Bedding Job Done! Best way to remove excess MarineTex?

[Alex Wheeler]

The key to a really good bedding job is to make mistakes, fix them, then come up with ways to prevent them from happening. After about 100 bedding jobs they should all come out perfect, lol. Im kidding, but not really. But to answer your question, I have files that cut in the pull direction. So that way you dont chip the bedding around the top surface and the final finish is done with sand paper. Around the trigger and bolt cuts all edges are rounded with either a file or paper as the endmill can cause a raised edge where any cut is made. I cut those cuts after bedding, so this may not apply to a pre inlet stock.

 

[NETim]

Don’t feel bad. I did that.........once!

I seriously doubt it happens to me again. 3 minutes with the Dremel and I was home free. Took longer to round up the tools and workbench than it did to do the job.

Anyway, the darn thing is bedded.

 

[hpshooter]

This ^^^. A few years ago I worked for a guy where I learned a flex shaft for your Dremel changes it from a tool to butcher nearly every job into one you can control.

Foredom tool with a foot pedal variable speed control. Managed to pick one up along with an air driven dental drill and a good assortment of burrs, a spare flex shaft for the Foredom and an extra hand piece at an estate sale for a very good price.

 

[hpshooter]

I seriously doubt it happens to me again. 3 minutes with the Dremel and I was home free. Took longer to round up the tools and workbench than it did to do the job.

Anyway, the darn thing is bedded.

You are over the hump now!

 

[ebb]

If you need to clean up marine Tex before it gets too hard, use vinegar on that Qtip.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Milling machine is best if you have one or access to one. Otherwise a dremel with a sanding drum will get it done.

You can use a wet Q-Tip to clean up when epoxy is wet, but I like to let the ‘external’ overflow dry for about an hour or so where it turns into a slightly solid but still a soft malleable state then use an exacto knife to cut it off. But I don’t “slice” along the receiver because I don’t want to scratch the metal or any finishes. I “press” the knife into the epoxy. Comes off easy and no mess.

If I won’t be around during that time then I will clean it up when it’s wet with Q-tips. It will leave a sharp edge on the epoxy where it meets the receiver. Use an exacto razor knife to de-burr it but drag it backwards with the razor edge facing away from the direction of travel. The cleaned up and de-burred areas will have a lighter color gray so use a light coat of good quality gun oil over all the bedding to get the consistent dark gray color back. Also acts as a rust preventative when you re-seat the action.

I don’t worry about cleaning up in magazine and trigger areas because I have a milling machine to do all that afterwards. Even in the years prior to having a milling machine I didn’t worry about internal clean up and just used a dremel. Just be careful with how you apply it in those areas so you don’t end up with excessive overflow.

Adhesive “dense” foam weatherstripping works good as an epoxy overflow dam in front of the receiver tenon to prevent overflow in the barrel channel. Needs to be sort of thick and capable of compressing to a very thin profile. The key is to be thicker than the amount of epoxy you lay down so the foam touches the receiver before it seats into the epoxy. Don’t want an airy porous foam, it needs to be dense material. Wrapping with tape won’t fully prevent barrel channel overflow. I’ve played with a bunch of different ways to create a dam and the weatherstripping works pretty dang good. @Alex Wheeler probably does the best job I’ve seen at damming the epoxy in front of the receiver (and everything else) but I haven’t got that secret from him yet. Lol

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I dont worry about making a dam in the barrel channel, I just mill it out afterwards.

 

[AlNyhus]

I put a layer of tape in the barrel channel and a layer of tape around the barrel with release agent on both tape sufaces. The excess compound goes in between the tape layers. You can snap it off like a potato chip, then. -Al

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Yep, if Im working on a painted stock I'll tape the channel and just mill to the tape.

 

[SEGARE]

Foredom tool with a foot pedal variable speed control. Managed to pick one up along with an air driven dental drill and a good assortment of burrs, a spare flex shaft for the Foredom and an extra hand piece at an estate sale for a very good price.

I have three set-up in my shop...used to hot-rod chainsaws...very handy for port work. I first used one as a bench jeweler 30 years ago.

 

[AlNyhus]

Here's a couple other things I use for bedding.

These blue plastic moulding sticks are great for bedding cleanup. One end is chisel shaped and the other is a rounded taper. You can get them online or at any automotive body supply shop.

The handle is one I use with my pin guages. It also works nicely for the Dremel shanks when you want to chamfer or round an edge or hole by hand. I just bedded these modified Talley LW scope mounts and used it to chamfer the bedding around the screw holes.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Ledd Slinger]

One cool thing we learned a long time ago with AG composites stocks is that you can ask them to send you your stock UN-painted. Then you do all you’re bedding and whatever other stock modifications you like, send it back and they put the paint on. They do a perfect job of taping off the bedding area contacting the receiver as well. Or you can just do your own paint job.

 

[tac284]

Here's a couple other things I use for bedding.

These blue plastic moulding sticks are great for bedding cleanup. One end is chisel shaped and the other is a rounded taper. You can get them online or at any automotive body supply shop.

The handle is one I use with my pin guages. It also works nicely for the Dremel shanks when you want to chamfer or round an edge or hole by hand. I just bedded these modified Talley LW scope mounts and used it to chamfer the bedding around the screw holes.

Good shootin' -Al

Looks familiar.....

 

[tac284]

I always try not to touch the bedding after I pull the barreled action out, but obliviously after sanding the edges, blending and milling out the other futures you have all that on it. What do you guys do to clean or wipe off the bedding with? I have some terry cloths I usually use after using low pressure air.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

 

[centershot]

If you use Devcon, do the wet Q tips work? If so, what do you wet them with?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

If you use Devcon, do the wet Q tips work? If so, what do you wet them with?

Wd-40

 

[tac284]

Wd-40

Same….

 

[Leeman]

I always try not to touch the bedding after I pull the barreled action out, but obliviously after sanding the edges, blending and milling out the other futures you have all that on it. What do you guys do to clean or wipe off the bedding with? I have some terry cloths I usually use after using low pressure air.

I cut dozens & dozens of small half inch squares of thin card and just keep running them over the small gap between the stock and action as the goo oozes out. Keeping them parallel to the top stock surface. Just do a bit at a time and have a bin handy. I probably end up going over all the areas 3 or 4 times until I'm happy it's flush with the stock and no more goo is going to come out. That's with masking tape on the top surfaces of the stock, so there is a small edge just to file off when the action is out. Probably file off is the wrong phrase, it's more just dragging the edge of the file over the small lip that is left.

 

[centershot]

I am also bedding, with pillars, a rifle. Someone suggested on another thread, to use Play Dough to fill the voids. I used that and overnight it shrunk so much I will have to re do it. FYI.