I am trying to inlet a Chambers round face into my early Virginia fowler.The main spring seems a bit too wide,would it be OK to grind it narrower?

Bud, I have the same lock in my fowler. It works great. I've never inlet one myself but I think you would want to remove a bit more wood from the stock and not make the spring more narrow by grinding it down. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and best regards. Rockerhound

If you are hitting wood ,just let it in a little at a time by sooting the spring and installing the lock to "witness" where it is touching. If it is hitting the barrel, then you may have to remove a little from the spring. I've cut the top leaf at an angle to clear a barrel in the past with good results, but you must work it slowly with a belt sander without getting it too hot and I polish it after with a fiber wheel or disk.

Bud, are you in danger of cutting into the ramrod hole?

I've experienced the samething in past. Not a major issue.

The width of the spring can be reduced by 10% without having any effect on the strength of the spring. I imagine your width is 13/32". You can reduce the width of the spring down to 12/32" by grinding it down on a grinding wheel. Doing it lengthwise will prevent the spring from cracking later. IMPORTANT! Keep a cup of water nearby to keep cooling the spring during the process, because you do not want to detemper the spring.

Hoot AL

quote:

Originally posted by Bud in PA:
I am trying to inlet a Chambers round face into my early Virginia fowler.The main spring seems a bit too wide,would it be OK to grind it narrower?

Unless inletting the spring deep enough to work will break into the ramrod hole I would leave it alone and just make the mortise fit it..

Dan

Thanks to all for the help.