Building another flintlock

[Eric Krewson]

The first step in stock finishing is whiskering the stock. This amounts to wetting the stock and drying it with a heat gun to raise the grain.





I whiskered twice with 220, once with 400 and followed up with a 000 scotch bright pad.



Ready for the stain.

[Eric Krewson]

Now for the magic!

I am using an iron nitrate stain that will make the grain POP!



I saturate the stock with the stain, it immediately turns a puky green color. Check out that grain, unfortunately the curl in mostly in the buttstock and gets sparse in the wood forward of the lock panels.



I will let the stain dry for a while, then comes the good part, the magic.

[JW_Halverson]

I rather like the green wood stage, even if it is rarely left at that point.

[Eric Krewson]

Next I go over the stock with a heat gun which turns the green to a muddy brown.





I neutralize the aquafortis with ammonia and wash the ammonia off with a water hose. I dried the stock with towels, my heat gun and a couple hours of time.



The first coat of finish brings out the curl again, the picture is out of focus. I will add 3 or 4 more coats before I am done.



This picture shows the color more truly. I have the stock hanging up to dry until tomorrow.



My stock color in the sun;

[Eric Krewson]

I decided to brown my parts instead of greying them, with the stock color grey would look odd.

Prep is sanding everything with 220 grit paper and wiping down with laquer thinner to degrease.



Browning with LMF browning solution is pretty easy but you have to remember, one pass with your rag, if you miss a spot get it on the next go round. If you go back and rub on more over what you have already done you will get a copper color and the area won't brown. The first few coats always look awful but everything evens out with more coats.



Everything coated and placed outside in the humidity, in the woods behind my covered archery target. It is very humid here having rained almost every day. By tomorrow morning everything will be a bit rusty and ready for a second coat of LMF.

[Eric Krewson]

After a night in the damp outside, rusty but uneven and a few missed spots. If I can't even things out I will sand the parts that aren't well done and start over.

[Danzn Bar]

yep the more times you do it the better the brown looks............
Dbar

[Eric Krewson]

About three coats of LMF adn a couple of overnight sessions and we have some RUST.



Carding the scale off is necessary, I use a piece of denim and an old scotch bright pad with a lot of elbow grease to rub the rust scale off. Here is a before and after carding example;



After carding I neutralize the LMF acid with ammonia, then thoroughly wash the parts to get rid of the ammonia.


 

[Del the cat]

That stock is looking real handsome...
Del

[Eric Krewson]

The next step it to heat all the metal parts up and wipe them with motor oil while hot, the oil bonds with the browned surface and gives it a "finished" appearance. I have all the parts except the trigger guard (blotchy finish) ready to be oiled. The parts are supposed to have the oil on them for 24 hrs.

Tomorrow I should be able to assemble everything and be done. I fear some of my inlets soaked up moisture during the staining and neutralizing process and expanded the wood, they may not fit without a little inlet sanding and fitting.

I found out too late that the stain I used wasn't acid and didn't need to be neutralized.

I seem to have forgotten about a ramrod. I have an extra brass tipped one already finished that I can use until I get a proper steel tipped one made.

[Eric Krewson]

I had to back up and re-brown several components. The bow of the trigger guard looked blotchy, I tried to add more coats of LMF but it only got worse, I sanded it to bare metal this morning and rebrowned it.

I had the nose cap looking great, I heated it to apply a coat of oil, got it too hot, when I wiped oil on it, it turned as black as night. I sanded it off as well and started over.

Todays assembly will only be a few pieces put back in the stock. I have to have the nose cap installed to install the barrel.

[Eric Krewson]

Assembly, sort of, nothing fits back in the stock, just a little finish slopped in my tight inlets has stopped everything I have tried to install. Still trying to brown the trigger guard and nose cap, the process ishn't going to plan.

I started putting the lock together and found out the top jaw screw has a lopsided head that binds with the back of the cock and won't let me tighten the flint jaws. I have to decide whether to send it back to Chambers or fix it myself.

Anyway I got this far plus the ramrod pipes in today.

[Danzn Bar]

Looks good Eric..........
DBar

[DC]

This thread has really tempted me and I'll bet I haven't shot a gun for 40 years. Maybe if I get tired of making bows

Reason for edit, I had to capitalise an "I", detail you know

[JW_Halverson]

This thread has really tempted me and I'll bet I haven't shot a gun for 40 years. Maybe if i get tired of making bows

Seeing your attention to detail, DC, that would be a fine rifle!