Payne-Gallwey writes that “[t]he lock-plates—one on each side of the stock—are of steel, ½ in. thick” and that “their transverse screws strengthen the stock where it is cut out for the nut and its socket. They also “hold the nut, socket and trigger in position.” He then notes that “[t]he lock-plates … are morticed in flush with the woodwork of the stock, and close against the sides of the revolving nut and its socket ….”

My design for the shape of the lock-plate came from a crossbow I saw in a museum that was of the same era as Gallway’s design. Here it is after polishing:

Morticing the lock-plate into the sides of the stock was long and thankless task.

I started out by using a poor man’s milling machine …

… and finished the task with endless chiseling.

The finished product:

Next up: the bow irons.