Fixing gaps in a semi-inlet

[Fox20obsessed]

Sometimes you get a semi-inlet that was slightly over-inletted in spots upon arrival...sure acra-glas can fix that issue, but it looks ugly after finish is applied as it doesn’t match no matter how hard you try. With that said, I like to cut curls with a sharp chisel from an area that needs a lot of wood removed still and save them in a sandwich bag for this very purpose. I wanted to show a technique I have been using for a few years that involves taking said curls that will match up very well as they are taken from the same buttstock or forend piece. The pics show two curls I have “scabbed” in using tite-bond wood glue to fill a couple small gaps that were present when I received the semi inletted stock I used for my budget build sterly. Long story short, I like to find a few of the curls I have saved that will be slightly oversized when compared with the gap as they need to be re-inletted after the glue sets up. I soak the curls in water for a bit and then dampen the wood where they will be applied and then just go ahead and set them in place. As you can see in the pics I use a piece of foam cut to shape to hold the curls in place until everything sets up. On this semi inlet the two gaps that appeared after I fitted everything up were directly across the tang from one another and as such I did this over the course of two evenings. I get everything in place, wait about a half hr and then pull the foam back out and clean any excess glue that may have squeezed out using a moist q-tip. After the excess glue is removed I put the foam block back in to hold the scab in place and let everything set-up overnight. Once you have the scabs in place and the glue is cured you simply re-inlet just that area using inletting black...pretty simple process, just takes a little time. The time it takes is well spent though because the finished product looks wayyyy better than an off color chunk of acra-glass. No matter how hard you try, the glass never seems to match just right. This gun is now gap free, and all the wood is shaped...ready to drop the wood off with my local smith next week for him to cut the checkering. Thanks for looking!!!
-Matt

[Fox20obsessed]

Here are a few pics of those areas afterwards...notice how you can barely see the curls I scabbed in, just a faint glue line.
-Matt

PS: in the second pic it looks like a massive scratch on the floor plate near the screw...not sure what that is (perhaps some carpet fuzz) but the floor plate is not scratched up

[Brian Dudley]

A classic and effective way to fix an overcut.
It is of course very undesirable for a semi-inlet to be cut that poorly.

[Jeff S]

Very clever. I like the use of the foam.

[fox-admin]

Very interesting thanks for the photo's and explanation.

[Birdshooter46]

Thanks for the tutorial! Its very informative for me as I'm about to embark on a re-stock/ restoration of a 16 Sterlingworth.

[Stan Hillis]

Great tutorial, Matt. Good narrative and pics. Excellent.

SRH

[Littlebear15]

This post was a gift from the gods. I’m just getting ready to do the inletting on a 12 Gauge Sterlingworth and you solved a big issue. Thanks so much for sharing that post.

[Fox20obsessed]

Thanks for the comments guys, glad this post was helpful for some of you!
-Matt

[vaturkey]

Sure beats the hell out of trying to dye acraglass to fill the voids, which I have seen more then a few times over the years.

[Fox20obsessed]

Tom, I agree. I have 3 coats of finish on the buttstock and forend now and have also sealed all the inletting and end-grain under where the buttplate will be...you can’t even see the “scabs”. Budget build 16 is close to being finished up and then I just have one more stock set to wrap up before hunting season is upon us. Been a busy year with a LOT of projects to say the least.
-Matt

[Fox20obsessed]

Here is the wood for the budget 16 as it sits. I actually stained the wood prior to applying finish and I think the color is pretty decent. Also added a pic of my favorite plant in the forest. panax quinquefolius...random, I know but I thought it was a good shot of the rare beauty. Keep in mind, the wood only has 3 coats of finish and still needs some TLC to wrap it up.
-Matt

[vaturkey]

Looks really nice.

[Stan Hillis]

Better known as ginseng, or 'sang.

Your wood turned out good. Reminds me of the one I did some years ago that I posted about in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7229

The close-up pics are all gone, but the view of the whole gun remains.

SRH

[Mike of the Mountain]

Nicely done Matt! Nice "kink" for those pesky repairs.