I've been following this thread because I have been interested in learning the process of relaying ribs. I guess that I've been lucky that I haven't bought any guns that need a full strip and re-lay. Thus far, the most I have done is a fairly easy repair of a Baker Batavia Leader that had a loose top rib near the muzzles. Only about a 3 1/2" section was loose, and I didn't want to make it worse, even though it was an inexpensive field grade gun. A pro probably would have charged more than I paid for the whole gun, so it was a no-brainer to do it myself. Fortunately, I was able to get some thin emery paper between the loose rib section and barrels to get the old joint nice and clean. I did not have to re-tin the area where the rib separated from the barrels, and was able to make the relatively small repair with rosin flux, 50-50 solder, and a large old soldering iron. I learned that a common graphite pencil will help to keep solder from sticking to places where you don't want it to stick, which made clean-up easier.
A few years ago, I bought several SxS barrels from a local gun parts dealer to use for practice on rib relaying and also for testing different rust bluing processes. So far, I have not made the time to try removing and then resoldering any ribs. From what I have read on the subject, it would not be advisable to attempt this job without doing some research followed by serious practice on junk barrels. There is a lot that could go wrong. Soldering isn't rocket science, but there is a fair amount of preparation work and set up involved. Then there is a fair amount of labor involved in removing excess solder from the barrels, and then refinishing. I can see why a pro might charge upwards of $1000.00, but it is probably a fairly profitable job for those who have gone through the learning curve. I kept this old Thread from ChuckH where he showed us how he did it. Chuck was very modest about doing the job, but from reading his posts over the years, he is no rookie when it comes to mechanical skills and knowledge. This wasn't his first rodeo:
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=76255&page=1The post from crossedchisels where he told us how badly his attempts at rib relaying went is worth reading twice, at least. Somewhere, I also have a photo of the very nice jig that Dewey Vicknair built to properly hold barrels and ribs in position during the jointing and rib laying process. Something like that would likely save a lot of time for a gunsmith who would be doing this job on a regular basis.
