stock diamonds

[pacman101]

first of a few questions tonight:

I've got a berthier carbine with a sporterized stock (don't blame me, it didn't have a stock and that's what I could find at a reasonable price)

it had stock diamonds (I'm not sure if that's the name, they were black epoxy diamonds inlaid in the stock) but they were done poorly, so they cracked and fell out

I have no plans to patch them, I have almost all the hardware and materials to redo them, correctly

so that leaves one question; what color?

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Blue, white and red for the French flag if you have the opportunity for three.

If only one or four... don't forget the other French flag; white.

Todd.

 

[pacman101]

white was what my dad suggested, I like the idea
the gun looked like it had been dropped in the somme and forgotten for a while, poor thing

 

[gobsauce]

first of a few questions tonight:

I've got a berthier carbine with a sporterized stock (don't blame me, it didn't have a stock and that's what I could find at a reasonable price)

it had stock diamonds (I'm not sure if that's the name, they were black epoxy diamonds inlaid in the stock) but they were done poorly, so they cracked and fell out

I have no plans to patch them, I have almost all the hardware and materials to redo them, correctly

so that leaves one question; what color?

Bro , pictures bro. Before and after pictures.

 

[pacman101]

will do

 

[pacman101]

I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER!!

the other side is practically identical
the metal is getting glass beaded and rust blued
the stock is getting a couple recoil pins where the stock bolts were, sanded back to 320 (this won't be a fine English double) then a linseed finish
the sycamore they used in this stock is beautiful.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Being distinctly differing shapes of diamond, I wonder if they weren't unit crests or some portion of crests.

Todd.

 

[pacman101]

I don't think the french did that, it may have been a Cartouche, but any evidence of that ended up in a dust bin

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I don't think the french did that, it may have been a Cartouche, but any evidence of that ended up in a dust bin

I shouldn't think the French nor even a unit would but an individual soldier might.

Todd.

 

[pacman101]

I shouldn't think the French nor even a unit would but an individual soldier might.

Todd.

it's entirely possible some french conscript scrawled something in the stock
it's entirely possible that nothing was there, and bubba just wanted to get artistic

 

[beag_nut]

That wood looks like sycamore. I made some furniture with the gorgeous grain.

 

[pacman101]

That wood looks like sycamore. I made some furniture with the gorgeous grain.

I do believe it is

 

[Speedo66]

Read a little about marchetry and soon you'll be inlaying designs like this in your stock: https://br.pinterest.com/lucaspki/marchetry/

 

[pacman101]

my dye will be in this Friday, going to do some testing this weekend

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I like your Dad's idea. Acra-Glass or Gel will take pretty much any sort of dye, so the easy way out would be to mix up a small batch and fill one of the diamonds, let it harden up and then sand it flush with the stock.

 

[pacman101]

I like your Dad's idea. Acra-Glass or Gel will take pretty much any sort of dye, so the easy way out would be to mix up a small batch and fill one of the diamonds, let it harden up and then sand it flush with the stock.

I've ordered black dye, that seems to be more common

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

If you can, post a picture when you're done. Would like to see your "handy work".

 

[pacman101]

If you can, post a picture when you're done. Would like to see your "handy work".

absolutely, still waiting for my dye to come in

 

[pacman101]

I forgot to take a photo, but I drilled some small holes around the edge of the inlets

I mixed some 2 part epoxy and a couple drops of black epoxy dye
filled in the two diamonds and let it sit 30 minutes before doing the other side
now to wait several days to let it fully cure

 

[pacman101]

cured a little faster then I expected

took the excess down with the fine side of a farriers rasp
it didn't touch the wood, oddly enough

then I took some sandpaper wrapped around a foam block to it
100, 220, 240, 320 grit

it's not exactly perfect, I'll have to do some more work on it

 

[gobsauce]

Damn. I wish I was at least somewhat competent with wood.

 

[pacman101]

Damn. I wish I was at least somewhat competent with wood.

so do I

 

[pacman101]

updates will be slow, I'm moving