Nice job...My first inletted stock didnt look that good! Gets in the blood,eh...so whats the next project?

It's still not finished. I got "promoted" at work which means salary and twice as many hours and on a more positive note we adopted a child and I spend most of my extra time with the family. I want to get my checkering skills up to par and do this stock but I'll probably send it out as I haven't had the time I need to call my checkering acceptable. I've also had a couple other projects I've started so my time management needs work. One is 99 for myself and the other a .22 for a sister in law. If they were paying jobs I just might qualify for that shingle. That's a joke just in case my sense of humour is overly dry. I appreciate the comments, it's a good reminder to get this thing finished. I'll start looking for someone to checker thing thing.

Dempsey

Would you talk (write) more about how you used your palm router to "hog" out that very precise looking inletting?

beautiful. im about to reshape a stock of my own and hope i can duplicate the lines of your stock

Very nice!

I use a Bosch Colt palm router. It is small for a router and offers a decent view of the cutter. I see some new routers with a led light that would beat the head lamp I wear. I only use it to remove bulk wood, I don't get close to final dimensions with the router. I find it's most useful for establishing a close and square final depth on flat bottomed receivers. The only real advice I have is don't try to make up for hand tools and fitting with the router and know exactly what wood you want to remove before you turn it on. Maybe practice on a plain piece of walnut to find what cutter speed is easiest to control and make several light cuts. Making sure the body of the router is in the locked position is my best piece of advice and know when not to use it. I have a nice Turkish blank that I spent countless hours finishing the inletting sitting on top of my safe. I got the bright idea that I would use the router to remove some bulk wood from the exterior around the grip. I started near the grip cap, the body wasn't locked properly and cutter went down like an auger in sand. I wasn't disappointed in losing the blank in as much as I was in losing all the labor I had put into the inletting. There is no substitute for hand tools to get final dimensions for me. Thanks for the comments.

Would it be instructive for you to show that stock that you say you ruined?

How do you go about planning to hand inlet a stock? Do you use a caliper and take various measurements? What measurements do you take?
Etc.?

lindy2,
You're asking him to write an entire book.
Find a copy of Alvin Linden's "Restocking a Rifle" You will find all your answers there.

lindy, I'll try and take a photo of the ruined stock. What I was trying to do was get a flat on each side of the blank above the grip. A rasp takes a little longer but......

Dave's suggestion of Alvin Lindens book is a good one, Dave's book is also a must have. I also highly suggest the Scholarship Rifle thread Duane mentioned.

This website in general has been my best resource. There seems to be a large group of people who appreciate a fine wood stocked rifle, people from Pro's to aspiring hobbyists to those who have very nice collections and share photo's and information. I learned of both Dave's book and Lindens on this website. Duane's shares a lot info and detailed photo's. Read as much as you can, get some Jerry Fisher posters of the Model 70 and 98 and hang them in your work area, look at as many custom rifles as you can, learn about the makers and their individual styles. Draw your project full scale first, I got that from one of SDH's posts. There's just so much, absorb as much as you can and have some patience and don't be afraid to fail.

I finally finished this. It's a graduation present for my Nephew. Kathy Forster did the checkering. She did a outstanding job. Wish I was better at taking pics. I'll find a load and load up a bunch and it will be ready to pass along this Spring at graduation. Can't believe it took this long but having a new Son and a few other things took me away from my work for awhile.

Dempsey

Congratulations on your new Son. Wonderful news.

And now you have another person to make a few custom rifles for!!

I love the stock and can heartily recommend Kathy Forster.

Thanks lindy. I have an action and blank with his name on it.

A very fine looking stock. Really decent wood, shaping and finishing looks good from here and Kathy's checkering completes the job.
Congrats!

+1 Kathy Forster

Thanks SDH. The quality of your work and the work of others such as those illustrated in your book has been a great motivator to keep getting better.

You're close. Come spend a week in my Seminar, the quality of your work will rise exponentially.
Folks come here from both coasts to learn...
Call if you would like to talk about it. I'm currently setting dates and one section has already filled with returning students (one from CT another from TX).
Also going to offer Metal Prep, Rust & Nitre Bluing again this year.

Well worth waiting for Dempsey.
Nice work and excellent choice on the blank. The grain flow is just great.
Love the caliber too. I'm up to 5 7X57's including one 7X57R.