doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Inletting a Forend

I am inletting new wood on a forend. I have tried using some blacking that I bought online as a marker. So far it has not worked out so well. I know that the old timers used smoke from a candle, but I tried a candle and it didn't work out either. What is the best way to mark the wood to get a good wood to metal fit?

Jerrow's inletting black is an old standby and works very well. I sometimes use a smoke lamp with very intricate inletting but it can be a challenge to hold on to smaller pieces like forend irons while you're smoking them.

I've never heard of a commercially made smoke lamp, most of us make them from scratch. Mine is made out of a baby food jar with a cut off 30-30 case soldered onto the top to hold the wick. I use locally available lamp oil for fuel, nice and smoky.

Hope this helps.

Dan

Go back to the inletting black. You most likely are using too much material and it is building up too much blacking on the metalwork.... thus making your marking inaccruate. Use a Q-Tip/cotton swab at the applicator and use only new inletting black on the applicator when the cotton swab no longer moves new color to the metalwork after each fitting to the wood. Work slowly and carefully...making sure you assemble the metal to wood the same way each time. Go slowly and do not be in a hurry.

I was using Jerrow's inletting black. It is an old bottle that I had and it was thick. Maybe too thick. Does that stuff have life span?

Go to a machine shop supply shop and buy some prissian blue,I use it in paste form put a dab on my vice and brush it on the receiver or anything else I'm fitting as needed....work's great for me ,I've never tried the other thing's mentioned

I have been using the same bottle of Jerrow's for YEARS. It is supposed to be non-drying so shouldn't harden up too much. When it is right it should have a consistency like mayonnaise, maybe a touch thinner. I will occasionally give mine a stir just to make sure it is mixed well but it doesn't seem to separate all that much if you're using it on a regular basis. If yours is thicker than the above consistency or is chunky, toss it and get a new one. DES/TSD is right on about using a thin application and taking your time.

I've used a candle - a lot back when. Works fine but it's a bit tedious, so there's that jar of inletting black. I have no idea what brand it it as the label disappeared long ago. Apply it thinnly and it lasts forever. when it gets thick and pasty, add a drop or two of paint thinner. You don't have to thin the whole jar and get it smeared everywhere, just the stuff on the top.

That woud, be Permatex Prussian Blue, applied with a toothbrush. Available at the Auto Parts Store.

That's the one Steve ,I used to use the aerosol spray but it became too hard to get where I live...I found it (the spray) a little less apt to get on me ,I alway's manage to lay me shaggin arm in that "one dab" on the vise

This does't mean you're applying it to the wood, right? I use lipstick and a tiny artist's brush with the bristles cut short and made stiff. I apply the lipstick in a dabbing motion, not brushing, to the metal surfaces.