Wood/carbon fiber laminate

[katokoch]

Yeah the 12 oz. stuff was pretty thick. I didn't know about the 50/50 fabric/resin theory but oh well. The carbon fiber was really thick and required quite a bit of epoxy to saturate but a whole lot of epoxy was squeezed out inbetween the boards. This is a good sign to me, as there shouldn't be too many voids. The weave was very loose but it was still super thick.

If anything, I'll still end up with a very stiff stock,hopefully stiffer than a solid wood or laminate blank), which was my goal.

I figured out how to get photos uploaded... want to see 'em?

 

[katokoch]

Figured out how to convert the images from the stupid file the camera took them in to Jpeg so I could upload them.

FYI, if photos seem super-yellow tinted, the camera was taking photos funny. No, the wood is not yellow. It's the camera's fault.

I didn't have a rotary cutter,which would have been alot better) but cutting like this, with a simple board and,new) razor blade worked. I just had to cut fast so the blade wouldn't pull fibers.

Bad photo, but it shows how loosely woven and stiff the 12.3-oz fiber is. You can easily see through it and it's not folding over like normal fabric.

This is the barreled action sitting on top of the wood to be used before I laminated everything.

P.S. paid $3.50 board/ft. for this wood

I laid everything out so the best figure should wind up in the butt of the stock.

Here's the blank itself, complete with an epoxy handprint.

This shows how I cut the carbon fiber a little big so all of the edges will be uniform once I cut the blank.

Here's the thing that blew my mind as far as how stiff the carbon fiber is... the fibers sticking out of the edges of the blank weren't completely saturated in epoxy but they felt pretty solid anyways. The blank is decently heavy... I didn't weigh it but it has some heft to it, maybe 15-20 lbs. to estimate.

Check this out... the loose fibers sticking out of the edge of the blank are strong enough to hold the entire thing up by itself.

Nothing is touching it... seriously... here's another look.

I'm looking forward to cutting and shaping it. I think I'm going to trim down the loose fibers along the edge with a bandsaw and then plane down the edges so everything is square and true. There is quite a bit of epoxy that spilled down the edges and on the bottom side but I'm not concerned about it. I'll plane what is on the edges off and will sand out the epoxy on the bottom side if it is a problem. It looks sloppy now but all it needs is some cutting to clean it right up. The most beautiful walnut stocks must have looked pretty sloppy sitting in a tree too, right?

I realize my methods probably aren't optimal for maximum stiffness but I just wanted to try something new and if anything I'll end up with a stock stiffer than if I had done nothing.

lynn- everything is running in the same direction. The wood came from two peices of walnut that I planed down and cut to shape. I don't think I am going to put a strip along the bottom of the stock, actually I think I am going to try and find some of the low-friction tape some shooters use for the fore-end and toe of the stock. I'd bet he does it by cutting out a peice of carbon fiber a fair deal bigger than the underside of the fore-end and trimming it along the sides of the stock so everything you see ends up clean. I did however add a strip in the middle of the blank that will run the entire length of the stock and depth of the fore-end,so it will end up in the top 2" or so of the butt) to further stiffen the fore-end and wrist.

 

[katokoch]

I think it all depends on how many stocks you want to do at once. Because I'm just making one blank with enough room for two low-riding stocks, I bought a roll 10" wide and 3 yards long, which left me with enough carbon fiber to have an entire sheet inbetween every peice of walnut and some strips/ an extra square to play with later.

 

[katokoch]

I see what you mean about the carbon fiber running along the underside of the stock. I don't think it will be feasible for me to do because I don't think I have any strips of carbon fiber that are over 3" wide. Hopefully the grain will look nice on the underside of the stock... the idea to possibly use a different, more "slick" finish on the underside of the stock just popped into my head.

To add to it, the overall shape of the stock I am going to make is extremely similar to the stock Gun of the Week #66 wears, with some differences in grip and fore-end shaping. Nice to know it tracks well

 

[criver600]

Your heavy-weight cloth is what I use on the bottom of mine. These are the two blanks a little further down the road. I won my first 600 yard IBS match with the Bat 6.5SV in the upper stock. Barreled the action made and bedded the stock and made the bullets feel pretty good about that one.

As a side note the rifle is propped up with a 590 boltface ten inch Bat bolt with firing pin assembly complete its for sale or trade for a standard bolt. Like new.

 

[katokoch]

I forgot to mention that I plan on lining the barrel channel itself with carbon fiber.

 

[SamLS]

A trick to cutting straight weave like that with scissors is to pull 1 strand out giving you a guide to cut it straight.

if you need to wrap a 90 deg turn you can also pull a strand out to help make the bend and lay flat especially with heavier mesh.

 

[katokoch]

Criver- How did you finish the exposed CF fabric so well? Did you use epoxy and finish it or just polish it,or leave it alone?) Did you attach the toe of the stock on top after building up the fore-end and comb of the stock or do it one-peice?

 

[criver600]

On those you just lay the epoxy to it and then use a "build clear" until it will wet sand flat.

Its attached to the main part of the stock after its shaped.

I bed my rifles while I have a square blank and work around the action and barrel. My stuff is straight and tracks like its on rails. Real PITA but worth the effort.

 

[katokoch]

Would there be much of an advantage with adding another heavily glossed layer of carbon fiber fabric on the underside of a stock as opposed to friction-reducing "teflon tape"?

 

[criver600]

Once you get to that its automotive clearcoat.........wax and go.

 

[criver600]

Terry Leonard is incredible........any of his stocks is a masterpiece.
Redwood is a little fragile for my taste.
On the bottom of the stock just sand the layer of CF flush with the wood and finish. Use a dustmask and some kind of a collection system.

 

[katokoch]

Would adding a strip of carbon fiber to the underside of the stock like a Leonard laminate be very functional or just look really good?

 

[criver600]

Little bit of function,stability) Lots of looks........

 

[katokoch]

Depending on how the wood looks once I get the stock hacked out, I may or may not use up some of the extra fabric I have left over to put it on the underside of the stock.

I plan on using a simple,classy) oil finish on the walnut, which will contrast from the bright, flashy, automotive clearcoat finishes that we see on many benchrest stocks. However, would it be possible to have a heavy clearcoat finish just on the underside of the stock?

FYI The finish will be the same as this other stock I've done

 

[criver600]

Nice looking stock

Yes I would probably get the automotive clear finished and finish the rest, once the clear gets hard its easy to keep looking good.

 

[katokoch]

I don't have a paint sprayer... could I walk into an autobody shop and have them paint what I need? Where else could I have it done/do it myself?