Do it yourself Stock making thread

[CharlieNC]

I envy you guys who have the skill and experience to produce such craftmanship.

 

[joshb]

Charlie: All you have to do is find that guy in your head that’s telling you “You can’t do that” and tell him to shut up! I believe that anybody can do what they put their minds to!

 

[Bully]

Charlie: All you have to do is find that guy in your head that’s telling you “You can’t do that” and tell him to shut up! I believe that anybody can do what they put their minds to!

I envy you guys who have the skill and experience to produce such craftmanship.

If I listened to the guy in my head and more than a few on here, I never would have built my first rifle..,

 

[CharlieNC]

Charlie: All you have to do is find that guy in your head that’s telling you “You can’t do that” and tell him to shut up! I believe that anybody can do what they put their minds to!

You are 100% correct! A few months ago I watched many youtubes and started making knives, even the first one turned out nice. Truthfully, I do not have sufficient ambition to undertake woodworking. But I do commend those who find hobby/interest which drives them to learn and achieve.

 

[CStuck]

You are 100% correct! A few months ago I watched many youtubes and started making knives, even the first one turned out nice. Truthfully, I do not have sufficient ambition to undertake woodworking. But I do commend those who find hobby/interest which drives them to learn and achieve.

Charlie, I am not to far from Charlotte (I'm near Clover SC) if you ever get the bug to try and tackle making a stock, I'd be happy to help you

 

[CharlieNC]

Charlie, I am not to far from Charlotte (I'm near Clover SC) if you ever get the bug to try and tackle making a stock, I'd be happy to help you

Thank you for the gracious offer, that would be a great project for our cold / wet Feb winter weather. Just had my ftr rebarreled and a purdy stock would finish it properly.

 

[Bully]

Charlie, I am not to far from Charlotte (I'm near Clover SC) if you ever get the bug to try and tackle making a stock, I'd be happy to help you

Damn... that’s an awesome offer!!! Nice of you to pay it forward.

 

[CStuck]

Damn... that’s an awesome offer!!! Nice of you to pay it forward.

Thats what this is all about right? Helping other shooters & enthusiasts enjoy the sport. I also think its part of our gentlmanly duty to share experience, lessons learned, and knowledge with those wanting/willing to learn, so it can be passed on and the knowledge isn't lost.

 

[joshb]

Well said! That is exactly the point!

 

[Bully]

Thats what this is all about right? Helping other shooters & enthusiasts enjoy the sport. I also think its part of our gentlmanly duty to share experience, lessons learned, and knowledge with those wanting/willing to learn, so it can be passed on and the knowledge isn't lost.

I couldn't agree more.

I was blessed to be invited to a gunsmith's shop at the beginning of the year. I learned a ton by watching him build my action into a complete rifle. I plan to help anyone that wants to learn as I grow in this hobby.

 

[Bully]

I was going to send this as a PM to @joshb but decided to post the question here:

Hey Josh.
Just a quick question:
I went to a local wood supplier. They deal almost exclusively in honest-to-God antique wood. They have a beautiful piece from a Paterson factory. It's pine. However, it's certainly not the pine that gets sold at big box stores. It's very heavy and dense with amazing figure. It's also probably 200+ years old. It's not the light and airy stuff that I'm used to seeing. Do you think if I glued it to a piece of walnut that it would work for a stock? The structure would come from the walnut. The pine would be there for the show and conversation.
Thanks again for the thread. It's a blast and I am going tomorrow (10/6/18) to join a local "maker space" so I can use their tools. I'll build the first one out of the laminated plywood that I have and will fuss with the second one out of the pine if I decide to go that direction.

 

[joshb]

Hi Bully! Short answer is yes. Most pines you see today are White, Sugar, Hemlock or Spruce. Yellow pine is denser and harder and is used a lot as flooring. Most of it comes from smaller trees because they cut all the big ones down, years ago. Back in the day, larger old yellow pine trees yielded “Yellow Pine dense”. The age of the tree and slow growth rate contributed to making it very dense, hard and heavy. It can be a very stable, pretty wood. You can use it for a stock.
Another good one is Douglas Fir. Older trees were also denser and the wood can be gorgeous. These days, good quality clear Douglas Fir can cost as much as Cherry and Walnut.
Both Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir were commonly used as framing and support lumber (beams) into the 50’s and early 60s when they were still clear cutting the last great stands of old growth forests. Sadly, those old trees are rare these days and has made salvaging old buildings for the good old lumber a thriving business.
Good luck! Josh.

 

[Bully]

Hi Bully! Short answer is yes. Most pines you see today are White, Sugar, Hemlock or Spruce. Yellow pine is denser and harder and is used a lot as flooring. Most of it comes from smaller trees because they cut all the big ones down, years ago. Back in the day, larger old yellow pine trees yielded “Yellow Pine dense”. The age of the tree and slow growth rate contributed to making it very dense, hard and heavy. It can be a very stable, pretty wood. You can use it for a stock.
Another good one is Douglas Fir. Older trees were also denser and the wood can be gorgeous. These days, good quality clear Douglas Fir can cost as much as Cherry and Walnut.
Both Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir were commonly used as framing and support lumber (beams) into the 50’s and early 60s when they were still clear cutting the last great stands of old growth forests. Sadly, those old trees are rare these days and has made salvaging old buildings for the good old lumber a thriving business.
Good luck! Josh.

Thank you for the response. I am pretty set on using it as it's from a Paterson, NJ building but the fact that it is a viable piece makes it that much better.

 

[CStuck]

Put some clear on both stocks over the weekend.

 

[joshb]

Very nice!

 

[Bully]

Put some clear on both stocks over the weekend.


View attachment 1068620
View attachment 1068621

Beautiful.

How did you do the stippling on the grip?

 

[CStuck]

Beautiful.

How did you do the stippling on the grip?

.

I use variety of tools but mostly a dremel with small diamond grinding bits, of various round sizes (you can get a cheap set that works fine from Harbor Fraud) Try not to use the high speed cutter, it wont leave as smooth of a finish and if you aren't careful it can get away from you and mess up your stock. Also a few nails with the sharp points ground slightly more round for between the dremel holes I use a light hammer strike on the nail to go into the tight spots between dremel marks. I also use a veining tool & dremel for the border. On the main stipple you want to do as random and spaced pattern at first so the eye doesn't find a pattern. Then fill in the areas that you didnt carve/stipple. Some people dont like this method as it can sometimes turn out like a glock stipple with a repeated pattern of holes/marks. But I think if you do it random enough with all the voids between stippled then your eye gets lost in the mass of it and doesn't focus on one or two points. Here is a picture while in progress. I try not to make any of the stipple marks the same distance apart, I also have some overlapping and some not. It looks like a mess but at the end it will all blend together as a nice grip. Hope this helps.

 

[Bully]

.

I use variety of tools but mostly a dremel with small diamond grinding bits, of various round sizes (you can get a cheap set that works fine from Harbor Fraud) Try not to use the high speed cutter, it wont leave as smooth of a finish and if you aren't careful it can get away from you and mess up your stock. Also a few nails with the sharp points ground slightly more round for between the dremel holes I use a light hammer strike on the nail to go into the tight spots between dremel marks. I also use a veining tool & dremel for the border. On the main stipple you want to do as random and spaced pattern at first so the eye doesn't find a pattern. Then fill in the areas that you didnt carve/stipple. Some people dont like this method as it can sometimes turn out like a glock stipple with a repeated pattern of holes/marks. But I think if you do it random enough with all the voids between stippled then your eye gets lost in the mass of it and doesn't focus on one or two points. Here is a picture while in progress. I try not to make any of the stipple marks the same distance apart, I also have some overlapping and some not. It looks like a mess but at the end it will all blend together as a nice grip. Hope this helps.

It certainly does. Thanks much... again.

 

[Bully]

I'm finally going to get to work on my stock on Sunday/Monday. I joined the maker space and got my safety briefing so all is well with the world. I'm gonna grab a pack of paper masks and get at it. I'm pretty excited to get started cutting this if for no other reason than to find out if I'm any good at it.
I also spoke to the folks at the lumber yard. They are going to sell me one of the yellow heart pine boards to make a stock out of. I'm putting a bit of pressure on myself as it's not inexpensive but I think it will prove it self out providing I can do well on the first stock.
I will, for sure, post pics along the way.

 

[Bully]

Spent a couple hours at the maker place by me. Made a little progress.