T. Miller: 2nd model Brown Bess which was used in the F&I war and the American Revolution!!

[Snakeoil]

I think this is the best thread ever to appear here! No offense intended to others.

Looking at the muzzle before pics, it appears there are some brass or gold toned areas. Are they truly there or is that just lighting in the photos?

Your ability to hide the repairs is quite remarkable. I've done similar, but not on something old like this. And not using any of the unique techniques that you are using. Just finding the replacement wood from the correct period is quite amazing to me. This thread will be my inspiration to make an invisible repair the next time the opportunity presents itself. Thanks again for sharing this.

 

[Missionary]

I will agree... tromping the woods with a flinter is a fine day indeed !
With our fowler biggest critter I have smoked are crows. Like you just never have had a fowler in hand when some corn cruncher stepped my way.

 

[JWFilips]

The muzzle was the last thing repaired....it wasn't even a repair request from the owner ( I was happy at first because this one was a real dilemma. Of course if I had a welder I could build it up and reshape the muzzle and hope the weld metal could be made to match the original barrel)
When the gun came together as well as it did I decide to definitely try to fix this last damage. Now in hindsight, I should have put the bayonet lug there!...... that tiny bit of "brass braze" on the edge of the muzzle should have been a signal flag to me and I guess I ignored it!
Since that missing piece never came to me with the gun I just repaired the damaged area. This mistake just occurred to me 13 years too late...when I started this thread!

 

[RicinYakima]

I happen to have a very nice 20 ga Fowler that you could look at.

My father owns it and he is no longer in physical condition to do any shooting. I can attest to the fact it shoots a .600 round ball very well. I won a few medals at the state ML shoot with it.

PM sent

 

[Ian]

The bayonet lug may have been broken off along with the bayonet in some unfortunate Redcoat.

 

[Bret4207]

Well fiver, Kit always told me to cut the old wood back on " a diagonal" to form a dovetail of sorts. This makes for a strong bond & a diagonal mark where the to pieces come together are easier to "disguise" than a straight cut ! Many times when I make this cut across the old break I will clamp a piece of the replacement wood ( I selected for that area) over lapping a bit of the existing breaks, and cut the 2 pieces at once to make sure the new wood is a tight fit!

Wiggling the lines into place sounds good, however you can never match the two pieces accurately enough and in those tiny gaps there will different sized areas of pure Acra-glass! It is a good idea for that not to happen. A glob of epoxy Is a hard thing to make look like wood grain.

By cutting the old and new piece in the same cut...The joint hardly shows any epoxy lines... and the little that shows can be blended with stain and a super fine veiner chisels to look like existing wood.
I hope I explained this well
Jim

When I was researching building wooden boats, one of the old techniques for creating a waterproof seam between planks was to plane them pretty close to the right fit, attach the plank almost all the way and then saw between the 2 planks with a thin saw. I would imagine it's a little more involved than just that (angle of the saw would be important) but you end up with 2 mirror image surfaces that, when finally secured 100%, a little pitch or even just the swelling of wet wood will seal. Same idea you speak of I think.

 

[JWFilips]

Bret,
Exactly! Even if the cut is off it is an exact match!

 

[Snakeoil]

Mr. Filips,

I'm going to send a private message to you. I have a friend who just purchased a Brown Bess that was surrendered at the Battle of Saratoga. He bought it, along with 3 swords, to keep them in Saratoga. A collector in Japan was trying to buy them.

 

[JWFilips]

I will do my best!

 

[358156 hp]

I've gone through this thread twice so far, and I'm still impressed beyond words by Jims craftsmanship.

 

[JWFilips]

Needless to say, especially now that I'm home most of the time, I drive my wife ( of 45 years) crazy with the way I do things!
It just has to be just so & correct!

 

[JWFilips]

In a word Good enough is not good enough!
It is my flaw

 

[RicinYakima]

Either it is right, or it isn't.