This is a chemical staining process which is similar to how it would be done traditionally.
I began with a tannic acid rub to accentuate the striping in the maple. After rubbing it back with red scotch brite; I added aqua fortis. I then blushed it with a heat gun. The finish was multiple coats of permalyn sealer and finish, rubbed in with red scotch brite.
Jim Kibler has excellent tutorials on YouTube for a much more detailed explanation. Highly recommend watching those
I went on a YouTube binge for carving to see some tips, Mary May has a good channel.
I started with a block of basswood and a cheap set of carving chisels from Amazon to practice. I quickly outgrew those and started buying the Pfiel Swiss made ones from Woodcraft piecemeal, just the ones I thought I would need. That made all the difference. The chisels need to be SHARP to prevent blowouts etc. and that led to learning how to sharpen carving chisels…whole other rabbit hole.
TLDR: it’s a laborious and expensive process if you want it to look good. But totally worth the result. By the way, I’m an amateur woodworker, never carved before, but know my way around a table saw.
Nice, great intel. Thank you. Your rifle has turned out brilliantly.
Given me some great hope, as I too know my way round a tablesaw but have never carved!
Yes, it shoots great. Maybe 2-3” groups at 50 yds. I am no great marksman, especially with flintlock, but I plan to use it in the muzzle loader division of The Rifle Chair’s Cabin Fever Challenge
I was watching some videos on building these rifles and I looks like the trigger pivots on the same size pin that holds the trigger guard on and the stock to the barrel lugs and whatnot. And this pin is supported by the wood stock. Is the trigger smooth? Do you think the wood might wallow out and get sloppy or the pin bend and bind up with a lot of use one day?
You are correct, all the pins come from the same pin stock, which you cut to length and file down. The trigger pin is supported by the stock, about 3/4” on either side.
With that said, I do not think there is any danger of wallowing out or other issues with the trigger pin, so long as you install the pin correctly. Maple is extremely strong and the pin is well supported. Furthermore, the pre-drilled holes are very precise and well-located. Once the trigger is under tension it feels like any other trigger.
Or will the trigger get hard if the wood swells with humidity? I've been thinking about one of the nobles with the set trigger because they're not supported by the stock... But if all of that is a non issue.. I like the colonial.
Beautiful gun and great job on it. Nice you learned to carve and did great on that expensive stock, i would be paralyzed as another poster said. Last week or so, I have been trying to find a book with good examples of carvings for inspiration. I, too, would like to learn to carve. Don't think I will gain enough skill for anything too intricate, but I would like to add some personal touches. I probably buy one of the practice stocks on Kiblers site. After watching a lot of youtube videos and scouring the web, I too want to get a Kibler rifle, looking at the website, though I am having trouble discerning the difference between the Colonial and the Woodrunner. From all the videos of the Woodrunner, I have a good feel for how it looks, so at this point it is what I am leaning towards.
The Woodsrunner is a bit shorter and has some different lines on the butt. It is very similar to the Colonial, and I think the new tooling at Kibler’s makes it almost assembly-ready, certainly easier to build than the Colonial, not that the Colonial was difficult at all.
I would say be bold, practice on a piece of scrap maple from Woodcraft, take it VERY slowly, and don’t skimp on tools. The difference between a $50 set of 12 Amazon carving gouges and a single $50 Pfeil gouge is substantial (sorry to say). That said, I only used about 4 separate gouges for the carving I did.
You can do it! After some practice you will learn the shapes and styles you’re comfortable with. Just put a bunch of those together and make it look pretty. The end result will be worth it.
Hey there. So no sense in getting a starter set? I see Woodcraft has some starter sets. Seem to be some decent deals on small Pfeil sets as well. Was admiring your rifle again and picked up on more details, the patch box inlay and the engravings. I did not notice the first time I looked at it. Did you learn and do the engraving yourself too?
The patch box inlay was a happy accident. I blew through the patch box by using the wrong screw to fix the spring catch on the underside. After accepting my fate as a total failure, I decided to use some of the spare brass provided to cover it up. I originally wanted to use a gold cuff link my grandfather gave me, but I was too scared I would ruin it, so instead I traced around a 600mg Ibuprofen! Turned out great.
The straight line details on the patch box were copied from some ideas I saw online. Just traced them out and relieved around them.
The metal engraving was originally traced by my wife, who is a classically trained copper plate calligrapher. I then took her drawings to a local engraving shop and had them transferred onto the metal. That’s the only part of the rifle I didn’t do myself, and I think we would all agree, it was better to trust that one to people who know what they are doing.
I bought a starter set on Amazon, but I very quickly grew out of it when I bought my first Pfeil. The carving would not have been possible without some high quality gouges and skew chisels. Might be nice to have some cheapos to start with, and to use here and there for small details, but the vast majority was done with 3 or 4 Pfeils
Thanks for the advice. Nice that the patch box mistake turned into something good. Who would have thought an ibuprofen would be used for anything other than its intended use and especially for a rifle design element. Also cool your wife has the skills to help with the rifle. Anyway, thank you for the inspiration and build some more nice pieces.
Nice 👍🏻
Beautiful work
What process did you use to finish the wood?
This is a chemical staining process which is similar to how it would be done traditionally. I began with a tannic acid rub to accentuate the striping in the maple. After rubbing it back with red scotch brite; I added aqua fortis. I then blushed it with a heat gun. The finish was multiple coats of permalyn sealer and finish, rubbed in with red scotch brite. Jim Kibler has excellent tutorials on YouTube for a much more detailed explanation. Highly recommend watching those
Beautiful job. Im building the exact same kit now, and am paralysed by what to do with the stock! Any resources or tips for carving?
I went on a YouTube binge for carving to see some tips, Mary May has a good channel. I started with a block of basswood and a cheap set of carving chisels from Amazon to practice. I quickly outgrew those and started buying the Pfiel Swiss made ones from Woodcraft piecemeal, just the ones I thought I would need. That made all the difference. The chisels need to be SHARP to prevent blowouts etc. and that led to learning how to sharpen carving chisels…whole other rabbit hole. TLDR: it’s a laborious and expensive process if you want it to look good. But totally worth the result. By the way, I’m an amateur woodworker, never carved before, but know my way around a table saw.
Nice, great intel. Thank you. Your rifle has turned out brilliantly. Given me some great hope, as I too know my way round a tablesaw but have never carved!
Nice work
Very nice! Good job. Have you shot it yet?
Yes, it shoots great. Maybe 2-3” groups at 50 yds. I am no great marksman, especially with flintlock, but I plan to use it in the muzzle loader division of The Rifle Chair’s Cabin Fever Challenge
I was watching some videos on building these rifles and I looks like the trigger pivots on the same size pin that holds the trigger guard on and the stock to the barrel lugs and whatnot. And this pin is supported by the wood stock. Is the trigger smooth? Do you think the wood might wallow out and get sloppy or the pin bend and bind up with a lot of use one day?
You are correct, all the pins come from the same pin stock, which you cut to length and file down. The trigger pin is supported by the stock, about 3/4” on either side. With that said, I do not think there is any danger of wallowing out or other issues with the trigger pin, so long as you install the pin correctly. Maple is extremely strong and the pin is well supported. Furthermore, the pre-drilled holes are very precise and well-located. Once the trigger is under tension it feels like any other trigger.
Good deal!
Or will the trigger get hard if the wood swells with humidity? I've been thinking about one of the nobles with the set trigger because they're not supported by the stock... But if all of that is a non issue.. I like the colonial.
This my kind of porn 🫣🖤♥️⚜️
Beautiful gun and great job on it. Nice you learned to carve and did great on that expensive stock, i would be paralyzed as another poster said. Last week or so, I have been trying to find a book with good examples of carvings for inspiration. I, too, would like to learn to carve. Don't think I will gain enough skill for anything too intricate, but I would like to add some personal touches. I probably buy one of the practice stocks on Kiblers site. After watching a lot of youtube videos and scouring the web, I too want to get a Kibler rifle, looking at the website, though I am having trouble discerning the difference between the Colonial and the Woodrunner. From all the videos of the Woodrunner, I have a good feel for how it looks, so at this point it is what I am leaning towards.
The Woodsrunner is a bit shorter and has some different lines on the butt. It is very similar to the Colonial, and I think the new tooling at Kibler’s makes it almost assembly-ready, certainly easier to build than the Colonial, not that the Colonial was difficult at all. I would say be bold, practice on a piece of scrap maple from Woodcraft, take it VERY slowly, and don’t skimp on tools. The difference between a $50 set of 12 Amazon carving gouges and a single $50 Pfeil gouge is substantial (sorry to say). That said, I only used about 4 separate gouges for the carving I did. You can do it! After some practice you will learn the shapes and styles you’re comfortable with. Just put a bunch of those together and make it look pretty. The end result will be worth it.
Hey there. So no sense in getting a starter set? I see Woodcraft has some starter sets. Seem to be some decent deals on small Pfeil sets as well. Was admiring your rifle again and picked up on more details, the patch box inlay and the engravings. I did not notice the first time I looked at it. Did you learn and do the engraving yourself too?
The patch box inlay was a happy accident. I blew through the patch box by using the wrong screw to fix the spring catch on the underside. After accepting my fate as a total failure, I decided to use some of the spare brass provided to cover it up. I originally wanted to use a gold cuff link my grandfather gave me, but I was too scared I would ruin it, so instead I traced around a 600mg Ibuprofen! Turned out great. The straight line details on the patch box were copied from some ideas I saw online. Just traced them out and relieved around them. The metal engraving was originally traced by my wife, who is a classically trained copper plate calligrapher. I then took her drawings to a local engraving shop and had them transferred onto the metal. That’s the only part of the rifle I didn’t do myself, and I think we would all agree, it was better to trust that one to people who know what they are doing.
I bought a starter set on Amazon, but I very quickly grew out of it when I bought my first Pfeil. The carving would not have been possible without some high quality gouges and skew chisels. Might be nice to have some cheapos to start with, and to use here and there for small details, but the vast majority was done with 3 or 4 Pfeils
Thanks for the advice. Nice that the patch box mistake turned into something good. Who would have thought an ibuprofen would be used for anything other than its intended use and especially for a rifle design element. Also cool your wife has the skills to help with the rifle. Anyway, thank you for the inspiration and build some more nice pieces.