| Building a Muzzleloader - Final Sanding & Patchbox | |
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I'll tell much of the story with photographs, so each page may be a bit slow to load. Click on any photo for a larger image.
With the arrival of the patchbox, I could finally start catching up on sanding this muzzleloader's stock. I had done most of the finish sanding on the rest of the stock, but all the handling in between and while sanding the right side of the butt meant that a final overall sanding with 600 grit would be necessary after working the right side down to the patchbox. The progression of sanding the patchbox is shown in the photos below.
After all the initial shaping and sanding was done with the rasp and 100 grit sandpaper, I changed to 120 grit -- sanding with the grain as always. After all of the deeper marks from the 100 grit were removed, I went to 220 grit, and proceeded similarly through 400 grit and 600 grit paper, finally going over the whole stock with clean medium steel wool.
At all times when sanding, I used a block across inlets and on flats. I only used my fingers to back the paper for inside curves, such as in the flutes, and around the pistol grip. I used a block on the round top of the buttstock, and on the rounded bottom of the entire stock. Don't trust your hands, they'll create high and low spots every time.
The only other sanding I did was during the staining process, when I used 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper to wet-sand the second and third coats of stain, to help fill the grain. I did cheat here and sand without a block, but only because it was a very light sanding and time was of the essence due to the stain being wet.
This shot shows the excellent fit of the patchbox in its inletting, and a close look also shows a lot of wood to be removed (visible along the top edge).
After partial sanding with 100 grit and sanding block. The sanding marks clearly show that material still needs to be removed.
A little further along with 100 grit. It's starting to get there! All sanding was done with long strokes, covering the entire side of the stock, to keep things uniform.
Finally, I have everything flush and sanded with 100 grit. It took me at least two hours and a full sheet of 100 grit sandpaper to get to this point. Obviously, when the sanding marks were uniform on the brass, it was time to stop.
After sanding with 120 grit. As with the wood, you know you're done with a particular grade of paper when all the deeper scratches are removed.
After a healthy dose of 220 grit.
After 400 grit...
...And after 600 grit. These scratches were removed with medium steel wool before polishing the patchbox with Flitz. I went over the whole stock with 600 grit paper and then steel wool with buttplate, patchbox, nose cap and tang in place. Then I removed all hardware, wiped it down with mineral spirits, and was ready to stain.
Next Page - Staining the Stock
- Russ Chastain
