless there's some sort of truly unique and striking figure running through the area. I haven't been able to tell the difference on the few I've done using a separate walnut, the insert seems to match quite well.

Other ideas might include carved or scrimmed fossil ivory, or perhaps ebony with silver wire inlay or checkering. Carved & shaped pewter or german silver cast into the cavity would be different and would provide a change from the usual cookie-cutter checkered walnut that everone does nowadays. Just a few thoughts FWIW.
Regards, Joe

i like the contrasting look in the center better than just checkered wood. i usually use a piece of wood from the forend tip and inlet it separately into the cap

photos?

From the Mother-In-Law rifle


Very first scrim effort, a Martini Cadet


Recent idle doodling


Have done some nice Mauser Banners with lifts taken from original receiver rings, sorry no pics. The Mauser Banner design is adaptable to many names and logos, here's an early clumsy effort for a Borchardt.


Next project will be a walnut insert with silver wire Mauser Banner and later a flat checkered ebony insert like the recent photo on another thread.

The ivory color itself is a little too light & loud for my taste on some rifles so I'm working on pattern designs to darken the overall look. Am doing a bighorn sheep's head right now on a piece of fossil ivory that has darker mineral streaks that make it a lot more conservatively attractive and less like a Weatherby.

The ivory insert is definitely NOT to everyone's taste and really isn't my favorite either, but it's food for thought. I originally started scrimshanding in order to make an ivory pendant & earrings for My Daughter's birthday and then the idea of a grip cap insert came naturally.


Possibilities are almost limitless depending upon imagination. For example, think about an insert for that pesky duck pond in the rear bridge of most 1917 Enfields! Wouldn't your favorite 505 elephant slayer look a lot better with a tasteful image of Ole Tembo filling up the pond? How about your monogram or your family crest? Maybe a little over-the-top for some folks, but maybe not...

Like I said, food for thought.
Regards, Joe

Not for everyone is an understaement

Here are 2 more, both have major flaws but you can see what can be done. The texture of the squirrel's butt fur runs the wrong way in one area and an age crack has caused an extra neck line on the sheep.


The beauty of scrimshanding is that minor flaws can be corrected fairly simply, unlike steel engraving. Both of these will be further developed and the perceived flaws will be minimized.

I'll be the first to admit that this work is crude & amateurish and I can only plead that I'm totally self-taught, totally within the last few years. IMO a GOOD artist could really do well with inserts of various materials treated in various ways.
Regards, Joe

Thanks for all of the photos. I think I will stick with the walnut that is already there.

quote:

Originally posted by J.D.Steele:
From the Mother-In-Law rifle

I thought Medusa had snakes in place of split ends.

I like this one but not sure what it is, walnut or ebony. Joe, did you ever get an answer?

Never got an answer Rob, but am impressed enough to do one just like it in ebony shortly. I like the flatter look, at least so far. I also think it would look great with a tiny engraved center silver or gold inlay in the middle of the ebony.

James, you're right, it shoulda been snakes and her teeth shoulda been longer & sharper! I did it just for grins & giggles anyway, I certainly don't recommend any ivory inserts for any 'serious' 'using' cookie-cutter-type rifles. If some of my ideas don't work out as well as hoped, well, better luck next time!

IMO if all a smith's rifles start to resemble each other with no new ideas and design excursions, well, that's the beginning of the end. Might just as well flush himself down the toilet after that since no imagination remains.
Regards, Joe