let's see if we can get a list of tips & tricks that might help with a bedding job.

One I have is to use powdered graphite applied with a soft brush as the final step before dunking the rifle into the bedding compound.

Applying a layer of grafphite over the top of whatever release agent you use helps make the surface less adhesive for the resin.

When dealing with graphite just remember that sh** will get in your icebox!!

Silly putty instead of clay.

Having no silly putty, I use clay. For release agent I have always used Johnsons paste wax. nothing else. And Acraglas Gel; only. Graphite? Sounds dirty. Icebox? That trick is only needed when your release agent fails.
Who has an icebox since WW2 anyway? Refrigerators have been around for a few years now, most places.

Blue or green painters tape on anything you dont want "gunk" on

Also just before the resin gets to hard to cut....trim off the ooz

I suppose my main trick is to use a hot blow dryer making 4 or 5 slow passes on the glass, when it makes subtle changes I set the metal in the wood..no bubbles, always smooth and solid.

I use Johnsons wax for release agent..I like Marine Tex for glass bedding, I use surgical tubing and stock screw guides most of the time. Pasco .010" Pipe wrap tape for free floating a barrel and taping bottom, sides, and front of a mod. 70 recoil lug. I also like the trigger bedding blocks for a clean cut job..I use popcicle sticks cut like a chisel to trim glass along the barrel channel, I also tie 2 or 3 lb. weight on the barrel in front of the forend on bolt actions, to settle the barrel.

Oil based modeling clay for the holes and slots, johnson's paste wax for a release agent. Take some 5/16 or 3/8th white Delrin rod and shape it to a point, chisel edge or what ever shape you want and use it to cut the excess off around the action and barrel channel when it starts to set. It will not mar the stock or metal and does a great job

I bought Richard Franklin's video on 'stress free pillar bedding some years ago and my bedding jobs improved 50%, and I thought I did a pretty fair job before that time. Picked up a few more tricks out of that gunsmithing book from the fellow in Australia.

I use Kiwi shoe polish, either Devcon or lately more Marine Tex. wrap a bushing of tape around the barrel at the forend tip so everything is level. Use guide screws and clamp or wrap lightly with electrical tape. Use Qtips to cleanup to a fine line while epoxy is wet... Action inlet is relieved all around action with zero contact except for the very rear of tang. With Savage actions add a layer or two of tape on the tang so it floats after bedding. An interesting idea from the Aussie was to run a 1/4" strip of duct tape down the bottom centerline of the action for the full length of bedding with the idea that it he action would not bottom out and be able to wobble side to side...the first rifle I tried that on won the WI mid-range F-class championships and took fifth place in the Nationals...I think that method may have some merit and it makes sense to me.

Many other things you could call trick or just idiosyncracies...not sure which. Highly recommend Richard Franklins videos (I DO NOT know the gentleman), just very good sound info in them.

Only works with round receivers though. The tape strip thing.

quote:

Originally posted by thirdbite:

quote:

Originally posted by cooksey:
When dealing with graphite just remember that sh** will get in your icebox!!

Huh?

What he means is that it will get everywhere. It's like working in a coal power plant, pretty soon you'll be wiping out out of your butt.

When using pillars are there any tricks to applying the epoxy into the hole and the action bedding area without it all going down the pillar holes? The pillars are bolted into the action and unless you are quick the epoxy slumps into the holes and then the pillars push a lot of it out. It makes a mess and I worry I don't have enough epoxy around the pillars sometimes. I only have about 1/16" clearance on the pillars to the stock so there isn't enough room to pour or inject the epoxy back in from the bottom. I've bedded a bunch of rifles with good results, but always struggle on this part.

I've done them in two stages, pillars glued first and then the action bedded but then I don't get a perfect fit on contoured pillars and you end up with a bunch of epoxy down the bolt hole. Much prefer to do a single pour.

The best I've come up with recently is painting the action with epoxy and applying the bulk of it to the pillars rather than in the holes, which are painted with a thin coat. Got to make sure you use enough and I tape the entire stock and barrel because I always get some on my hands that transfers as I handle it.

My favorite bedding material is JB weld. Accra glass is not as easy for me to work with. I do use the accra glas to secure pillars but I use the JB for the rest of the job.


.

Get a copy of William Hambly-Clark's Centerfire Rifle Accuracy, the chapter on bedding is a good one.

Go around the gun and your work area and think about where you couldn't possibly end up with a smudge of epoxy afterwards and be sure those areas are taped and/or waxed too.

I like to clean up with solvent on Q-tips and cardboard scrapers while the epoxy is still soft, and now use silly putty to fill in holes and stuff- way easier to deal with afterwards than clay.

Marine-Tex
Honey Wax release agent
Modeling wax and modeling clay to fill voids in receivers
Bedding jacks to pull the receiver
prep-work prep-work prep-work prep-work prep-work prep-work prep-work prep-work
24 hours curing time
Milling machine with carbide for cleanup

Was Bill Hambly-Clark the Aussie gunsmith you were referring to, too, Matt?

For fiberglass stocks I've used "bondo glass" that can be bought at most auto parts stores, not the plastic stuff, but the stuff with glass resin and fibers in it. Rough up the inside and it holds up as good as anything. Its just not pretty.. The usual release agents and cleanup is the same.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Was Bill Hambly-Clark the Aussie gunsmith you were referring to, too, Matt?

Yes, I do believe that's the one...one of the better books I have in my collection.

I have used Acraglass and Bisonite. I now prefer Bisonite with the powdered steel.

I always use the release agent in the kit. I tried paste wax once and it worked with Accraglass but it did not work with Bisonite!

Modelling clay.

Electric tape at the bottom & front of the forward recoil lug.

Bed the tang area carefully and drill a few small 3mm holes to anchor the bedding properly.

marine tex GRAY -- the white is actually more like caulk when hardened .. and yes, i learned the hard way - different epoxy compounding

i like plumbers putty vs all the other stuff

floor wax works well

ALWAYS take the trigger and other bits off

look out for anything that will cause a mechanical interlock - and avoid that mistake

blue painters tape on everything you don't want epoxy on

a heat gun helps clean up, along with a plastic butter knife - don't use metal tools..

nytril gloves work wonders

cutting an old towel into rags and having some white vinegar in a bucket will help

put newspaper under everything

To each his own. Great tips above.

I've been using release agent spray everywhere including most of the barrel spraying from all different directions to ensure you get into every nook and cranny. A quick spray right before assembly wouldn't hurt. Acraglas Gel from Brownell's has my vote as well.

Tips:
A small freezer bag with the corner cut off in the shape of a quarter circle makes for a nice compound applicator so you can squeeze a nice bead right where you want it with little excess. Roll it over a table top corner or use the palm of your hand to force it towards the cut and then twist the bag to keep the air out until you need it. Twist and squeeze to apply. Lasts a lot longer before it sets up in the bag as well.

Small plastic aspirin/pain reliever bottles make a great mixing cup. Just cut off the top third and wipe with a damp cloth, let dry. Pop-sickle sticks fit the corners well.

Once a bedding job is done, I "step cure" the epoxy to a higher temperature. I had a rifle bedded by someone else that softened and shifted in a hot car.

I also scrape up the left over epoxy into a blob and set it aside as a test piece for hardness, strength, etc.

If you have a Culver's restaurant in your area, they have little plastic cups for you to dispense catsup into that are perfect size for mixing the epoxy. Every time I go, a fresh one comes home with me, since I typically don't use catsup.

quote:

Originally posted by gzig5:
If you have a Culver's restaurant in your area, they have little plastic cups for you to dispense catsup into that are perfect size for mixing the epoxy. Every time I go, a fresh one comes home with me, since I typically don't use catsup.

So, what do your cats eat in the evenings?

The back edge of rounded tangs, I place a single layer of scotch tape to the clean metal before laying on the release agent.
That gives a perfect few .000 clearence between the wood and the tip of the tang.

Soft car wax (Turtle Wax) applied w/a toothe brush for release agent.

It often takes me 2 or more steps to bed some parts. I don't usually try and do the whole thing in one shot, but I work on SxS's alot more than bolt rifles.

Thru-bolt actions (single and SxS) can become their own worst demolition tool in that the bar or post that the through bolt screws into is usually round and can act as a large dull wood splitter as the bolt is tightened. Forward bedding is scant on some and the torque that can be applied starts to pull the action into the wood to split it at the back of the tang(s).
I often mill a flat on that post/bar and then cut decending steps on each side to gain more flat surface. All to avoid cutting the first flat too deep and weakening the post.
Bedded, the flat surfaces provide a large surface for the through bolt to draw back against and suppliment the action face to wood fit.


I speed up curing of the Arcra Glass/Gel with the heat from a pre-Al Gore light bulb. A 75Watt placed close will heat the metal and wood and make the compound turn over rather quickly.
I separate the parts from the bedding once the glass is hard but not completely cured (5hrs approx). They separate very easily. Then reassemble w/no extra release compound and leave them for minimum 24 hrs. Usually longer to cure. The come right apart the next time w/ no hassel at all.

Just a question, not exactly bedding, but similar.

You will see from my posts "in progress " in the medium bore section, that I convert old or broken stocks for use in a pantograph........ now my question is...is there an alternative to acccraglas that I can use to basically fill in the areas around an action when fitting to a stock that originally had a different action in it ?
For example, where I fitted a Mosin Nagant to an old 788 Remington stock, there are gaps left from the 788 action.
I am looking for a cheaper product as it will never actually be used as a firearm, merely a pattern.

Roger

There are many 2-pot epoxy products in the market. Marine epoxy would work.

You could even use the 2-part dough type for the kind of application you mentioned. That will give you more flexibility to shape and mould what you want and then sand or trim it.

quote:

Originally posted by yumastepside:
Just a question, not exactly bedding, but similar.

You will see from my posts "in progress " in the medium bore section, that I convert old or broken stocks for use in a pantograph........ now my question is...is there an alternative to acccraglas that I can use to basically fill in the areas around an action when fitting to a stock that originally had a different action in it ?
For example, where I fitted a Mosin Nagant to an old 788 Remington stock, there are gaps left from the 788 action.
I am looking for a cheaper product as it will never actually be used as a firearm, merely a pattern.

Roger

I have snooped around in a lot of other gunsmiths shops over the years. In the ones which sport pantographs I have noticed a very LIBERAL application of bondo has been used in the creation a lot of their patterns. I suspect it's used because it's cheap, fast hardening, easy to sand and shape and it's cheap!

.......you've hit the nail on the head there Rod, most of the external modifications are done with strips of wood then bondo (we call it bog ) . I was hoping there might be something that might be a little slower setting, because once mixed, this stuff sets pretty quick.As Naki said, possibly an epoxy resin, hopefully slower setting and a bit more fluid would help.

Roger

I think you will find that the hardener used for Bondo isn't actually a hardener at all. It's just an accelerator. If you want it to cure slower, use less of the cream hardener. I do that all the time and about half the regular amount of hardening cream stretches the cure time to about 30 minutes. I'm sure you could go down to 1/4 the regular amount and still get solid cures if you left it a few hours. Talk to some body shop people. They could tell you for sure as they seem live on the stuff.

ADD NOTE:

I could be nutz, let me rephrase that. Despite being nutz, it's been my experience that if you use less of the hardener, the Bondo seems to set up harder than a fast cure will and it also seems to schtick better. I have no theory why that's so or if it's all just in my head. It's just an observation.

Speerchucker,
your correct less hardner, the harder the bondo. I do that on pattern stocks that chip and wear with regular mix..

As to an earlier post on getting glass around action screws or pillers, I would recommend drilling the pillers to fit the wood and painting them with glue of any sort. the other option is to drill a larger hole and glass them in with a 1/4 inch of glass around the piller..This is a bit harder to do but if you start with fitted pillers, you can do the glassing one at a time, a bit time consuming but it works well...