Hand Made Gunstock

[LD1]

Just wanted to share some pic of the gunstock that I have been working on this week. Just finished the last coat of polyurethane last night and got her back together this morning.

 

[sunspot]

That is very nice looking. What wood did you use?

I once made a few grips for my Colt Pocket Nine. I can't even imagine making a shoulder stock.

 

[LD1]

I save a 3' long and about 10" diameter chunk of red oak from our weekend haul. I used the chainsaw, kinda like a chinsaw mill but only freehanded, to get a 3" by 8" board and went from there.

It's times like this I wish I had a decient mill in the shop.

Everything was done with basic tools that most people have.

Table saw(for squaring up the board after the chainsaw minor other things.)
Miter saw (rough notching here and there)
Die grinder with assortment of burrs, flap wheels, and sanding rolls)
Angle grinder with flap wheel
Drill (not just for the holes, used with the burrs when i was waiting on the little air compressor the catch back up. Also used a end mill bit in the drill for some of the work around the action)

 

[czechsonofagun]

Beautiful! I am thinking about making a stock for this SMLE barreled action I have somewhere in my shop. How did you did you adapt the stock to the action? Drill press and fostner bits + chisels?

 

[LD1]

Beautiful! I am thinking about making a stock for this SMLE barreled action I have somewhere in my shop. How did you did you adapt the stock to the action? Drill press and fostner bits + chisels?

No drill press. I used a hand drill with different sized bits to rough out the different areas of the trigger hole and the larger hole for the internal magazine. Then I used different burrs and a small 4-flute end mill chucked up in a hand drill. Yea it was time consuming and tedious(SP?). I tried a 2 flute mill of the same size but with a hand drill it was harder to control than the 4 flute.

 

[2manyrocks]

Nice work. One of the reasons oak has not typically used other than its hardness to work with, is there is something in oak that can attack metal. If you have all the wood to metal surfaces completely sealed, that is a plus.

Totally amazing that you did it without even using a drill press.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

nice job!

 

[LD1]

Thanks for the compliments.

Everything is sealed but I haven't heard of oak ttacking metal before.

They use oak a lot in cabinets and tables all with metal fastners and hinges.

If there is any truth to it its the first time I've heard of it.

 

[2manyrocks]

CMP Discussion Forum - Is white oak good for stock blanks?

The particular thing I was thinking about was the tanic acid in the wood.

Traditional stock materials tend to be birch, maple, cherry and walnut. Now laminates and synthetics have entered the field.

 

[LD1]

Thanks for the advice and compliments.

Two reasons I was not concerned with using red oak

1. Still have the origional gunstock.
2. I have no money invested in this. Just something to do to pass the time.

However I was a little dissappointed that it didn't have more of a red tint. I was hoping it would be like a lighter shade of cherry. I wanted something that was different, everyone used walnut and maple.

I have several other type of wood I woould like to try for the next one so if anyone has any advice on the following would be appreciated.

1. Hickory. Preferabally the Darker heart-wood.
2. Elm. Again the darker heart wood
3. Loctus. Almost a yellow color that I think would look good.
4. Beech. Grains are really curly like curly maple but we have a ton of beech in this area.

Thanks to all