A spot of carving...

[Feebo]

I have a collection of air guns. I have rifles, pistols and even a few replica weapons including an AK47 training rifle that fires 9mm Blank ammunition ;D I also have a few antiques that are already worth a bit. Anyway, a good friend of mine gave me a very nice rifle for my collection a while back. It`s a beauitful pneumatic rifle with a rather expensive brace pump, I was chuffed to bits. The stock it has is a bit naff though, it needed to be sat on a much nicer stock. So I had a look at prices.... £500 for a half decent wooden stock. So what I ended up doing was going to my local timber merchant looking for suitable hardwood. I came home with a massive piece of Sapele which is a type of Mahogany. They would only sell me a ten or twelve foot plank of it lol Hardly a plank really, more like a sleeper. So I`ll be making lots of things with it eventually. Anyway, I`m getting on well with the stock I decided to make, I`m doing it from a photograph. I thought I`d share ;)
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/NewCarpet003.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/NewCarpet021.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/NewCarpet020.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/NewCarpet023.jpg
I`m busy carving a nice Celtic knot on the underside of it at the moment. It`s a really nice pattern that`s looking like it`ll go very well. I can already see it`s going to validate the design.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/Riflemantis004.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/Riflemantis005.jpg
I`ll post some more pictures as I go along now. Much better than spending hundreds of pounds eh, I get loads of enjoyment out of it and the huge piece of exotic hardwood only cost fifty quid ;D I`ll make all sorts with the rest of it....

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/Riflemantis003.jpg

[marvelfreak]

Really nice. You truely are a jack of all trades.:)

[Feebo]

Cor cheers :) Yep, that`s me...

[presspirate]

Nice work Feebo! I always wanted to get into carving, but never thought I Had the patience. Have you thought of posting a short video showing your technique? I'd love to see that. Not trying to give you more work, just interested. CHEERS!

[Freebody]

wow im impressed bro :) very nice craftsmanship! i really enjoy working with wood, the smell of freshly cut wood is amazing isnt it :)

[katalyzt]

Wow, very nice sir :cool: Makes me want to go out, find a piece of wood and give it a go.

I second the techniques video ;)

[Will0W783]

Cool, that is awesome!

[percey39]

Wow, stunning mate. Thats some great craftmanship to do the celtic knots too, i cant wait to se the finished product.

[Michael Roth]

very impressive...

[Feebo]

Cheers :) No I hadn`t considered doing a video but I`ll do that now you`ve mentioned it. I suppose I could show part of the finished knot and then do the next bit and explain what I`m doing as I go couldn`t I... Yeah, ok I`ll get on that :) I`ve just about finished my morning tea so I`m just off out to the workshop now...

[Feebo]

Here you go, part one! :) I did a bit too much to put into one Youtube video so it`s in two parts. I`ll upload the second part when I wake up tommorrow. I`ll keep doing the odd video as I progress now I`ve started until eventually we get to see the finished article. Good idea Presspirate... :)

YouTube - Carving a rifle stock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5T6C36d27k)

[Freebody]

sweet, cant wait to see the entire design done, sounds like it going to be really cool :)

[percey39]

Great video mate, I still know i could not do it!! I get too hammer happy when i have tried in the past and end up taking too big chunks of wood out. That will be one awesome gun stock!!

[katalyzt]

Gorgeous work mate! Anybody else feel like that design looked a bit like the belly of a snake?

Good illustration of what can be accomplished with a bit of imagination, non-expensive tools, and deternmitnation. I'm very impressed and inspired!

Well done mate!!!

[Feebo]

Cheers :) I`m just doing the second video now... Ooooh a snake belly, I hadn`t thought of it like that, I suppose it does yeah! Nice... :)

[Feebo]

Here you go, part two....
YouTube - Carving a rifle stock, Part two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuxZ1DH8oEs)

[Freebody]

very nice work, I loved that soapstone spider you made, that was awsome, i did some soap stone work in high school in one of my art classes, but i never made anything that cool :P

[Feebo]

Cheers :) Yeah he`s cool isn`t he. I absolutely loved carving Soapstone immedeatly! I bought a load of it, which I still have. That spider is my second ever Soapstone carving, I did a nice turtle before that and donated it as a prize on a snail fanciers forum I moderate on. I thought I`d do the odd carving and hopefully sell it to fund some tools I need for my workshop after that one. I just haven`t put that spider up on Ebay yet. Actually I remember someone mentioning a craft site where people sell thier work and buy from others, maybe something like that would be better..... He`s available if we have any spider fans here .... :)

[Freebody]

ya i really liked carving as well, my problem is im good at it but i lack an imagination, i mean if i look at somthing i can mimic it real well, but give me a peice of stone and nothing to make it into, and ill most likley make a ball out of it LOL :P

[Feebo]

That was the hardest obsticle I had to overcome when I first started out. Time, patience and experience go a long way to helping you out there. The more designs you see, the more history and different styles etc the better. Seeing all that and taking in as much as possible gives you a foundation of ideas and designs to work with. Such is life! :) I was remembering when I was a tiny little kid the other day. When asked to draw something in preschool or junior school whatever it was I was remembering, I could only ever think of one thing to draw and it was always a house lol :) Bless... Life experience and a few decades of craft work later and I`m a fountain of ideas. I can`t sit still unless I`m making something or drawing designs for something ! lol Proper ants in my pants ! lol :D

[Freebody]

hehe i remember them days, now i can put a shed beside those houses lol jk i know what you mean :P im an add type of person as well, i just cant sit still in a chair and wait for anything with out bouncing off the walls, tv is only entertaining for like 30 min until im up every commercial paceing the house, video games are better because its mind stimulating but even then it still makes for long hours, when i building somthing at work or working on stuff at home that when i find my mind gets into it and time start flying by. i cant draw for the life of me but give me some tools and i could most deffinetly scult the item better than i could draw it on paper.

[Feebo]

I`m not a religous man but I`d still describe my skills as a proper blessing. I can`t imagine not being able to create. There`s something very special about bringing something into existance, something that will be around long after you`re gone. I plan to out my name inside this stock, hopefully someone will read it aloud one day, that`d be nice :)

[Feebo]

I did a fair bit more carving today, albeit only to an initial standard. :) I`m really looking forward to getting the files out now and giving it it`s final contours....
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/Riflemantis059.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/feebix/Riflemantis060.jpg

[dragunov.762]

can't wait to see it done that is awesome. how heavy is the stock going to be though when everything is mounted on it? is the gun going to be a decoration piece or are you planning on firing it? just curious i have a few guns myself (and i do mean a few) and loving talking about weapons.

[Feebo]

Oh yeah! I`ll be using it a lot :) I only shoot targets really, the odd rat here and there too. It shouldn`t be super heavy, it`s actually balanced well so that`s not a problem. Probably about as heavy as my TX200. I`ll weigh it if it`s of interest.... :) I`ve got a nice rifle I had made for me when I had money too, it`s a .25 Nimrod. I`ll have to show you that it`s quite unusual....

[dragunov.762]

scratch the few rifles i am down to 1 now. I just sold my Dragunov that isn't really a Dragunov but it is what everyone thinks of. so now i am down to my AR-15 carbine and i guess i have an M-16 at the Armory but i only see that 2ce a year lol. the Dragunov was nice but heavy and the AR is extremely light and easy to shoot not as nice of a range though. yea if you want to weigh it when it is all said and done that would be cool. I would definatley be interested in seeing you .25 Nimrod, ah can't wait till i have money and buy another gun.

[Feebo]

Cor I`d be a happy man if I could own an M16 lol I`ve got a training (blank firing) AK47, I nearly managed to get my hands on a similar training M16 once but it didn`t happen unfortunatly. It`s a real shame the gun laws are pretty tight over here or I`d have my M16 :( The government here seem to think banning sport shooting will help stop people getting shot. The bad guys have guns anyway and a legitimate sport has been all but lost to us. No fair...

[dragunov.762]

yea i feel you. people who shoot people own guns illegally so banning guns just hurts responsible gun owners.

[Freebody]

yea i feel you. people who shoot people own guns illegally so banning guns just hurts responsible gun owners.
so true, i wonder what the pollititions are smoking to not see it like it is? :confused:

[dragunov.762]

it gives people the illusion of safety and that pacifies the general public, while the politicians don't have to work real hard. it is easy to write up a bill saying guns are banned that to go out and bust up gangs and smuggling operations and catch people who have illegally owned guns.