Do it yourself Stock making thread

[Twdmar]

Who has got some clamps?!

full disclosure, i had to go to my neighbors "shop" for this project and this about all I/we will get done, i will ship this off to jesse next, ordered the wood from curlymaplewood.com and laminate from cwp-usa.com for about $250 dlvd total...my maple piece is 10" tall and next time i will get 12-14 or a longer board that is skinnier, this one was 1" 13/16, plenty good and wide for (bench or f class) the fore end, buit a bit much for the rear....but this was fun and i realy enjoy trying to stain the wood and clear coating it, going to give it 24 hours in the clamps

Simple clamps for gluing blanks is to buy some wood, I used maple because I had some laying around from a baby crib I made. Drill holes in either end and get long bolts. Glue another strip of wood on the inside of each piece of clamping wood to give a little standoff.
Then when you do a glue up, lay them out so the bolts stick up and place a piece of wax paper on the clamps. Set your blank on the clamps and then put the top clamp side on and put nuts on the bolts.
You can put as much or little clamping pressure as you want then. They are cheaper and I think work better than commercial clamps if you're doing a laminated stock and if you gunk one up with glue, toss the wood and clean the hardware with a wire brush. They also take up less space when you aren't using them.

 

[Seagull]

Been working in this stock a mates wife for awhile now. It will have a remington 788 put into it when there back from holidays. Birch ply stock with pagan gold candy in sg100 intercoat clear on it . Then finished off with a few coats of cl200 challenger 2 pac clear.

 

[Seagull]

Will take more pics tomorrow and post up in final clear coat.

 

[joshb]

I just finished one this morning. Mesquite and ebony with epoxy fill. First coat of oil.

 

[JFrank]

@joshb
Your the man

 

[Seagull]

Is that the one you did on the duplicator if so it looks full mad

 

[joshb]

Is that the one you did on the duplicator if so it looks full mad

I’m doing the butt section to just forward of the grip in the duplicator and the rest by hand. Saves some time instead of doing it by hand. I’m using a Tikka hunter to copy, but it’s fore end is too thin for the heavier barrels I’m using on these Remingtons and the Ruckus. I had some trouble with this one because I did a partial duplication off the fore end to try to save a little time before I got the barrel .

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Thats awesome josh!!

 

[joshb]

I spent a few hours cleaning up the shop, this morning. Did a few honey do’s in quick order, had some time left in the day so I attacked a block of Mesquite with a chainsaw and got some hunter blanks ready. A Texas buddy’s daughter wants a “pretty” stock with turquoise inlays . The blank on the left looks like a good prospect. Cracks are good for that. I’m refurbishing an old Remington 600 action for it.


Still having some time, I got a hunk of nice walnut ready for the duplicator. Dale (@hogpatrol) dropped it off, looking for a copy for a long action. I’ll squeeze it in before I head back to Texas. Dang shipping’s expensive.

 

[Fuj]

Josh....I have to remember to get you a pic of a monster project
coming up !! I have another walnut tree on my sons property that
he wants gone. It's a "Grand Daddy". I would be thinking that you
could bring truck and trailer and haul away all you want. It would be
priced more then right. I'll get the pic first before you figure travel
plans..... I'm going to wait till fall when all the leaves are gone
and all the walnuts on the ground are cleaned up. Were talking 10
gallons of bar oil job.....LOL

 

[Fuj]

I'm guesstimating about 175 years old and about a 3 ft. diameter
trunk.

 

[Twdmar]

Here is a tip some of you may find helpful. Since moving, I don't have a good setup for doing stock work until i get walls put in my shop but I needed to inlet for a handstop rail.
So, what I did was put blue painters tape on my stock blank and pressed it hard so the glue stuck as hard as possible. Then I cut 3 pieces of wood to make a router template for the edges of the inlet. Using accelerator, I superglued the wood to the blank and made the inlet with a router. The blue tape pulls off easy. Since it was a one off, I bother to take the time to make a legit jig. Just make sure the jig is secure.
Or glue a piece of hardboard down and use it to rough shape the comb even.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I'm guesstimating about 175 years old and about a 3 ft. diameter
trunk.

We dont have enough time to make a stock from that tree. Our grandkids might when they get old

 

[Fuj]

We dont have enough time to make a stock from that tree. Our grandkids might when they get old

LOL, Josh needs to have an apprentice to sweep the floors and learn
about wood. As for the walnut, it takes a few years to air dry and looking
for a minimum of 20%. My dad would choose the boards then place them
on edge in the rafters of the barn where it was always hot. About 3 years
was about right. I have a 12 ft. log about 16" in diameter that's up on blocks
from the first walnut I cut 6 years ago. Once I get time, I may slab off, and take
a look at the end, that was the crotch.

 

[joshb]

I'm guesstimating about 175 years old and about a 3 ft. diameter
trunk.

You have me salivating! Oh......if I were a younger man! The things I could build with that tree. The prettiest pieces will come out of the crotches where the big branches hit the main trunk. Lots of stress ripples, like tiger stripes! Oh....and you can dig out the stump. Gorgeous wood can be found there!
I have to ask: Why cut down such a nice specimen? It looks healthy as a tree can be!

 

[Fuj]

Why cut down such a nice specimen? It looks healthy as a tree can be!

There's a combination of issues. If you look at the pic, you'll see it
leaning to the left. The last several wind storms have not helped and
the tree has started to pull up sod on the right side. I was thinking
of doing some cutting on the left first , to counter balance it.

 

[joshb]

The satisfaction of final assembly. Defiance Ruckus, Lilja 18” 8 twist, Timney trigger. PT&G bottom metal for AICS mags. The flash hider is there to protect the crown. A good 223 Texas truck gun. A special thanks to @Hoodoo (Carson Lilja) for a fast barrel order!!!

 

[Xpendable89]

Thanks for the info.

 

[joshb]

There's a combination of issues. If you look at the pic, you'll see it
leaning to the left. The last several wind storms have not helped and
the tree has started to pull up sod on the right side. I was thinking
of doing some cutting on the left first , to counter balance it.

Given what you mention, I’d let it fall on it’s own. Some of the smaller outer branches will break but there’s not much good wood in those anyway. It will also save you from digging up the root ball. Maybe dig next to it with a backhoe and push it over, since it’s already starting to go. It’ll save you from renting a bucket truck or climbing. I gave up climbing years ago. I wouldn’t send a kid up it if it might go on it’s own!

 

[yukonal]

It takes approx 1 year per inch of wood to dry. So, if you had a bandsaw mill slab the wood off into 4" slabs for stock work, you will be dry and ready in 4-5 years.

I slab and dry walnut, white oak, and red oak every year up here in MN for woodworking, and the 1 year per inch of wood is pretty much spot on. And remember, I don't get any drying time during the winter when things are froze up.

I don't get this 10-15 year crap for drying walnut for stock work...