Thought I'd foward this for you FCFers. Later, Noel"Spirit Rider"Bell The NMLRA Gunsmithing Workshop and Seminar June 2001 Thanks to the cooperation and support of Dr. Terry Leeper, the NMLRA Gunsmithing Workshop and Seminar for 2001 will be held at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The format of the hands-on workshops will be the same as in past years. The six days of hands-on instruction will run from 7 a.m. Sunday, June 3rd, through 3 p.m. on Friday, June 8th. (This is before the National Spring Shoot begins on June 9th at Friendship.) Optional short courses start on Wednesday, May 30th. For an excellent overview of what the Seminar is like, read Scott Ballentine's article starting on page 67 of last month's Muzzle Blasts. Pre-registration will determine which of the proposed courses listed below will be presented. For a session to be held, it must have a minimum number of participants registered and with their deposits paid by the March 15th deadline. This early deadline is essential in allowing presenters time to order materials and parts. Each instructor has been asked to prepare a longer course description so that the students can learn more about a course before signing up. By the time you read this, the one-page descriptions will be available by fax or mail from the NMLRA offices in Friendship. Call Christi Lemen at 800-745-1493. These abbreviated course descriptions will help you decide which session you should register for or request more information about: Longrifle Engraving - Mark Silver Learn engraving with hammer and chisel, in the styles found on American Longrifle mounts, patchboxes, and inlays. Mark will stress learning the basic process, but will also include other techniques such as shading and cutting borders. Much of the student's class time will be devoted to repeating designs on practice plates which they will take home as study pieces. Class limited to eight. Materials fee: Approximately $20. Making and Inletting the Brass Patchbox - Gary Brumfield This session will cover making a patchbox from sheet; inletting the buttplate, toeplate, and patchbox; and installing the push button, catch, and kick-open spring mechanism. Sheet brass, a buttplate, and a rough turned maple blank (a "Quaker Gun" with no barrel or lock) will be provided, along with a cast-steel springs and push button. Class limited to eight. Material fee: Approximately $100 for the stock, brass, springs, and mechanical components. Students who provide their own "Quaker gun" from a previous class will pay $25. Relief Carving for the Longrifle - Instructor to be determined Carve a machine-shaped longrifle butt stock that will go home with you as study piece and reference. (Because the students will be experimenting with various tools and methods they will not work on a real gun.) Pick any style of carving. Topics covered will include setting up and lighting a work area, selecting and sharpening tools, making specialized tools, various methods of backgrounding and sculpting, etc. Although beginners are welcome, this class in traditional carving techniques best serves those who have some experience. Class limited to eight. Materials fee: Approximately $75 for a pre-turned maple butt stock to carve. Students may provide their own "Quaker gun" from a previous class. Stocking the 18th-century American Fowling Piece - Ron Ehlert New for 2001! Beginning with a maple, cherry, or walnut blank the students will fit the butt plate, lay out, and shape the stock for a fowler ca. 1790. Depending on their experience, students may get the lock and trigger guard inlet, trigger and sideplate made, etc. Ron will provide an original fowler of the period for use as a prototype in stock shaping, but the students will be encouraged to adapt this design somewhat to customize the gun to their personal needs. Students should have some experience with files, rasps, chisels, and basic inletting skills. Barrel will be pre-inlet and the ramrod hole drilled. Class limited to eight. Materials fee: Approximately $400 depending on wood selection. Stocking the Iron Mounted Southern Mountain Rifle - Hershel & John House Build a basic, practical, iron mounted, southern mountain rifle. Variations include: Appalachian, East Tenn., North Carolina, Southwestern Virginia, and early Virginia styles - flint or percussion, straight or swamped barrel, stock of maple or walnut. With the desire to send the student home with as close to a complete rifle as possible, Hershel and John teach their efficient workman-like methods to show how to attain a quality product with a minimum of tools. Barrel will be pre-inlet and the ramrod hole drilled. Class limited to eight. FULL for 2001 through pre-registration of former students. Materials fee: Approximately $450 for a rifle with a flintlock, set triggers, and swamped barrel. With a straight barrel, single trigger and percussion lock approximately $300. Stocking the Kentucky Pistol - Jack Brooks New for 2001! American sporting pistols were frequently made by gunsmiths who were primarily rifle makers. They are generally called "Kentucky Pistols," and since few were made, the originals are actually rarer than period rifles. In this class the students will have the opportunity to work from photographs, measured drawings, and a prototype to stock a pistol like those made in Eastern Pennsylvania around 1800-1810. The inletting and stock shaping skills learned are basic and can be applied to rifle stocking projects as well. Materials fee: Approximately $250. Wire and Sheet metal inlay for the Longrifle - Wallace Gusler Back by popular demand! Learn the techniques for designing, making, and installing cheek piece inlays, thumb pieces, and escutcheons. You will also learn to do the types of silver and brass wire inlay found on longrifles. And finally, as an often-requested demonstration, learn how to inlet the silver signature plate in a rifle barrel. Students may bring a "Quaker gun" butt stock from an earlier carving or patchbox class. (Do not expect to work on an actual rifle.) Material fee: Approximately $20 for wire and sheet. An additional $75 if students need a stock to work on. Short Courses All the short courses for 2001 are three days long. They begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday (May 30) and end Saturday in time for a group picnic. Registration is $300 for NMLRA members and $350 for non-members. Drawing and Design for the Longrifle - Wallace Gusler & Gary Brumfield This will be a hands-on drawing class. This class will focus on learning to create baroque and rococo designs like those typically found in longrifle decoration. The class will not be school specific, but general in the study and drawing of eighteenth-century designs for carving, engraving, and patchboxes. Limited to 20 students. Materials fee: None. Bring a notebook, sketchbook, several pencils, and a good eraser. Forging and Filing Iron Gun Mounts - Hershel & John House This hands-on class will be taught at Hershel's place (ten miles from Bowling Green), where several forges will be set up. The class will be limited to eight students, with preference going to those in the House six-day iron-mounted rifle stocking class. Forge the correct butt plate, trigger guard, etc. for the style of southern mountain rifle you will build in the stocking class. Tool list will be simple, stressing safety equipment, and blacksmithing experience is not required. Material fee: $20. Lock filing and engraving - Jack Brooks In this course a lock will be modified, polished, and engraved to reproduce a typical English export lock circa 1800. Jack will bring some antique locks to study. The class will be limited to eight students with preference going to those signed up for Jack's six-day Kentucky pistol stocking class. Material fee: Included in pistol stocking class if registered - if not, student can bring their own lock. Powder Horns - Ron Ehlert Learn both the fundamentals of making a powder horn and the basic techniques of scrimshaw and polychroming found on finer horns. Beginning with a raw horn and a piece of wood, the student will make a horn in one of the styles popular in the French and Indian through Revolutionary War periods. Materials fee: Approximately $40 for the first horn. Additional horns in various sizes will be available for purchase. Traditional stock Architecture, preparation and finishing - Mark Silver Topics include: scrapers, planes, files, and burnishers, staining and finishing. Using a practice stock, learn the basics of 18th-century longrifle stock architecture, final shaping, preparation for staining and finishing; and have a stock correctly prepared for the Carving, Wire Inlay, or Patchbox courses. Through the use of 18th century tools and techniques learn to achieve the coveted warmth and aesthetics of true authenticity. Experiment on smaller practice pieces of maple, American, and English walnut, preparing (planing, scraping), staining, and finishing with both traditional and modern formulas. Limited to 10. Materials fee $90 ($75 for a new Quaker stock (required) & $15 for small pieces and stains). Registration Information The registration fee for any of the six-day sessions will be $600 for NMLRA members. Non-members will pay $650. Short courses are $300 for members or $350 for non-members. You may begin to register immediately. Do not delay! We ask for a first, second, and third choice, but we have been able to place over half the students who register early in their first choice. Telephone, fax or mail your registration to Christi Lemen in the NMLRA offices in Friendship. Call at 800-745-1493. Fax at 812-667-5136. Mail to P.O. Box 67 Friendship IN 47021. One-half of the registration is due as a deposit by March 15, 2001. Please remember that your registration is not official until your deposit is received (credit cards may be used by telephone). You will be notified by April 15th as to which class choice and short course you are signed up for, and what the total materials fees will be for them. (Your deposit will be refunded if the classes you picked do not fill or are already full.) The remainder of the registration fee and the materials fees are due by May 30th. Lodging The Scottish Inn will be our primary motel, and they will be holding a block of rooms. (Call (270)-781-6550 for reservations after your class choice is confirmed.) Class Schedule We usually start classes at 7 a.m. to help with the "student parking" problem. We often work a ten-hour day by taking 1� hours for lunch, two 15 or one 30-minute break, and ending at 7 p.m. Some individual instructors may alter this schedule after the first day. Most folks have agreed that ten hours a day is enough time at the bench. Those who wanted more shop time can work through all or part of the lunch break. My email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] and I check the mail two or three times a week. If you think that works best for you, email your questions. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. 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