Drawing of proposed full stock, Pics added 1/10
What do you guys think of this one? The drawing shows where it could be skeletonized. The piece which comes from the bottom of the grip to the stock would be thicker then the stock body itself, that will add some strength. Also still debating on the trigger guard area and if it should be open or closed off, the more i think on it, i believe it should be closed. That would really anchor the upper rails to the rest of the stock. Let me know your thoughts on this, will probably cut out the template sometime this weeekend. It comes in around 24-25″ or so. I believe it will take care of any frame flex and compliments the frame. I’ve been messing around with this idea for some time and think i got a winner, you guys be the judge.
Also included a different grip i’ve been working on as well as the foregrip it’d put on the full stock. I’d like to change th lip some on the foregrip. This is Mahogany which is a nice wood to work with. It was given to me to see what i could do with it, you know who you are.
All Replies
i,ve seen a stock pretty much like this one up for sale and the thing was it never sold very easily not sure why they look not bad from the pics . it might be the size thats put people off it 😀
I don’t mind a fat stock for shooting for they are nice and comfy in the hand, I just cant stand the weight carrying it in the field. I hear you on the aesthetics thing, I once read “thin is in” and that goes for more than just the looks of a stock 😉
riff – dial up is just one of the prices we must pay for living in the woods, got generator juice?
Well ok then. I re-read a couple times and I guess I still miss the part you said it isnt yours. In a way I am glad, because I was wondering why you didnt just use a railroad tie LOL.
—–edit———
Dialup gives me a headache. I looked at the first page of this thread again, and for the first time saw the progress of your stock.
Most of the time threads with multiple images stop loading and I never see the pictures.
My mistake for making an assumption. 😉
See RiffRaff i told ya so. That butcher block Maple stock above is not mine. It was used as a example of what i consider to be to bulky of a design for our AF frames. The work is very well done i just don’t like the fatness of it in relation to the frame. I’d say those are 1/2″ blanks and there are 5 of them for 2.5″ of stock way to fat in my opinion. I know my posts get long and few read all of it 🙂 . I used it as an example only.
BlueJay it was reputed to be very heavy. Someone had it made for them by a local woodworker. It has some very nice design elements. I’m trying to stay with a tactical look and keeping the stock on the thinner side to complement the thinness of our frames. Not the easiest of things to do. My blank pic above is 2.25″. If you read my lengthy post, i give a better decription of what i have in mind.
Well I’ll bee, that thing sure is perdy 😀
I as well would like to hear how she shoots, as well as what it weights.
Bodhisdad, you think I give you too much credit? Well god damn I dont feel guilty.
That is beautiful and very well made.
What kind of tools do you use to get the contours shaped so nicely? I hope you dont tell me hand-sanding, or mine will never look good.
I didnt see you comment on how it shoots, have you test-fired it?
I still need to get the grip on mine shaped and cut out my trigger guard then I will test shoot. Cant wait to see if it works.
The mahogany isn’t done yet, but starting to look like something. I paid dearly for it 😆 Really looks nice after a coat of oil, the red just jumps out. Would go with a red tinted danish oil finish when done. Should be a looker when done. I like working with it too, tools nicely, sands just as nice, very even grain. Man did i get a rash from it. I’ll try a dust mask and fully clothed from wrists to ankles.
Thanks for the compliment, be more pics after this weekend.
Very creative as usual. I like it !!! And you did that mahogany proud! 😀
I don’t think there is a right or wrong. As long as you have enough wood between the end of the end of the washer/screw and the attaching points on the frame to insure a solid connection it comes down to a matter of designer preference. I go 3/16″ deep x7/16″ wide for the foregrip rail, 21/32″deep x 15/32″ wide for the trigger housing inlett. The trigger mech pins get hung up on a 7/16″ inlett as i’m sure you know. I just made this rail 7/16″ wide and used a sanding block to widen the area surrounding the trigger housing and the pins which have to be a bit wider then the frame. Could i use a sanding drum and countersink it a bit around the 1.25″ shroud/frame, sure. Or get a core box router bit of the same size as the frame. I’ll either sand it down like i do my grips, cut a angle, run a ogee bit to take some of the thickness down.
What i do think is the frame is thin and streamed lined and think a stock should compliment this look already inherent in the rails and built in shroud. I’ll tell you what when yours is done and mine is done, send the pics to Dave G and ask him which is the right way, i’m not qualified to say which is right.
Below is some pics i’ll keep up for a bit. Its nice work,no doubt. I think the overall look of it is a bit to bulky for the frame. Balance i guess is what i’m after along with a good looking design. I don’t see a balanced design below. On top of what i’ve already commented on alot of our rigs are short as well. So we have a narrow frame and overall short compact rigs. I don’t think a really thick stock compliments this. Copillas who had that nice laquered rosewood stock and partially inletted up the side of the frame had a nice balance to it. But it was just a grip/foregrip and it was thinned out to blend into the frame nicely. What we’re working on is full stocks which add alot of extra area to the look of the rig. I think thin is in, skeletonizing it will help keep the bulky look down i can tell already between the template and the blank i’m working on. I don’t know you be the judge. They have a tactical look which i’m trying to keep, and a traditional stock doesn’t compliment this. Not that i don’t appreciate a traditional looking hunting stock, just not on a AF frame.
well bodi mate looks like u have made a good start welldone ,looking at the design u have i would go with the template design as it,s in keeping with the design and u could always get some rummed foam and shape it to for it .tell me mate i inlet mine alot more in what u do is there a reason for this just wondering if i,,m doing something wrong . keep at it mate 😀
Alright, here is a few pics to give you guys an idea of how its going to turn out. Its full inletted, and roughed out as far as you see. Still have to cut the skeletonized areas out. I have too many projects going at once.
First pic here was done last week, notice the buttstock design on the template as well as the closed of trigger guard area. Only changes i’ve made so far. Square the buttstock or do you like the lines of it on the template? I see no need for a morgan adjustable, maybe something in rubber or foam for comfort. I’ll show you what i mean there soon, another near finished project, patiently being waited upon. Thankx
Second series of pics shows the trigger guard cut out as well as the frame set in the stock. Don’t know if i will cut the tank area out or use a drum sander and round it to conform to the tank, probably not as i think it will look to bulky. Our frames are stream lined and i will most likely narrrow the buttstock to an 1″ at the top/bottom 1.5″ through the middle. The strut coming from the bottom of the grip will be kept a bit wider then the surrounding stock and angular. Still unsure on a grip design. I’d like to do my target style grip but my smarter half says keep it simple and ambidextrious, we’ll see how it goes as i start shaping the wood. I know still rough, but such is the process.
Anyone wondering how i cut the circular shapes like the thumbhole or trigger. Heres a pic of the right jig saw blades to use. Longer and thicker they give you a pretty square cut, i will sand to the lines as its not that square, but close. I drilled out as much stock as possible to begin with, easier then cutting and your just getting in the corners and cleaning up the edges. Pictured next to a regular jigsaw blade. Other outside cuts done with a bandsaw or table saw.
Here is my solution to not having a oscillating spindle sander, which would make my life at this so much easier, probably my next purchase. Drum sander rubber sleeve with a 3″ piece of pvc i can get any OD i want and drill the center out to fit 1/2″, 3/4″, 1″, 1.5″ 2″ attached to a drill press and it works well. Super glue whatever grit you want on 60 in this case. Thought i’d share. Notice i have a piece of old melamine shelving attached to the steel table top. This really helps with bigger pieces as my working surface is near double.
Jim, i was writing to bluejay about his two piecer and some issues he was having and throwing out some possible solutions. Mine will be 1 piece, that is the one pictured above, drawn out on a piece of 1/4″ maple plywood i had left over from some door panel projects i had. It will make a durable template as the drawing is completly to scale. The buttstock is 4.5″ below the tank thats a nice comfortable height. IU’m really contemplating about doing the first in some glued up pieces of poplar or birch being they are much softer then walnut, will allow me to work much quicker as the material works so much easier then the denser woods like walnut. DO a couple that way till i have all the bugs worked out then do a really nice one out of the walnut, probably with some cocobolo inlays. Foregrip end cap, grip endcap, inlay in the skeletonized area i have drawn out on the stock, something really nice. The poplar or birch ones i’ll bedliner and may do some endcaps with some scraps of walnut or other exotic mentioned. Just a little flash to offset all the black. I have lots of idea options on this one.
BJ, yes the holes will have to be perfect, frigging S.O.B. of a head ache for me. The foregrip i have done using both trigger guard holes and the factory attaching foregrip hole got that space worked out and have a template made so all i do is place the template on the blank foregrip, mark, drill and its good to go. I will do something similar with this one as well,spend some time carefully measuring, use a junk piece of wood and work it out on that till i know exactly where the holes need to go. My only problem thus far with doing grips and foregrips is getting a perfect through hole in the grip. I start at the top with a 1/4″ bit 6″ long, square the table to the bit at 90 degrees, 1 side and the front using a framing square and drill down. I don’t have the arm travel so i have to stop and raise the table and gain some extra travel with the press. I always come out a little off on the bottom. Which gets a 9/16″ bit drilled from bottom to a predetermined point usually one which allows me to use a 1.5″ #10 screw vs. the factory 1.25″. My grips are usually around 4.5-5″ high. So i’m going to spend a day with a 2″x4″ cut into those lengths and see where i’m going wrong. By using the 9/16″ bit on the grip, allows for a washer/ lock washer combo and some room for error. The foregrip will be the tricky part as my inletting is very tight to the frame i use the same 1/4″ bit to drill through and then a counter sink bit just big enough for a #10 washer 10-12 counter sink bit, flat bottom. No room for error there.
Rabbits, i’ll try and do a step by step, but you know me i usually got a few projects going at once. Still have to finish the coco, got the mahogany grip/foregrip nicely started. Which i have found i’m near deathly allergic to. Twice i’ve spent a good amont of time working on the grip/foregrip combo and twice broke out in a itching rash all over, thats head to toes 🙄 I was messing with it on friday/sat and am still itching today. First episode was the week before. It was sent to me by a member here as true mahogany which after some research i believe it to be. Via that wood identification site we’ve been to. Works nice with sanding, rasping, routeing every aspect but is hell on my skin. I will wear a dust mask and some thicker clothing next time to see if 😡 i can somehow continue to work with the wood without breaking out in a nasty rash, itching my ass raw 😆 I must say this is the first substance i’ve ever had an alergic reaction to, never have had allergies or been prone to this sort of thing. Never wore a mask with the coco, never had any problems with it??? Crazy, play with fire and sooner or later you get burned. You would have to see it to believe it. The only thing i can see in the wood which is extremely dry is its sands to small particles and the wood seems to have a glazeing to it, like dried or crystalized sap. Which almost looks like fiber glass to the naked eye. I can’t tell you how uncomfortable it is, my palms itch, the bottoms of my feet itch, my legs itch, toes, ass, ankles, forearms thats right now after two days. If i itch then i get raised welts, which then will break open and scab over, really fun, not. Anti histamines give some relief.
This is fair warning to anyone whom works with wood to take the proper precautions in inhalation of any saw dust. Which is what i think has caused this as the sanding dust is fine its not getting onto every inch of my skin. Has to be due to inhaleation, but i’m not ruleing out skin contact either. Its a beautiful wood and is what is pictured above in the partially finished blonde looking wood, foregrip stacked on a identical walnut foregrip. After a application of just linseed oil it turns a nice reddish color that glows nicely. If i can manage to finish it i will use a good mahogany oil finish, several coats with a topcoat of wax as a protector. This is a true labor of love, as most would be smart enough to chuck the wood into a fireplace and watch it go up in smoke out of spite. Or at the very least have worn the right protective clothing. I’m just not prone to this sort of thing, never thought to wear any. I don’t like dust masks at all, but am going to make an exception.
I’am feeling better today hence the long winded post, but there is many questions surrounding the stock, i hope i have them all addressed, any other problems you guys see feel free to point out. I’m no Dave G or Mike Abernathy. RiffRaff gives me too much credit, my gallery pics look good and show skill but the hours involved thus far are untold and uncounted. This is the learning curve i’m about at the peak and have alot of the bugs worked and things are going smoother and quicker, i can still use as many eyes and suggestions on this as possible. Plus i had to vent about that dammed mahogany rash/hives i got 😆 After a good scratching bout my ass looks like the surface of the moon 😳 😆 😡 😕 . I’ll give it 1 more go with the protective clothing if i incur any problems i’ll never work with the wood again………………. Just not worth 4-5 days of itching, swelling, scratching and all the rest.
Jim.
jim there,s a few ways to do the thumbhole and bodi,s thumbhole will be bigger than the one i,m doing .i done mine wtih a drill bit and a good bit off sanding and chisels work as u c from the slide show .
http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z230/stevenb_011/?action=view¤t=3d8210ec.pbw
bodi,s design give,s it a hole differant look and i realy can,t wait to c him getting into that wood and showing us the progress .i,m hopeing bodi i can ask u a wee fav and do a step by step for us on this one .i love douing the step by steps and would like to c this one done like that aswel mate .
the more I look at the drawing the more I like it..
The only thing I can think of is that the two mounting holes are going to have to be in perfect line or you’ll give it flex. I believe that is part of my problem.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Got this project going well, will post pics later today. Got a new beltsander 4″x36″, disc sander 8″ station which makes working the buttstock very easy on this one. It will help speed things up as far as production goes. Anyone who likes the look of the outline and is interested in this full stock, let me know. Now would be a good time as i’m just getting to working the grip area and changes can be made to accomodate an individuals needs/wants.