Inletting a flat top....

[LVLAaron]

The ones from LRI look like a pain to do on a manual mill.

 

[JasonT]

I'm thinking, remove another 30-50 thou for mud clearance? I'll use a barrel that's turned straight and dialed to the OD to hold the action in place while the epoxy sets?

Just finished inletting a Kestros - get it where you want it and then wrap your barrel with tape to get the action back there. Then cut an extra .030-.060 from the 98% of the action area and bed it down with some electrical tape to compress the epoxy into all the nooks and crannies. I usually leave a few very small areas that are the height I want (very back tip of tang, very small line about 1” behind the recoil lug and just in front of the trigger guard area) to hold the action in position and get extra bedding compound in there.

 

[muleystalker]

I located the action by figuring out where the tang needed to be in relation to the tang/sloped part of the stock. It's probably 1/4 inch further back than I'd like it... but if I moved it forward the action tang would be buried in the stock. Not sure which is the right answer, but I know I'll have to address it on the next stock I'm putting together.

Move it forward to where you need it and take rasp to the tang area of the stock and remove what you need to fit the contour of the rear of the action.

 

[LVLAaron]

Move it forward to where you need it and take rasp to the tang area of the stock and remove what you need to fit the contour of the rear of the action.

Yep. Will have to on the next one I have in the pile... I'll post a picture next time I go out there.

 

[AlNyhus]

That's why we glue in.......

What makes you think you can't have excessive stress in a glue in? The problem with a glue in is...you can't check it to find out.

I might have some examples....

 

[INTJ]

What makes you think you can't have excessive stress in a glue in? The problem with a glue in is...you can't check it to find out.

I might have some examples....

The way I do bedding jobs, with the evidence of how my rifles shoot, is what tells me I have no stress in my bedding jobs........

 

[Judd]

Goes to show you don’t know what you don’t know…I’m about half dozen or so stocks deep and I’ve been striving to have the strips of silver right up the center. Should’ve stopped with the 4-5 option, cuz the last one was near flawless and has those shiny strips right up the middle

Good news they’ve all shot well…at least initially they are all shooting well. I’ve got about 250 rounds on a 6 Creedmoor that’s been fun to shoot…it covers the entire pillar front and back and it’s the perfect one evidently. Something about a 20” rifle launching a 105 hybrid at 3k just makes ya smile, especially in a suppressed 9lb 13oz rifle.

I digress…thanks guys, the education and different perspectives is appreciated.

 

[Edd]

Or make them

Those look flat. The ones in that LRI link are curved to fit a round receiver. I think the receiver being used in this discussion is round.

 

[muleystalker]

Those look flat. The ones in that LRI link are curved to fit a round receiver. I think the receiver being used in this discussion is round.

The flat works for round receivers, and bedding goes on the sides of the flats.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Even the way the stock is held/supported while the epoxy is curing makes a difference in how much stress there can be. Doing a really good job is a pain. It takes a lot of experimenting with different ways to work through every little thing. While I dont like inletting flat tops, I prefer it because it allows me to set the pillars and bed the action at the point in the process I want to. Lots of guys do things a little differently. Just try every thing you can thing of and measure things every way you can. I bedded my first rifle at 14, I settled on my process about 3-4 years ago, and made one last tweak about a year ago. Just finding little things to tweak along the way. The worst thing a smith can do is learn one process from someone and just stick to it because "it works for me". This applies to everything not just bedding or inletting.

 

[GenePoole]

Those look flat. The ones in that LRI link are curved to fit a round receiver. I think the receiver being used in this discussion is round.

Even better. Even less contact area.

I've done them for round as well. Just use a fly-cutter set to the action diameter.

 

[AlNyhus]

Even the way the stock is held/supported while the epoxy is curing makes a difference in how much stress there can be. Doing a really good job is a pain.

Amen.

Just try every thing you can thing of and measure things every way you can. The worst thing a smith can do is learn one process from someone and just stick to it because "it works for me". This applies to everything not just bedding or inletting.

And a double Amen. -Al

 

[Sniperhandle]

I don't know anything about stocks, But I am learning, The first thing I had to do is make a fixture that would hold it somewhat rigid enough, Here is what I made, I can also hold the butt with my mill vice for a 3point hold if I put spacers under the jig, It actually holds it pretty well. I put foam rubber on the vise jaws and just make sure there is no debris on them when tightening the jaws, I have done 4 or 5 stocks so far and it actually works pretty good.

 

[Sniperhandle]

All you need to know about inletting is in JoshB's stock making thread, It's a long read but a Gold Mine of info.

 

[Tucker65]

I'd like to see what kind of fixture they use at Manners, McMillan, or any of the other stock makers for doing a carbon fiber hunting stock. Seems like a slim stock with a tapered forearm would be quite a bit harder to hang on to.

I'm envisioning pivoting jaws with rubber pads for grip, and to protect the stock. Maybe individual screw pads for the butt stock end to account for all the different styles of stocks.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I'd like to see what kind of fixture they use at Manners, McMillan, or any of the other stock makers for doing a carbon fiber hunting stock. Seems like a slim stock with a tapered forearm would be quite a bit harder to hang on to.

I'm envisioning pivoting jaws with rubber pads for grip, and to protect the stock. Maybe individual screw pads for the butt stock end to account for all the different styles of stocks.

 

[LVLAaron]

On the topic of stress or "stress free" - Wouldn't it be the most "stress free" to bed the action without the barrel influencing things?

I know my inlet is straight, I know my pillars are centered, pillars have 1/4" bushings in them, action has nice pins aligning all of that.

By adding a barrel that has an untrue OD, and forcing it into a barrel channel that is only probably straight... isn't that going to misalign/twist the action in it's "bed" ?

I feel like dropping the action in naked, aligned with the pillars that will be used to center the action screws and hold it in place... is less wrong?

If the barrel misaligns the action a tiny bit in the bedding process, when you're done, and torque the action in... aren't you adding stress?

 

[GenePoole]

I do bedding in two steps: first, epoxy the pillars into place with the barrel "shimmed" appropriately (usually masking tape) and some shims in the action cutout to determine the thickness of the final bedding, then once set up, do the final bedding.

 

[DaveTooley]

Even better. Even less contact area.

I've done them for round as well. Just use a fly-cutter set to the action diameter.

One of the first things I made 39 years ago was a fly cutter for 1.350" round actions. I haven't moved it since I made it. It cuts ever so slightly undersize. I install the pillars on the action prior to bedding. Slightly deforming the outer edge of the pillar. Once everything cures the action is sitting something resembling v-blocks. YMMV

 

[tobnpr]

By adding a barrel that has an untrue OD, and forcing it into a barrel channel that is only probably straight... isn't that going to misalign/twist the action in it's "bed" ?

I think, you may be overthinking it a bit.
A barrel's OD (at least the ones most of us use on this forum) is "true enough" that it shouldn't cause even a visual, much less functional issue with the barrel channel provided the inletting is true. Obviously, if the inletting is cocked to one side by even a small amount, that angle is amplified down the length of the barrel channel.

I feel like dropping the action in naked, aligned with the pillars that will be used to center the action screws and hold it in place... is less wrong?

If the barrel misaligns the action a tiny bit in the bedding process, when you're done, and torque the action in... aren't you adding stress?

Doing pillars first allows you to set the elevation of the action precisely, as opposed to leaving some original material at the end of the tang, and relying on taping the barrel to set the front. I'm not a fan of radiused pillars, I'll let the epoxy make up the difference; even then I don't think it much matters. I don't see how it would matter if the receiver didn't make 100% contact on the pillars- it's making 100% contact on the bedding (assuming a correct bedding job) on all sides of it.

I don't use modified action screws to torque the receiver into the bedding as I believe that method is most prone to bending the action (point loads). Some use electrical tape, I use surgical tubing- wrapped evenly up the length of the receiver so that there's consistent pressure over it's length.

JMO