I'm thinking of building my own stock.There are a few things I want that can't be bought. Also I'm not exactly sure of what I want so it may take a couple of trys to get it just right.I would not want to pay for a custom stock over and over. I would like the stock to be as light as possible and it needs to start out wide enough to hold a rem 700 with a Davidson steeve.Any suggestions on what material to use?Is there anthing I need to look for when buying wood?
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

frankg---

I realize about what you're asking, but the answers could run a thousand pages or more with no problem at all.

To make a good stock the material should be light, strong, stable, easy to work, and suit the owner for looks.

There are at least 30 woods that fit that description and 4 or 5 synthetics.

What do you want it to look like? What kind of shooting are you going to do?

"As light as possible" with a sleeve is totally counter intuitive. Sleeved guns are HEAVY and BIG, not small and light.

More information brings more answers, but for now you question is like saying, " I want a piece of property.....what should I buy?"

Thanks for the reply,let me see if I can offer more useful info.
First,looks.I don't care. If need be I'll paint it black.
Next, weight.Solid fiberglass stocks are pretty darn heavy. I would like to go lighter.Carbon graphite is expensive and I don't think I could work with it.I'm pretty sure I want to go with some kind of wood that is not very heavy.The stock should finish out like a sniper stock with a bigish action area.Pistol grip and flat fore-end.

Frank,

What caliber are you looking at? Here is my suggestion for a first time stock - use a piece of 2 X 10 pine. It is cheap and easy to work. Since you aren't too picky about the finish at this time, plan on painting it whatever color you want. If it winds up being too narrow for you just glue some wood on where you need it. When you are ready to use it I would suggest treating it with an epoxy wood laminating resin, it will make it plenty strong for most calibers. This way you can get started tomorrow and if you screw up it is no big deal.

That sounds like a good plan.What glue specifically is good enough for building a gun stock.

Oh, I forgot calliber.I don't think it really matters.264 Win mag.

I'd go a little better than pine, but not much. Beech or birch would be my choice. I distrust the resin in pine.

One of my buds has 1500 board feet of rough sawn walnut, cherry, and maple he has been hoarding 15 years for a furniture project he has not gotten around to. I'm gonna try to talk him into selling me a few boards.

Frank De Haas made up some easy stocks by laminating three pieces. Center piece was the thickness of the flat on the action.

As for glues, any cabinetmakers glue would do, but I would probably use one of the waterproof ones.

For laminating a stock, I'd probably lean more towards epoxy -- some nice thin stuff, smear on an even, full coverage coat, stack the pieces together, and compress the hell out of it. You may need to stake the sides, as when you start compressing pieces of wood with a liquid (even a thick one like wood glue) in between, they tend to slide around.

The reason I would pick epoxy is for its gap-filling ability. That way, if the boards aren't totally flat, it will still turn out okay. Its also a lot stronger.

Regarding the boards, buy them a little long and be sure to trim at least two inches from EACH end -- if you're a woodworker, you'll know what 'planer snipe' is, that's why you trim from each end.

Take this for what its worth -- I have never made a laminated stock blank, but I have made a lot of furniture using both edge and face laminates.

Good luck,
Todd

[ 12-09-2002, 06:52: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

I should add, regarding the epoxy, pay very close attention to 'working time' which is how long you have to get your workpieces arranged before it starts to set up. Acraglass Quick Gel would NOT be a good choice, since its thick and sets up in 5 minutes or so. Plain old Acraglass is thinner, and has a much longer working time if I recall correctly.

I have to run to Home Depot for sandpaper soon, if I can remember to I will look in their adhesives section and see what is available there.

When you do the glue-up, be sure to place a layer of wax paper between the blank and anything you don't want permanently affixed to it, such as clamps, the garage floor, whatever you weight it down with, etc.

Todd

[ 12-09-2002, 07:00: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

Ok. So now I'm thinking I'll get 4 or 5 pieces of 1x10 birch,epoxy them together with a lot of force and then start cutting.This should give the thing sort of the characteristics of a laminated piece which is not so succeptible to weather changes.

Epoxy doesn't need a lot of force,a good fit is nice.Check with West epoxies for how to work with it.Good quality resin (carpenters yellow ) is stronger than than wood when done right.

You are looking at tradeoffs.. but since it's a 264, it's not going to "hurt" you either way.

24 to 28 ounces, you can buy off midway for less than $200 for a synth.

if you want LIGHT ...14-18 oz
Dale (dang it, I think it's christianson) makes Cf/graphite stocks.. for the princely sum of $165. I've got one, for a stole panda action, in my shop, that is one day going to be on my benchrifle.

lite wood? birch,,,

jeffe

I would use a laminating epoxy, and stay away from the "harder" resins, it will be difficult sometimes to get the glue line to blend in if the glue is a lot harder than the wood. Also, follow the directions and don't use too much pressure as it is quite easy to squeeze out too much glue out of the joint. In keeping with the goal of simplicity and less hassle, I'd suggest picking up a bottle of polyurethane glue, such as "gorilla glue" at the lumberyard.

Birch or pine doesn't matter, a good piece of pine is better than a bad piece of birch but go with whatever boards you want to, it is your project and it should be a fun one!

Mark,

I'm not sure what you're experience was with Gorilla Glue, but mine was not good. If yours was better, I'd like to know -- maybe I'd give it another shot.

I used it shortly after it hit the market, to laminate posts for a bed. They have been progressively de-laminating, and it's a bitch to get other glue to hold because that stuff sealed the pores.

Todd

It's best to use a glue designed for the job. "Laminating epoxy" is the stuff they make boats out of. It's not good for wood.

Weldwood Resorcinol Resin was designed for laminating woods for marine use. Do a search and read up on it. It's a red powder that's mixed with warm water.

When you clamp wood use several clamps along two pieces of angle iron to spread out the force. It doesn't take as much as you might think. Tighten slowly, then loosen, so the laminates don't ripple.

I've done five layer laminates using seven C clamps... Four the length of the top and three along the bottom with heavy steel bars to keep everything straight and even.

Stocks are *best* used two years after glueing unless you can find lumber that's dry. NOTHING you buy from a dealer is dry.....count on it.

2 years!? That's a long time to wait to get to shoot the gun. How about kiln dried wood?

Frank,

Have you looked into the cost of buying a laminate blank from somewhere like Richards Microfit or Wenig? I believe they run about $70 -- you'd end up spending close to that, I bet, on epoxy, lumber, and clamps, not to mention your time. It's all the same wherever you buy it, made by Rutland Laminates in Vermont.

Todd

You can buy blanks from boyds at www.boydboys.com

I was actually talking to one of the professors in the wood science department at UBC here and he pulled out a piece of high density birch laminate that you can buy on the market now. It comes up to 1" thick, looks pretty nice, and is way stronger than a regular plywood. If you are going to make a laminate yourself you have to remember to criss cross the grains so you have strength along multiple plains.

One thing about the Birch laminate stuff I was looking at is it is Extremely dense. I think it would burn up all but the best bandsaw blades, and would make a stock that weighed.....well alot too much for anything but a bench gun.

Mark

I believe I have tried most of the manufacturers. If anybody can find me a 3inch wide stock, let me know.