Here are 24 raw blank stocks in the beginning of the process. I'm preparing to run them through the planer for thinning since I have already straightened the blanks on the jointer in the background.. These weigh about 25 pounds apiece at this point and I will lift and move these blanks many, many times to process them. I'll keep taking pictures so you can see the different stages.
Here are all the stocks after being profiled to the shape of each individual model, using the band saw.
Stocks set in duplicating machine to begin the barrel inletting process. See barrel mold at left.
First barrel inlets done for French model guns. It even perfectly cuts the inlet for the breech plug tang and the barrel tenons. At left side of machine you can see post with a dummy stylus which matches the two cutters which turn at 11,500 r.p.m.'s. The two cutters turn in opposite directions to counteract the torque. The orange "head" rolls back and forth on the large wheels and can swivel side to side and up and down, taking care of 3 dimensional cutting. Each cutter is sharpened and shaped to the size and shape of the stylus being used, so it matches the contour when cutting. I have matching stylus'/cutters in 3/4 inch, 1/4 inch, 1/8 inch, and 1/16th inch. The small cutters are sharpened about .003 oversized in relation to the stylus to make a perfect inlet for each part. I also have special 45 degree cutters and special ramrod groove cutting tools for those special operations. It took me almost 8 months to build this machine, including the special 4 foot barrel vises and the 360 degree contouring vises. As soon as the barrel inlets are all done, I'll install the 360 degree vises to hold the stocks for contouring and inletting. See pictures below.
Here are two stocks being cut using the 360 degree universal vises. Using the machine, I first contour the basic shape so I don't have to do my inlets through too great a depth of wood. The master stock and two blank stocks can be rotated to 8 different positions so I can work on any area of the stock. Those are the 1/4 inch stylus and cutters which remove most of the wood in each inlet. I rotate the stocks to 4 positions to do the contouring, 4 positions to do the 1/4 inch inletting and 4 positions to do the 1/8 inch final exact inletting. There are indexing pins on the barrels so I can index/position the 3 stocks exactly to each other and get the correct depth for any part to be inletted. There are also different "master" stocks for every firearm model. The gray coloring on the master is a specialized aluminized epoxy which does not wear as the stylus rides over it. If the inlets were to wear out, the inlet for each part would become slightly larger with time. I know it looks like a lot of work to do it this way, but it allows me to produce very exact fitting of parts and correct stock architecture for each of the firearms produced here. After I pull these stocks out of the machine, I use an inflatable drum sander to remove the rough surfaces in preparation to begin assembling the parts.
Various barrel molds for each model of guns. Left to right: Wilson/Northwest guns, French guns, English fowler, 12 gauge English fowler, Southern Mountain Rifle, Crockett rifle, small contour English Game gun. The machine they are leaning against is the ramrod groove machine. By using various spacers, the ramrod groove can be run in each stock, except for the Southern Mountain Rifle and the Crockett rifle. Those two require ramrod groove to be cut off of stock masters.
I'll keep taking pictures of the process so you can stay up with it! Cheers~