I've had this fiddle back walnut unfinished stock for a long time and am going to try and finish it soon. I have on hand Norton Adalox sand paper in asst. grits. Would this be a good sand paper to use for all hand sanding?
The forend tip is cut square. I like the look of an angled back cut similar to the Weatherby cut.
Any idea what angle that is?
How would I cut it? Power miter saw? Or?
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks
Michael

I'm no stock maker by any stretch of the imagination but here goes.
Adalox paper is fine as it is an aluminum oxide paper. But I would only use it for the finish sanding as it can clog when used for rough sanding.
Typical Weatherby tip are angled back at 60 degrees as measured from the axis of the barrel. But to keep the lines in symmetry, if your tip is mated with the stock at an angle (Either back or forward) I would match that angle so the nothing looks skewed.

As for cutting it I just sanded it down by eye to the correct angle on a large belt sander.
But a power miter saw would do the job as well.

I have done just 3 stocks, all of them 95% pre-inletted.

I found that hand sanding is far too slow. Belt sanding is risky if you are not used to it. I skinned my knuckles, chewed up wood & worse. Just managed to save the rifle, recoil pad & stock!

I now use my disk & mouse sanders and I get great results. This helped shape the stock without dishing and also getting the nice clean lines. Once I got the shape right I moved to hand sanding and always using a block to avoid dishing. The last one was a shadow line cheek piece and I am happy with the finish. Not pro quality but it does fool a lot of my pals. I even got the recoil pad flush with the wood by using a hand held belt sander and with masking tape on the wood.

I started with 40 grit and moved to 80, 120 & 240. Then I oiled it with 240, 400, 600 & 1000. Here it is.

kcstott, Thank you so much. I never gave a thought as to how the tip is mated to the stock. It's at an angle!
Doesn't look like 60 degrees. I'll measure later.


Nakihunter, the stock is close to smooth so I'll finish by hand. Thanks

Lots were 45 degrees.
Regards, Joe

Just match that angle and have it headed back to the butt of the stock. that will keep everything looking symmetrical
And yes lots and lots mounted at 45 Degrees

Don't touch the sandpaper to the stock unless you use a sanding block. Flats can be sanded using any small wood block or a longer one for making sure you get the flats flat; you can use different sized of dowels to sand internal radii; with the finer grits, you can use the 3M foam blocks if you're careful. There is nothing worse than a stock that has received a lot of TLC by the proud owner but has rounded edges, flats that aren't, and the other problems that come from failing to use a block.

Clarence