Glenn,

I heard a rumor that you are going to start making skeleton buttplates? Any truth to this? It is getting difficult to find them.

Who? HST? Dakot makes them and they are just around the corner from you.

Jim,

HST is a poster on AR. Dakota does not make them. Some else makes them for Dakota and they are no longer available.

I heard that Dakota had them made by someone in NZ, bu the guy down there was not longer making them.

I am looking forward to a new source.

I believe Galazan still sells skeleton plates. They also have some pretty nice heel and toe plates.

Gentlemen:

We are indeed will be offering the skeleton butt plates. Unfortunately we have run into some fabrication issues that need to be addressed.

We plan to try the die again early next week, and to be honest, expect to have to make one more modification before it is finished. The part paths are already written for machine work. When we get the formed blank right it will not take long to have the finished product.

This will be a quality plate similar in appearance to one Dakota used to offer. The outside will be machined square and the inside with a draft angle to aid fitting. The plate will come with closely fitting tall head screws for proper timing of the slots.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them here or write direct.

Respectfully,

Glenn Fewless

gfewless@tds.net

Wohoo! Thanks Glenn!

Glenn, are you doing grip caps also?

Chic:

The grip caps are under consideration. If there is enough call for them they can be made. They will be a lot easier to produce because it can be all machined. I have a couple samples here and when we get the butt plate worked out we'll have a look at the grip caps.

Any particular cap design that you are partial to?


Glenn

Im partial to the Dakota "b" style. The ones with the little points on the inside. Same for the buttplates.

Glenn

Will you be marketing these direct and in small quantities, or just through one of the supply houses? I would be very interested in a direct purchase if your minimum quantity was 3 or 4 at a time. I also think there is a possible market for these with supplied with minimun standard engraving.

Roger

HST.

Those buttplates can be a #$%^&&*

Are you the one that Bill H. wanted me to qoute the wood screws out to.?

A few years ago McFarland would not have a small run of Stainless Buttplates run off. Well the stockmaker talked me into it and I made 12 of them from 303 Stainless x .125 thick.

Still have the dang forming dies that took me an week to machine.

Good luck.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

Glenn, don't listen to Bill, make the rounded ones. Lol, or both

I use a lot of the grip caps. I use them with regular recoil pads rather than in conjunction with a skeleton butt plate.

Jim Wisner:

I see you can feel my pain....

I got into this in a similar fashion. A client wanted, of all things, a Damascus steel skeleton butt plate. I started looking around for a plate to model it after and found there were none available. One thing lead to another, and I didn't have the sense to run the other way. It has degenerated to the point where I am looking at a 3 axis mill and a Deckel duplicator.

I am not the wood screw guy. I am going to have those made.


Rodger:

It is my intention to market them direct. When I started this I agreed to purchase 100 laser cut blanks from a fabrication shop. I don't know where it will go from there. If it goes anywhere. I reckon the market will decide that.


Chic and Bill:

As far as to have pointy gizzers or not pointy gizzers, that is the question. I have had requests for both. You two will just have to fight it out between yourselves and let me know who won.

If I do get the mill it will be no big deal to run both. I will need to get a model of the pointy one, or make one.

Are we having fun yet?

Glenn

I won, I sat on him and it was no battle. The services will be at ..............

Chic:

I appreciate the decisive action on your part, but was hoping for a technique that would not be so damaging to my market base.

Glenn

In light of the abuse Im taking I request that Glenn make the pointed ones first.

Evidently, my news of his death was greatly exagerated (with apologies to Mark Twain's copyright). I will have to start working out and engage him in a serious match. Either that or flip a coin.

Gentlemen:


We have been working on the promised Skeleton Buttplates. There was a bit of progress tonight and I am attaching some pictures. This is the latest blank in the latest die modification. We are getting closer. The mill is alleged to be arriving on Monday. Hopefully the die work will largely be done and we can try machining the inside draft and clean up the outside.

All comments and critiques are welcome. It ain't cut in stone yet...

Glenn












And finally, a picture of our Quality Assurance Team at work.

So you even do a cat scan. Nice.

chic,

that was just wrong

Glenn

What will be the final dimensions on the plate?
Will you offer a smaller version for petite/ Stalking rifles? Thanks

James

Glenn

You might consider the option of offering the cut out parts as they are. I think some if not most people interested in these will be able to clean them up and do the final fitting and polishing. Of course it all depends on price doesn't it.

Good luck with your project however you do it.


Roger