As we continue work on this Isaac Haines inspired muzzleloader, Mike talks about the relief carving techniques he uses to achieve an acceptable finish. This video focuses on how to remove the background wood on a golden age flintlock cheek piece carving.

With the main lines established using a small V chisel, Mike starts removing the wood closest to the carving with his skew laid flat on the same plane as the stock itself. Cutting carefully to avoid “knicking” or damaging the scrolls, cut towards the first V cuts, using them as a stop cut.

The skew is very effective in this process because of it’s sharp point, allowing the user to get into the tight curls of the traditional scrolls.

For this rifle, Mike wants the scrolls to be raised above the stock, so these initial relief cuts with the skew will not be enough. To remove more wood, Mike uses his skew for some time, but transitions to a set of scrapers for more control over the wood removal. Think of the scraper like a file or sandpaper, it removes a little wood with each stroke. A skew can remove a lot of wood quickly, but is more difficult to control. Practice often with your skew in different kinds of wood to become more comfortable with this versatile tool.

These tools are readily available from woodworking supply stores like Woodcraft or online. We’ll have a full list of the tools we used on this build in an upcoming article.