joseph engraver
Elite Cafe Member
If I could pick one gun that gave me the biggest headache, it would have to be this one. Nothing satisfies me more than to begin a project with the thought in my mind “I wonder if I can pull this off.†This was particularly true of a Tiffany inspired model 94 Winchester, as the design and style of workmanship was unique to me. I was not confident; I could pull it off.
I purchased a model 1894 take-down rifle in good mechanical condition with stocks of rather plain walnut and used it to do my experimenting. It turned out to be a decent piece of work, but did not meet my standards; therefore, I sold it and purchased another rifle, then applied to it what I had learned.
It required the manufacturing of several new punches, and quite a bit of experimentation on a practice block, before I was able to get a good fix between the steel and silver chunks that made the grape leaves. I found that if I raised a series of large burrs in the space where the silver chunks went and then set them with one strong blow with a carpenters hammer (I know! it was a small one.) the pieces attached well and I could sculpt, trim, shape and engrave them without tearing loose from the steel of the practice plate.
I started work on the receiver. With the first piece of silver in position, I swung a hard blow; the receiver dented, the punch recoiled. What had been a success on the practice plate failed in actual practice. The receiver was not a solid mass. The solution was to buy the hardest sculpting wax I could find. Then tape the places where when melted it would seep and fill the receiver, eliminating the bounce. The next bit of silver set perfectly. The other major problem was cutting the silver that made the overlays for the wood. I took a sheet of silver, drew the design with a pencil, cut it as deep as posible with a square graver, then got out a jewellers saw and began. After breaking several blades and wasting too much time, I gave up. If I could use a chisel without the edge being broken, the design could be quickly and neatly cut. I knew that the silver sheet had to be backed by something solid, a steel plate would ruin my chisel in short order. I considered my dilemma. A piece of Oak, hard, resistant yet cutable by the chisel, turned out to be the answer. Before I completed the project, problems of making a couple of hundred silver nails of varying sizes, small balls of silver and gold and firmly attaching the overlays to the stock wood also needed to be solved. It was when I finished this rifle that I realized I was reaching my limit.
From that point on I knew I was at my peak, and headed slowly down hill.
Thank you all who have shown a interest in my work and my words.
I purchased a model 1894 take-down rifle in good mechanical condition with stocks of rather plain walnut and used it to do my experimenting. It turned out to be a decent piece of work, but did not meet my standards; therefore, I sold it and purchased another rifle, then applied to it what I had learned.
It required the manufacturing of several new punches, and quite a bit of experimentation on a practice block, before I was able to get a good fix between the steel and silver chunks that made the grape leaves. I found that if I raised a series of large burrs in the space where the silver chunks went and then set them with one strong blow with a carpenters hammer (I know! it was a small one.) the pieces attached well and I could sculpt, trim, shape and engrave them without tearing loose from the steel of the practice plate.
I started work on the receiver. With the first piece of silver in position, I swung a hard blow; the receiver dented, the punch recoiled. What had been a success on the practice plate failed in actual practice. The receiver was not a solid mass. The solution was to buy the hardest sculpting wax I could find. Then tape the places where when melted it would seep and fill the receiver, eliminating the bounce. The next bit of silver set perfectly. The other major problem was cutting the silver that made the overlays for the wood. I took a sheet of silver, drew the design with a pencil, cut it as deep as posible with a square graver, then got out a jewellers saw and began. After breaking several blades and wasting too much time, I gave up. If I could use a chisel without the edge being broken, the design could be quickly and neatly cut. I knew that the silver sheet had to be backed by something solid, a steel plate would ruin my chisel in short order. I considered my dilemma. A piece of Oak, hard, resistant yet cutable by the chisel, turned out to be the answer. Before I completed the project, problems of making a couple of hundred silver nails of varying sizes, small balls of silver and gold and firmly attaching the overlays to the stock wood also needed to be solved. It was when I finished this rifle that I realized I was reaching my limit.
From that point on I knew I was at my peak, and headed slowly down hill.
Thank you all who have shown a interest in my work and my words.
Attachments
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silver 94.jpg -
Silver 1894.jpg
