Recoil Pad Installation - How to suggestions please

[Woodcock survey]

Thats the place,an industrial park now. there was an area that had the biggest hemlock trees i have ever seen.See you in April.

[Pa SxS]

Dean, that must be a Remington Era gun. Wonderful wood!

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Chuck Bishop

Dean, that must be a Remington Era gun. Wonderful wood!

Nope... It is a Damascus barreled 12 ga. GH made in 1903 on a 1 1/2 frame. It was really one of my early mistakes but I bought it for $400 without a forend and the butt plate was missing. The screws were a mess, the cyanide colors made it look like the unfortunate child of a zebra and a tiger. The Damascus barrels were blued and the word Damascus on the rib was obliterated. The barrels were originally 30" and were cut back to 27". It was a fabulous skeet gun though. I sent the barrels to Dale Edmonds and I bought an aftermarket forend for a 2-frame gun that never fit very well but served the purpose.

But that was the original wood! Some of the best I've ever seen on a grade 2.



.

[BRDHNTR]

Dan, that is the place! I can't tell you how many grouse and woodcock I took out of the covert! It was one of my 'go to' places.

[Bill Murphy]

Brian, what's you opinion of fitting a pad, on the gun, with some tape on the wood?

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Brian, what's you opinion of fitting a pad, on the gun, with some tape on the wood?

I realize Bill's question was directed towards Brian, but was regarding a tape method I described, so Yesterday's outing was timely.
Walter Eisserer completed an 8 (EIGHT) year apprentice program in Austria, before coming to the US, to spend 20 years with Griffin & Howe (and concurrently working at Continental Arms on weekends) and then worked for Gary Herman for 15 years, until Safari Outfitters closed in Ridgefield, CT. I put Walter in the Judson Darrow, Joe Jurjevic category. Sadly, he is closing up and moving to way-upstate NY to live with his son. I can't image how long it will take him to pack up his shop.

The installation of the pad, shown in the photos, took less than 15 minutes, from the first picture to the last picture. This pad was then coming off the gun for a full pigskin cover. In the case of pads not leather covered, it goes on once, and is not removed for hand work. This works for Walter because of his experience, but may not be true of all.

As Chuck stated, Walter also uses a disc sander. Note this machine, in the pictures is not what you see today, as it has no table, just a guard at the bottom edge of the wheel. He bought this machine from Continental when they closed. As he stated, the only good method, and tool to use is one where you can see the stock and the tool at the same time. Using a belt sander means either the tool is blocking your view of the point where it is sanding the stock, or, if the belt sander is clamped with the belt on the upper side, the stock is blocking the view. Likewise, using a powered, vertical belt sander, means the stock is still between you and the belt, and you can not see how close you are getting.
Using a disc sander, where you are able to look at the stock - tool interface is Walter's only method, though he says you can use a vertical belt, if you stand to the side of the machine. Notice that he holds the stock in both hands, and does not rest the stock on the machine's table.

He took the pad ( Packmeyer is his choice only when they get covered in pigskin) right down to the taped surface, then hand sanded, starting with 120, and going to 400.

The gun he was doing, and the other of a pair, were $30,000 worth of Perrazis, but he had two Hollands on the bench to do next. He explained that when he does pads, he does all at the same time, and had, that I could count, eight to do that day.

What I've described, and shown, is one man's method, and doesn't make another man's method better or worse. That I believe he is the most skilled gunsmith I have ever been permitted to watch (for many hours, and over a 40 year span) has nothing to do with it.

[Pa SxS]

Thanks Edgar, interesting. I know Craig Libhart does it the same way but these guys have years of experience.

I recently tried another way to get the pad fitted to the butt after getting it close to the final shape. Once it's close, I mounted the pad and used electrical tape on the wood. Hand sanding with a block is difficult and time consuming and trying to get the hard plate of the pad down to the wood without cutting through the tape and scratching the stock is difficult. What I did was loosen the screws of the pad enough that I could insert a spacer of maybe 1/4" and tighten the screws to the spacer. That left a gap where I could sand the hard pad of the stock at a slight angle with the sanding block. Just bevel a little at a time, take the block out and check the fit. Keep doing this until it matches. Worked like a charm!

[edgarspencer]

Chuck, your method makes good sense. Walter has way more confidence (and guts) than I ever could have and takes the pad down to with a few thousands of an inch, and does only a few minutes of hand sanding. He has a new tape that he bemoans not having been invented till he decided to fully retire. It is some space age material that resists sanding abrasion, so he can actually sand right on top of it.
My dad and I spent alternating Thursday nights going to Safari, and those nights, Walter also worked till the 8pm closing (often even later) One particular night my dad took back an upgraded two barrel Parker that started life as a VHE 28, but ended up a John Warren highly engraved 28, with a Joe Jurjevic set of 38-55WCF barrels. My dad merely mentioned he might have liked the gun more if it was a straight stocked gun (he never even shot the rifle barrels) Walter disappeared with the receiver, went down stairs and ran it thru the bandsaw, and by closing had a shaped, checkered, and one coat of finish. He had also extended the trigger bow, and only needed to blue that.
Part of his work in Ferlach was hand making springs for sidelocks. He did a wonderful job reworking the locks on my 26" grade two, and has promised to do the same to my 30". Those springs are like butter.

[Bill Murphy]

I have correspondence between me and Joe Jurjevic about doing the rifle conversion on my 28 gauge Parker, probably from the seventies. He was quite the talent. We never agreed on the project. I remember ascending the stairway to the second floor at Continintal Arms when I was just a kid, but, unfortunately, never met any of the gunsmiths. I wonder if I ever met Edgar there? I wonder what happened to the John Warren, Joe Jurjevic 28 gauge Parker?

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Chuck Bishop

Hand sanding with a block is difficult and time consuming and trying to get the hard plate of the pad down to the wood without cutting through the tape and scratching the stock is difficult.

I meant to point out something that was very subtle, watching him work. Look closely, in the fourth picture, at his left thumb. Each time he wood put the stock to the wheel, he would keep the stock turning; never stopping in one spot until he took it away from the wheel. After each 'pass' he would check it for closeness with his thumb. He works so quickly and efficiently, it was hard to absorb it all in a single fitting. I didn't take anymore pictures after the first stock he worked on, but watched him do two more. I'm continually in awe when I get to watch a real craftsman.