Not sure if this goes in this forum but I figure the more technically afluent could help me out. I‘m trying to make my own stock out of plywood or some sheet of wood. I chose this method so I can do some pre-inletting because I don‘t have a router. After looking around the local home depot & various lumber yards, the only suitable type of hardwood I can find is birch plywood. My real question is can I use this wood? I know its birch veneer on the top and bottom with some kind of mystery wood in the middle, but will it work? Pros, cons and general good advice? Thanks.
Making a laminate stock questions
- Thread starter a0jc
- Start date
Glue and clamp two 3/4" hard maple planks together, you can do some of the inletting before you glue the two parts together. I made my last stock like that and it looks good in light maple, the center line is hardly visible. look at Windsor Plywood for your wood.
"...Making a laminate stock..." You should probably re-think the whole idea. Laminated stocks, like plywood, are made of layers of veneer, alternately placed perpendicularly, then is glued together under pressure. The key being 'under pressure'. Neither is just glued together.
However, as a 'keep you out of trouble' project, it doesn't matter what kind of wood is inside. Hardwood is prefered, of course.
However, as a 'keep you out of trouble' project, it doesn't matter what kind of wood is inside. Hardwood is prefered, of course.
Baltic birch plywood, as sold by Home Depot, works well. There have been threads here detailing projects using this material. The stock I made for a Neilsen actionned .308 target rifle worked out well. If you plan your laminations, much of the inletting can be roughed out with a saw before the pieces are glued up. I have a salvaged R700 long action, and a sleeve for it. Flat bottomed, flat sided. Plan to make a stock from the BB. Haven't decided on caliber yet; have two bolts, on '06 faced, the other belted magnum. A .300Mag would be interesting.
The regular "birch" or "maple" plywood with the thicker inner layers uses regular softwood for the inner layers. Only the imported baltic birch uses birch veneers all the way through. And even then you need to check on it. If the inner layers are thinner than the face veneers then it's very likely that it's not hardwood all the way through.
If you look at a proper laminated stock you'll see that the layers are all running more or less the same way other than a slight bias angle. Laminate stocks are NOT your basic plywood. Making a stock from baltic birch plywood is going to give you something more along the line of an SKS or SVT laminate stock. They are made from your basic 90 degree cross ply material such as that imported baltic birch.
The big problem with making a stock from even the good plywood is that half the laminations are going the wrong way. So you're a little limited in terms of how stiff and strong it'll come out compared to a solid hunk o' wood or a proper laminated stock.
If you look at a proper laminated stock you'll see that the layers are all running more or less the same way other than a slight bias angle. Laminate stocks are NOT your basic plywood. Making a stock from baltic birch plywood is going to give you something more along the line of an SKS or SVT laminate stock. They are made from your basic 90 degree cross ply material such as that imported baltic birch.
The big problem with making a stock from even the good plywood is that half the laminations are going the wrong way. So you're a little limited in terms of how stiff and strong it'll come out compared to a solid hunk o' wood or a proper laminated stock.
X2 plus actual laminate blanks aren't that expensive.
@Al Flipo Yea, I have some of that maple stuff. I was thinking about it and As I‘m probably going to give it a shot. I guess I‘ll use a chisel to do the preinletting. It‘s pretty thick.
@tiriaq The local Home Depot doesn‘t seem to carry this baltic birch unless I‘m missing something.
As for the general consensus, yes I‘m aware that it‘s not going to be strong as proper laminations, solid stock of wood, the “grains“ run perpendicular to each other and getting a blank, laminate or otherwise, is not relatively expensive. I probably should be more clear on what I‘m trying to do but I didn‘t want to bore with details. Basically I‘m trying to find a local source instead of relying on shipping all the time & with my limited set of power tools, I plan to do this project mostly by hand. I‘m not necassarily expecting a masterpiece as it‘s for my Mossberg 702 & more to hone my skills. The easy route would be get a blank & borrow a friends workshop, but I‘m not at that point of investment yet.
@tiriaq The local Home Depot doesn‘t seem to carry this baltic birch unless I‘m missing something.
As for the general consensus, yes I‘m aware that it‘s not going to be strong as proper laminations, solid stock of wood, the “grains“ run perpendicular to each other and getting a blank, laminate or otherwise, is not relatively expensive. I probably should be more clear on what I‘m trying to do but I didn‘t want to bore with details. Basically I‘m trying to find a local source instead of relying on shipping all the time & with my limited set of power tools, I plan to do this project mostly by hand. I‘m not necassarily expecting a masterpiece as it‘s for my Mossberg 702 & more to hone my skills. The easy route would be get a blank & borrow a friends workshop, but I‘m not at that point of investment yet.
Glue three planks of maple together if necessary, your 4" angle disc grinder is your friend, use a 4 1/2" grinding disc - 16 course grit and you can rough out the stock very close to the final external dimensions.
phone around to all the local plywood places some one will have Baltic birch plywood .
I'd be tempted to use an epoxy to glue the layers together....
Pros: Waterproof, structural capabilities, lots of collective experience with it.
Cons: Potentially expensive (the good stuff can be), potentially hazardous to your health (read and follow the health & safety warnings....)
Stan
Pros: Waterproof, structural capabilities, lots of collective experience with it.
Cons: Potentially expensive (the good stuff can be), potentially hazardous to your health (read and follow the health & safety warnings....)
Stan
You can buy a blank from Boyds for $40 in the colour you want. Not worth messing around with a sheet of plywood. Of course it will be $100 by the time it is shipped. Still it is a pretty good deal but the blanks are not really big enough for target stocks as they are only 2 1/4 inches wide.
Try Prophet River, they are a site sponsor and can get some very nice blanks!
Canadian_Zuk
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Pickering, Ontario
Very nice and very spendy!
The Baltic birch comes in different ply thicknesses and ply numbers. I had a student laminate a long board out of the 3/8th in 4 ply stuff and it turned out really good. You need to use tons on clamps or make a press out of lumber and use bolts to clamp it down. We looked into alot of glue up methods and the best combination of value and quality we could find was to use a slow drying wood glue. The slow drying is really good cause it gives you time to glue up withough creating voids.
If you're keen on trying the birch ply laminated idea then here's a source for the "good stuff".
http://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/wppages/finnishbirch.php
You'll likely want to use a CAD program to figure out the cut sizes to obtain a preformed "stepped" bedding to work with.
I've not seen anything like this aircraft ply in any of my regular wood suppliers. And the stuff they sell as "baltic birch" often isn't. Note the number of plies in the aircraft plywood. This is the REAL thing with ALL plies of actual birch. Far too often the other stuff that has thinner birch face plies and thicker inner plies uses fir, spruce or poplar as the inner plies. And those are totally unsuitable for what you're wanting to do.
I found a place that sells veneer here in Canada. But the cheapest veneer they have is still $1.25/sq ft. That would make it VERY pricey to build up your own laminated stock.
http://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/wppages/finnishbirch.php
You'll likely want to use a CAD program to figure out the cut sizes to obtain a preformed "stepped" bedding to work with.
I've not seen anything like this aircraft ply in any of my regular wood suppliers. And the stuff they sell as "baltic birch" often isn't. Note the number of plies in the aircraft plywood. This is the REAL thing with ALL plies of actual birch. Far too often the other stuff that has thinner birch face plies and thicker inner plies uses fir, spruce or poplar as the inner plies. And those are totally unsuitable for what you're wanting to do.
I found a place that sells veneer here in Canada. But the cheapest veneer they have is still $1.25/sq ft. That would make it VERY pricey to build up your own laminated stock.
