Damm fine work! Have my dad's old 311 Stevens Doulble 12 that needs new wood. If I only lived down there or you lived over here............
Yes I do , or rather I cut a "V" out of it with a tennen saw first and as I leave the top of the ebony above the forestock I can use a one inch chisel to gently remove much of the rest of the bulk cutting accross the grai before switching to the curved carving chisles to go with the grain before finishing with sandpaper wrapped dowels tubes and even sections of old barrel.
Or if I had one of the barrelled actions to inlet here I could just send the stock as I have done for Lee Enfields and Mausers.
A miter saw is what I had in mind. I just looked it up online only to find out that a miter saw and a tennen saw are one and the same. I hadn't considered a "v" shaped cut but can easily see how that works as well.
In my world a miter saw is an electric drop/slide saw ( I have a Dewalt) with the tennon saw being a small rigid backed hand saw.
I have a 12" Dewalt Double Bevel Compound Miter saw as well. In addition I also have my grandfather's old wood miter box and hand saw that looks exactly like the tennon saw shown in your photo.
The tennon saw was originally a door makers saw for cutting the tennons on door rails and the reinforced back kept it straight for better tennons and therefore better stronger doors. They work very well for a number of tasks including miters but thier original purpose was for door making.
With the forestock done for now I turned to the buttstock today and set up my jig for drilling the bolt hole. Here I am packing up the but so the drill is centered on the socket thickness and then I can line it up and clamp it so the hole is drilled in the right line. With it all in order it is time to drill the hole with an offset spade type of drill bit I made from a length of mild steel. Have done quite a few stocks with it so a sharpen every time I start keeps it going althoughI do have to clear the hole very frequently. The guide block under the rear of the drill bit is loose and slides as I move forward while the front one is fixed to the backboard and as I get through I leave the rear guide block asside and continue till the drill appears at the far end in the right place
This then allows for setting a headless bolt into the socket so I can easily mark and start the socket inlet. With the bolt down the bolt hole I can mark round the outside of the socket and then mark in from there the thickness of the socket itself and start removing material till I need the smoker to settle it in with files and then scrapers. When it is down tight I can drill the counter bore for the stock bolt which I make from a 7 inch bolt. When all is done I can do the first full assembly with one of mine as an example of what it will eventually look like. Next stage is to mark in the LOP and set in the steel buttplate for cast and pitch.
Von Gruff, your "tricks of the trade" are most interesting, those homemade guides of yours makes a very difficult task a thing of child's play. How many of these Lee Speed stocks have you made?
Have done at least 10 Lee Speeds among the near 40 stocks I have done from the blank with Mausers (10) then Martinis (6) accounting for another healthy number along with Rem, Howa, BSA, CZ and mini mausers by various brands, a Mahley and a Stirling. There are probably some I have forgotten and stock styles have been from those typified by the original rigbys and mannlichers to various modern sporter and quasi benchrest styles and through to original military reproductions with a few stock reshapings and repairs thrown in for interest along the way from broken through at the wrist to one that suffered from a careless shot that my friend bought on the cheap.
WOW, the repair job you did on the stock that was shot is a thing of beauty. By that I'm not trying to infer that the stock is going to win any beauty contests but that the repair job returned it to being 100 % functional. Did you dowel both ends of the "plug/insert?" What kind of rifle was that stock for. Was it Foster's?
The stock is a P14 for the 303 Enfield. The repair is dovetailed into the stock as it is not possible to dowel two ends of the repair block but the repair will allow the rifle to be put back into usable condition. The rifles wasn't/isn't Fosters, it no belongs to Euan who is a friend that I have done many of the stocks for that havent been for myself.
Was able to get back to this today and with the LOP marked in I could use this jig I made to set the minus 2 degrees of pitch and scribe in the curve needed for the steel butt plate. with that cut I could mark a centerline and then the 3/16 of cast that was asked for. After the beak of the plate was set in and with the smoker to in use I could get the plate settled into place. then marking a centerline from the socket to the buttplate I could zero in on where the ebony grip cap needed to go. I had made a few grip caps up at one time so it was handy being able to get one from the drawer for this. So with that pinned and epoxied it will sit in the clamp overnight with the next stage being some shaping
Marking the lines on for cutting on the bandsaw. Ready to make a start by taking the corners off with the plane and then going to the rasp This loigier rasp is a hand stitched rasp made in France and is with out a doubt the very best I have ever had and it should be as it cost over $150 but it makes a beautiful cut and removes wood very quickly Once the rough shape is in then using a showshine sanding there is a very even round surface left after the center is reached. After the rear is attended to it starts to look like it should so will lleave it there for the day.
What grit sandpaper do you use for the "shoeshine." Not being a knowledgeable wood worker I thought cross grain sanding would be a no, no. That being said, one can easily see the need for the "shoeshine" to smooth out the radiuses. Your array of support stands is interesting and was no doubt developed / enhanced over the years. Like I mentioned previously, "tricks of the trade."
That is a 60 grit belt from my belt grinder Art. As soon as the shape is 'found' from the square then all sanding starts along the grain and it dosent take long to get rid of all the cross grain scratches. The shaping still has a lot of wood on it that needs to come off but at least now we are moving in the right direction.
It has been a few days since I was able to get back to the stock work but today after lunch other things were put aside as I wanted to get the buttstock shaped up and between the loigier half round rasp and a farrier rasp the shaping got done and with first 60 and then 100 grit have the shape all dialed in now. The magazine turned up for the rifle so the mag well was opened up to except that and then the bolt was fitted which is just the bolt head that needs relieving for so this is how it sits for now
Having the inlet and shaping done it is just sanding with finer grits of sandpaper now. Will run over it with 180 first then go through 220, 360 and 600 so I can start the grain filling before the finish is applied but there is still a few weeks in this yet before it gets back home. There was a nice piece of walnut that came off the butt stock area when I cut it from the blank so that will make a nice companion knife handle for it.
