Started to play a bit with the fore end wood. It was chemically stripped of any remaining original finish (not much of that). Stainable wood filler was used to attempt to repair some work, probably performed by a mouse. That was sanded down and a second application made. When the fore end iron was dropped into place, it was discovered that the fore end had been aggressively sanded down at some point in its history, as there is a fair bit of wood missing to come flush to the iron. Sooo...... I think I will just build it up with this wood filler and eventually try some artistry by faking the grain a bit. Everything about the gun, as those who have watched it progress well know, is about as bad as it gets and parting it out was probably the right thing to do but........... well doggone it, it is a Parker. Here's a look at the first go round with the fore end wood. No matter how this old gun looks when done, it will at least be a shooter again, which was impossible when it arrived here. The other nice thing about working on a real disaster is it is pretty hard to screw it up any worse than it already has been. That will allow me to not worry about some experimenting with the metal to see if I might be able to perform some cosmetic repairs with various epoxies (cosmetic only, the structure is sound).
Cheers,
Jack
