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Wooden Patchbox Lid Installation:
I scratched a line on the inside of the buttplate to locate the dovetails of
the patchbox onto the plate. Then I removed the plate and cut out this area.
After
making a series of cuts, I then placed the plate back onto the rifle and filed
this area flush with the stock.
Then
I slid the lid into the stock and made adjustments with my file til it fit
nicely.
To determine where the leading edge of the patchbox lid would be, I used the
Golden Means gauge. I measured from the lock finial to the end of the buttplate.
This was the "5" measurement.
Then I flipped the
gauge and this gave me the "3" measurement for where the front edge of
the lid should be.
I then marked this on the lid and measured the width of the flats along each side of the patchbox lid.
Then
I removed the excess wood from the lid.
The end of the patchbox was filed flush with the end of the buttplate. Then
I slid the lid out ~1/16" ,the width of my brass plate for the end of the
lid and filed this flat again. Now I have the thickness of my end plate exposed.
Except
in this case, I did it so I would end up with 1/64" overhang by the lid
plate so when I filed it later, it would blend in with the butt plate
better.
I marked the thickness of the lid from 3/8" down to 1/8".
I filed the excess wood off to create the taper of the lid. Once this was done,
then I divided the width into thirds.
I rounded the lid to these lines and then divided it into fifths and did it
again. This gave it a nice rounded surface.
Note, I drew a line 1/16" up along the edge so I had a nice square edge
which I can smooth out later.
Found a piece of scrap brass and traced a rough outline on the brass and cut
it down.
I located where I wanted the two screw locations.
Then
I epoxied the plate to the end of the lid. Drilled a 1/16" pilot holes into
the brass and lid. Then I drilled clearance holes for the #4 - 1/2" screws.
I heated the brass plate and removed the brass from the wood. Cleaned off the
epoxy and then countersunk the screw heads. Then I mounted the plate to the
lid.
After that, I filed the brass to conform to the shape of the lid and then fit the lid and brass plate to the stock.
Now I can file the top of the brass to conform to the shape of the lid.
Once this was done, then I filed the brass of the lid plate and the butt plate
together to make a better transition between the two pieces.
Now I'm ready for the lid latch. For this I inlet the latch into the lid till
the latch end was flush with the surface of the lid. Note; The whole latch,
except for the 1/2" of the latch was inletted. I used a #56 drill bit to
drill 1/2" into the recess so I could drive the latch into the lid. This
meant I had to remove brass under the latch for it to rise when lifted.
A recess was also inletted into the stock for the lid latch, too. Then
with a lot of trials and filing of the latch, it eventually latched and caught
on the inside edge of the buttplate and held firmly.
Next I will gouge a thumb notch on the lid so it can be grasped to remove the lid.
Here is the rifle at this stage.
Hoot AL Rifle Shop