I've got "body Nazi" friends that spend an inordinate amount of time at the gym. I hear all about "leg day" and "arm day"...well, today was "butt day" for me.

Progress on my 1890 restoration continues. Yesterday saw the completion of the inletting for the action and drilling the hole for the tang screw. Today I focused on completing the buttplate installation. There has been a LOT of wood removed from the new stock to match the graceful lines of the curved buttplate. The tiny amount of wood still proud of the metal will get removed during final sanding of the piece prior to finishing.

Close to the start of the process:



Where I stopped today:

But, but, but...... You are rolling right along with that one. She will be sweet when finished

Great job….I would be on my 3rd or 4th stock by now….

Thanks!

And I haven’t gotten myself in trouble with the rasp yet!

My hat is off, sir. I had a 1906 and bought the Homestead stock and buttplate three or four years ago thinking it would be an easy project. When I looked at all that wood and that tiny buttplate I lost heart and sold the stuff. You're doing a great job!

Still following. I love these kind of projects. Can’t wait to see that old lever gun when you are finished.

It’s looking great. Can you talk about the tools you are using? Rasp type Chisel etc..

Thanks, Bill!

Yeah, Homestead doesn’t cheap out on the amount of wood they sell you, do they?

As you rightly observe, the 1890/1906/62 rifles are pretty dainty things…and it just doesn’t look right to fit a big boat paddle to them…so a lot of that wood gets converted to dust!

A horse-shoeing rasp, various files and a set of needle files. A few seconds of work with a Dremel touching up a bit of the inletting that I couldn't get a file to!

You may consider putting a layer or two of painters tape during sanding to purposely leave the metal high for future refinishing. Keep up the great work!

Great minds think alike, I guess!

Masking tape got me this far!

Beautiful work, there.

I wish I had the patience and talent for working with wood like that, but I am never happy with the result...and sometimes it's an unmitigated disaster! I can build stuff for strength and am not bad at general carpentry, but a cabinet maker I'll never be. And if anyone EVER catches me doing anything more than free floating or glass bedding on a wooden stock please slap me upside the head. Thank you in advance!