Gabe, It might depend on the stag and how you intend to leave the bark. If it has lots of popcorn, you may approach it differently than if it does not.

My first approach would be to hog out the mortise smaller than the plate and then carefully scrape it to exact shape. One trick it to lightly bevel the plate so that it tightens as it goes in. I would rough or "key" the back if epoxy is the holding agent.

This one of those things that you may have to assess on an individual basis since each piece of stag is different and escutcheons are shaped different, etc.

Or just buy a pantograph.

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Or just buy a pantograph.

I have never done one in stag. I have in wood and I used a router bit in my drill press I cut it deeper then shaped my handle. It is just an accident that it turned out as well as it did.

Don Fogg has some stuff on his site about it in the tutorial section. I would look at that too. Some old methods there.

Hello Gabe. Good to see you and Anthony at the hammer in. The escutcheons I have done used a variable speed dremel or foredom tool. I traced the shape of the escutcheon onto the material and then very carefully removed the material with small burrs. When I got close to the line, I then switched to carefully scraping away the material, as Lin suggested. Always test fitting as I go. With stag you have the contours of the stag to deal with also. Just go slow and you should be fine.

Brion

Many thanks for the info.

Gabe,

One thing that helps when doing inletting, is to cut the center of the recess down below the depth of the material being inletted. Just leave a small shelf around the inlet area for the material to rest on. This minimizes the amount of area that you have to deal with adjusting to the proper depth. In fact, you can leave just a few contact points for the inlet material to set on. If you epoxy the inlet into the recess, the deeper area in the center of the inlet will provide a place for any excess epoxy to go.

You didn't mention if you were doing the inlet in handle slabs, or a full piece of stag, like a taper. You have to be careful that you don't get the inlet material stuck in the recess while checking the fit. If working on slabs, you can drill a hole through the slab at the center of the recess. Then if you get the material stuck, you can push it loose from the back side with a small punch. I usually solder a pin in the center of the inlet material, to fit in the hole through the recess. The pin will help hold the inletted material after you epoxy it in.

You can make small chisels and scrapers from Exacto knives. Grind the blades into shapes that will help you reach into difficult areas. You can also grind pieces of hack-saw blades into useful shapes and fit them into the Exacto knife handles.

Great additional advice Steve, thanks. I am putting the plate on a scale. Many thanks to everyone.