Questions and answers from Facebook

“What are your techniques for clean inletting with no gaps ?”

— Cade Oligee

Here are some of the most informative comments from the post.

Richard Miller - “Take your time, hand-cut only”

Chris Cash - “I just use ballistol on a patch. It won’t hurt wood. I carefully pull my pinned barrels off about once a year to inspect and lube. So far, no problems in terms of rust.”

Brett Davis - “Being careful to read the inletting black correctly. It can be deceiving”

Charles W. Hinkle- '“Keep your in letting tools very sharp and pay close attention to what Brett Davis said. “

William Reynolds - “Under cut and slight bevel on inlay”

Justin Urbantas - “Bevel on inlays, and don't remove all the inletting black you see, false prints happen when you push a part in or pull it out”

Devin Seybert - “Once you think your tools are sharp, hone them to a mirror polish. Touch them up very frequently. If you maintain the edge, you save yourself from having to go back and resharpen and your cuts are cleaner. Also as was said, put a draft on the bottom of the piece. A little transfer color goes a long way. If it's on heavy, you'll get poor readings”

Nathan Smith - “for me its stay the heck away from building rifles and let the professionals do their work”

Michael Karkalla “Sharp tools and Patience “

Rube Wilson - “The best advice I can offer is #1 AVOID inletting black it is a problem waiting to happen use candle soot to blacken the back of inlayed parts to see where material needs to be removed. This is what the old masters did. It easily cleans up should you get somewhere you don't want it, 2. prep all you inlays first by filing a slight back bevel on all your parts. Don't need to be much a couple of degrees will be fine. 3 Stab in all edges with a razor-sharp Exacto knife with a stiff low angle blade. 4 use the best chisels you can find or afford and keep them honed to razor-sharp. and retouch them often. Lastly, take your time. It maybe a small inlay but it is a very delicate job to do and deserves all the time you need to do it properly”

Harvey Anglum - “A final suggestion, don't use wild cherry. It will chip out at the worst possible time and place. I am on #2 of 3 matched cherry stocks for myself and grandsons. “

Mike Yazel - “You want a real thin blade on that initial cut in knife for the inlays and bevel the inlay edge.”

Visit the Contemporary Longrifle Association Facebook group for more information.