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Stock inletting and shaping.
Stock inletting.
Wether by hand or machine, the barrelled action needs to be fitted down into the stock blank. Here we concentrate on hand work and so a colletion of very sharp chisels and scrapers are required. The larger volume of wood removal needed for the magazine well can be augmented by carefull drilling, preferably with a drill press or mill to keep things square to the top line and from where the stock is rested as is the drilling for the action screws with the finishing of the interior wood removal being finished with chisel and scraper. Anyone contemplating doing this work should have a clear understanding of wood working methods as this is not the place to learn care and controll of these tools and how the grain of the wood can have varying degrees of cutting ability with the potential for spliting, chiping and other possible stock destroying results of careless work. Slow and carefull is the only advise that can be offered with the liberal use of a smoker inetting black or other action marking method so the marked areas can be attended to. Care needs to be taken to check for draft on the vertical areas of the action, with draft being a minor widening of the metal as it seats into the wood to ensure a tight wood to metal fit on assembly. The barrel channel can be opened up with special barrel channel rasps or it can be carefully rough cut by chisel and then scrapers or coarse sand or emery paper wrapped around various sized dowels can be used till it is close then finer grades of paper untill there is a tightly fitted barrel which can then be relieved for a floated barrel which will negate any minor stockwood changes due to temperature, humidity or even the ingress of dust etc in the hunting field which might effect or cause pressure on one part of the barrel and consequently effect the rifles accuracy.
The inletting is a particularly important part of the building process, simply because the accuracy of the finished rifle will depend to a large extent on how well the barrelled action nestles into its stock. There is tradition that says it should look as if the metal has grown out of the wood and while this is a laudable intent, there are places where there needs to be clearance to ensure the prolonged integrity of the rifle.
For a heavy recoiling rifle there needs to be clearance around the rear of the tang, and any pillar between the tang and the bottom metal needs an oversized hole for the action screw so that the pillar is not driven rearwards (potentially causing spliting into the wrist) due to the wood sourounding the mag well flexing as the action, locked into the stock by the recoil lug tries to drive back to the rear.
The recoil lug needs clearance at the sides and to the front to facilitate the easy removal of the action from the stock.
There needs to be clearance around the barrel from the chamber forward with everything else fitted tight and true. If a forend tip is required the forarm is cut to the desired length and the block of buffalo horn, ebony or other exotic wood is doweled and glued into position before the final barrel channel work is done.
Shaping is the next most important part of the process. Obviously the understanding of the previously discussed design paremeters in the form of the length of pull, comb and heel drop, pitch cast and cant , have been drawn into the outline. The grip cap and recoil pad is marked into position and fitted so that their outline can determine the shape of these areas and with plane, rasps, files, chisels and various grades of sand paper the desired finished shape is bought into the light of day. This is where the knoweledgable stockmaker may make subtle adjustments to the various areas of the stock to get the balance spoken of above that will bring the handling characteristics that are so desirable in a stalking rifle.
There are many different aproaches to the butt plate-recoil pad and from full steel plates to toe and heel caps, leather coverd rubber pads to buffalo horn, the variety is only limited by the purpose the rifle will be put to and the level of recoil that needs mitigating.
When everything is as it should be, the finishing can be contemplated and it needs to be on a surface that has been sanded down with a wet and dry paper graded at least in the 400 and preferably in the 600 grit range.
The stock is then wetted with a cloth dipped into a bowl of hot water and left to dry for the whickering process to lift any fiber ends that are then sanded off again with the 600 grit paper. The wetting and whiskering needs done at least twice more with finer and finer grades of paper and depending on the density of the particular wood being worked on, may need doing 3 or 4 times until the wetting raises no more whiskers.
There are many different ways of putting a finish into the wood surface to ensure that there is no water soakage possible and any atmospheric humidity flucuations are not going to be able to migrate into the wood causing swelling, warping and accuracy issues.
All surfaces must be treated and the grip cap if screwd rather than being glued on, and butt plate or recoil pad need to be removed for this to be accomplished.
The various commercial finishes will come with their own instructions but I prefer the time tested pure tung oil. The oil is cut 50/50 with vegetabe turps and the stock is swamped with this mix every 5 minutes or so until the uptake slows down and then after another 15 minutes I wipe the stock down hard with a lint free cloth. Left for 24 hours the same 50/50 mix is then rubed into the stock using 600 grit W&D paper and it goes without saying that following the grain with the paper is how this is done. This creates a light slurry on the surface of the stock and this is rubed in, in a circular motion with the bare hands and again after 15 min to a half hour the cloth is used to lightly wipe off the excess.
This precess is repeated daily untill the pores are all filled and then the stock is rubed back down to the surface with the fine W&D.
Now the actual finish can be applied and whether using the undiluted pure tung oil, done by putting a few drops into the hand and rubbing it into the wood, where the less is more certainly applies. Rubbing briskly to create warmth leaves the surface with just the faintest wet look and is left asside for at least 24 hours before repeating again and again as this needs doing daily but the purpose is the have the oil in the wood rather than on the surface.
There is a tradition that says you need a coat a day for a week, and coat a week for a month, a coat a month for a year and a coat a year for life. I have found on the few good quality walnut stocks I have been priveledged to build I have done the first 7 or 8 coats on a daily basis and then every two days after that for up to 20 coats with the lasy coat rubbed with a corase cloth so that there is a low sheen or eggshell lustre to the wood with a depth of colour that is a treat for the senses. Paitence is required and amply rewarded.
There are other finishing recipies that have been perfected with equal mixtures of tung oil, vegetablle turps, alkali refined linseed oill and spar varnish being one of the better ones where this mixture is brushed on left for 10 minutes and rubbed off repeated four times the first day, three times the second day,twice the third day and once the fourth day.
Whichever finish is put on the stock, whether traditional or modern, the main purpose apart from securing the underlying wood from the effects of moisture or humidity, is to bring out the natural colour and grain structure of the wood with the resulting enjoyment of the beauty inherent in this personally designed and crafted rifle stock that will not only increase the hunting success but will bring with it the satisfaction and imense pride of such a perfectly fitted, beautifully presented custom rifle stock.
Stock inletting.
Wether by hand or machine, the barrelled action needs to be fitted down into the stock blank. Here we concentrate on hand work and so a colletion of very sharp chisels and scrapers are required. The larger volume of wood removal needed for the magazine well can be augmented by carefull drilling, preferably with a drill press or mill to keep things square to the top line and from where the stock is rested as is the drilling for the action screws with the finishing of the interior wood removal being finished with chisel and scraper. Anyone contemplating doing this work should have a clear understanding of wood working methods as this is not the place to learn care and controll of these tools and how the grain of the wood can have varying degrees of cutting ability with the potential for spliting, chiping and other possible stock destroying results of careless work. Slow and carefull is the only advise that can be offered with the liberal use of a smoker inetting black or other action marking method so the marked areas can be attended to. Care needs to be taken to check for draft on the vertical areas of the action, with draft being a minor widening of the metal as it seats into the wood to ensure a tight wood to metal fit on assembly. The barrel channel can be opened up with special barrel channel rasps or it can be carefully rough cut by chisel and then scrapers or coarse sand or emery paper wrapped around various sized dowels can be used till it is close then finer grades of paper untill there is a tightly fitted barrel which can then be relieved for a floated barrel which will negate any minor stockwood changes due to temperature, humidity or even the ingress of dust etc in the hunting field which might effect or cause pressure on one part of the barrel and consequently effect the rifles accuracy.
The inletting is a particularly important part of the building process, simply because the accuracy of the finished rifle will depend to a large extent on how well the barrelled action nestles into its stock. There is tradition that says it should look as if the metal has grown out of the wood and while this is a laudable intent, there are places where there needs to be clearance to ensure the prolonged integrity of the rifle.
For a heavy recoiling rifle there needs to be clearance around the rear of the tang, and any pillar between the tang and the bottom metal needs an oversized hole for the action screw so that the pillar is not driven rearwards (potentially causing spliting into the wrist) due to the wood sourounding the mag well flexing as the action, locked into the stock by the recoil lug tries to drive back to the rear.
The recoil lug needs clearance at the sides and to the front to facilitate the easy removal of the action from the stock.
There needs to be clearance around the barrel from the chamber forward with everything else fitted tight and true. If a forend tip is required the forarm is cut to the desired length and the block of buffalo horn, ebony or other exotic wood is doweled and glued into position before the final barrel channel work is done.
Shaping is the next most important part of the process. Obviously the understanding of the previously discussed design paremeters in the form of the length of pull, comb and heel drop, pitch cast and cant , have been drawn into the outline. The grip cap and recoil pad is marked into position and fitted so that their outline can determine the shape of these areas and with plane, rasps, files, chisels and various grades of sand paper the desired finished shape is bought into the light of day. This is where the knoweledgable stockmaker may make subtle adjustments to the various areas of the stock to get the balance spoken of above that will bring the handling characteristics that are so desirable in a stalking rifle.
There are many different aproaches to the butt plate-recoil pad and from full steel plates to toe and heel caps, leather coverd rubber pads to buffalo horn, the variety is only limited by the purpose the rifle will be put to and the level of recoil that needs mitigating.
When everything is as it should be, the finishing can be contemplated and it needs to be on a surface that has been sanded down with a wet and dry paper graded at least in the 400 and preferably in the 600 grit range.
The stock is then wetted with a cloth dipped into a bowl of hot water and left to dry for the whickering process to lift any fiber ends that are then sanded off again with the 600 grit paper. The wetting and whiskering needs done at least twice more with finer and finer grades of paper and depending on the density of the particular wood being worked on, may need doing 3 or 4 times until the wetting raises no more whiskers.
There are many different ways of putting a finish into the wood surface to ensure that there is no water soakage possible and any atmospheric humidity flucuations are not going to be able to migrate into the wood causing swelling, warping and accuracy issues.
All surfaces must be treated and the grip cap if screwd rather than being glued on, and butt plate or recoil pad need to be removed for this to be accomplished.
The various commercial finishes will come with their own instructions but I prefer the time tested pure tung oil. The oil is cut 50/50 with vegetabe turps and the stock is swamped with this mix every 5 minutes or so until the uptake slows down and then after another 15 minutes I wipe the stock down hard with a lint free cloth. Left for 24 hours the same 50/50 mix is then rubed into the stock using 600 grit W&D paper and it goes without saying that following the grain with the paper is how this is done. This creates a light slurry on the surface of the stock and this is rubed in, in a circular motion with the bare hands and again after 15 min to a half hour the cloth is used to lightly wipe off the excess.
This precess is repeated daily untill the pores are all filled and then the stock is rubed back down to the surface with the fine W&D.
Now the actual finish can be applied and whether using the undiluted pure tung oil, done by putting a few drops into the hand and rubbing it into the wood, where the less is more certainly applies. Rubbing briskly to create warmth leaves the surface with just the faintest wet look and is left asside for at least 24 hours before repeating again and again as this needs doing daily but the purpose is the have the oil in the wood rather than on the surface.
There is a tradition that says you need a coat a day for a week, and coat a week for a month, a coat a month for a year and a coat a year for life. I have found on the few good quality walnut stocks I have been priveledged to build I have done the first 7 or 8 coats on a daily basis and then every two days after that for up to 20 coats with the lasy coat rubbed with a corase cloth so that there is a low sheen or eggshell lustre to the wood with a depth of colour that is a treat for the senses. Paitence is required and amply rewarded.
There are other finishing recipies that have been perfected with equal mixtures of tung oil, vegetablle turps, alkali refined linseed oill and spar varnish being one of the better ones where this mixture is brushed on left for 10 minutes and rubbed off repeated four times the first day, three times the second day,twice the third day and once the fourth day.
Whichever finish is put on the stock, whether traditional or modern, the main purpose apart from securing the underlying wood from the effects of moisture or humidity, is to bring out the natural colour and grain structure of the wood with the resulting enjoyment of the beauty inherent in this personally designed and crafted rifle stock that will not only increase the hunting success but will bring with it the satisfaction and imense pride of such a perfectly fitted, beautifully presented custom rifle stock.
