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By CHRIS SPIVEY Star Staff Writer TIMBER RIDGE — What do school reading instructors do in their spare time? Chances are that a vast majority of them read, but not Guy Owen Jr. . When Owen leaves the confinement of Frederick Douglass School, his hands start to get busy, stirring up sawdust. Out of his tucked-away basement workshop in nor thwestern Frederick County rolls everything from Robert E. Lee busts to musket stocks. Having learned to work with wood from his father, Owen has been tinkering with it for most of his life.Owen explained that working with wood is one way to take his mind off the problems of school. Three years ago, with a bank loan, he purchased his first carving machine. Lg be . It was one that could simultaneously carve two objects identical to a pattern ob ject in the center. The machine, which was manufactured by the Minnesota Mining Company, cost over $6,000, and is one of the smallest models. FROM LOOKING around his workshop, one could get the impression he is trying to build a larger arsenal than Harpers Ferry. Leaning up against his workbench are numerous patterns and muskets in various stages of development. Even he hasn’t done any formal advertising. Owen has carved his way into a high-demand business which, in his spare time, earns him as much as his teaching position. His business, Timber Ridge Carvings, has made and sold over 100 rifle stocks in the past six months. Owen made many of his hand tools so they would have the right feel. Some of his chisels are made out of old files and forged in an old blacksmith furnace that his father owns. Carving a set of three or four stocks takes about three hours on the machine. Owen uses a progression of bit sizes from 15/16 of an inch all the way down to 1/32 of an inch for especially small detail. This progression allows Owen to fine-tune the his work each step of the way. After the machine carving comes the time-consuming job of hand sanding to give the final polish. OWEN RECENTLY purchased a second carving machine from an Indian reserva tion in the west. The new machine will carve four items simultaneously. He has had customers from every state except Hawaii. One night he received 18 calls inquiring about or placing orders for his products. He has even had an order from a man in France. His products are listed in the Dixie Guns catalog. Though most of his work is centered on gun stocks, he does not restrict his work to it. Owen also can make furniture repairs and carve novelty items. He said that if he could get an Indian to sit long enough or a wooden Indian he would make some Indian statues. Other plans include John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Owen claims and has yet to be proved wrong, that he can copy anything that will fit on his machine. Although most of his gun construction consists of carving stocks, he said, ‘‘I can make lock, stock and barrel.’’ He has a rifling machine so that he can make preci sion gun barrels with inner spiraling grooves for accuracy. The machine is in Baltimore and some friends operate it for him because he doesn’t have the time to do it himself. After receiving the barrels from Baltimore, Owen then puts the steel on a lathe to polish it. Also an active participant in local “‘skir mishes, ’ Owen shoots a rich Springfield which, of course, he made. He combined the good features of the various models to make a good shooting piece of machinery. He isn’t a collector simply because he can make a product much cheaper and of bet oa than an authentic rifle, Owen said. He summed up his reasons for getting in to the business this way: ‘‘When you’re on a teaching salary and you have three kids, you've got to find something to do.”’ JOHN SKIRMISH SUPPLIE Guy Owen, Jr. Owen Works his Carving Machine hotos by Chris Spive
Newspaper Details
Winchester Evening Star
Winchester, Virginia, US
Fri, Jun 22, 1979
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 24 Jan 2026
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