The L.C. Smith Collectors Association

The L.C. Smith Collectors Association
[ The L.C. Smith Collectors Association ]

What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend

Posted by Ron Fankhauser on December 24, 2017, 5:32 pm

Hi, I was hoping someone could tell me what the black wood on an LC Smith forend tip is? Is this ebony wood? or something else? Also, the wood on my forend looks to have been replaced with non-ebony wood and then possibly dyed or otherwise colored black to look like the dark ebony. Not sure that it is not original but think it might not be. The dark color has worn off some. The ebony tip also has a chip in the edge of the ebony tip. I am a pretty good wood worker and am interested in replacing the tip but would appreciate any tips or suggestions. Thanks, Ron

Re: What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend

Posted by bill on December 24, 2017, 7:20 pm, in reply to "What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend"

ebony

Re: What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend

Posted by Dan on December 25, 2017, 2:43 pm, in reply to "What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend"

Ron
The Ebony was originally glued in with either fish-glue , hide-glue, or horn glue. That is why they fall out.
Larry Potterfield has a vid on YouTube but I can't remember if he talked about glue types or not. Ive been using black epoxy, it isn't original, and it may make future repair difficult if ever required but It won't fail. It also works well to fill in any gaps if your fit is less than perfect. The only problem is it will also try to creep into the grain of the walnut and make you use bad words, so make sure you seal the walnut so the line is nice and razor sharp. I start by cleaning up any defects in the inletting to get nice razor sharp lines, then sealing with a very thin layer of thin super glue, sand lightly , repeat.
Make sure ebony is sufficiently oversized to allow for shaping.
When the epoxy is at about the leather stage I remove the clamp and start cleaning up epoxy and start rough shaping the tip on the sander when the glue is sufficiently set.
Uncured epoxy is toxic, breathe as little as possible.

Re: What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend

Posted by BILL on December 25, 2017, 7:01 pm, in reply to "Re: What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend"

You can remove excess uncured epoxy with medical alcohol (isopropyl) I simply wet the corner of a paper towel and wipe away excess uncured epoxy.

bill

Re: What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend

Posted by Ron on December 26, 2017, 12:31 pm, in reply to "What is the black wood on the tip of an LC Smith Forend"

Thanks for the help and suggestions on the forend!

Ron

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