Buildin' a Stock!

Wally

Wally

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Boyds can do it, Can we?

Just wondering how hard it would be to build your own rifle stock and what tools would be requited to build it?

Lookin at those $800 JDM(?) M14 stocks and thinking that you could make something cool like that your self out of Walnut for next to nothing and get some serious Personal Satisfaction (Added that for all the people who I KNOW are dieing to say :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Just go buy one
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:rolleyes: :rolleyes: )

I'd love to hear from anyone in the know!
 
If it's like a Troy Industries stock you'll need a hobby MIG/GMAW welder and a week of practice for steel parts, and you use aluminum parts you'll need an expensive TIG and more practice.

My Uncle used to teach woodworking at high school, and the tools and experience required to make something like a rifle stock would be extensive.

A project that's within the realm of possibility for a novice, that I've considered, is turning an ordinary wooden stock into having an adjustable cheekpiece.
 
I'm in the know.....and theres a reason I charge $900 ++++ for a nice walnut stock. Labour is expensive!
It's kinda like looking at an oil painting and saying "2K?!? Hell...I could just paint my own and save alot of $$" You are right, you could....if you want to bad enough.

For a stock you need to master carving, shaping, inletting, fitting, and finishing. The reason Boyds and the like can offer cheaper stocks is because unlike my stocks whicha re all a one-off (and therefore the labour is unique to each one) They will spend the 50 hours or so to hand build one, then use that one stock as a model for the duplicator (low-tech) or the CNC (high tech). That way the labour for the initial stock is dilluted through the thousand or more they build.

As far as tools? You could get by with a handsaw, chisels (both carving and straight), and some rasps......life is easier if you add a bandsaw, rotary carver, power sanders and a pin router.

I encourage everyone to give it a try, but practice on easier projects first.

Ryan
 
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It is not that difficult!!!!
If you do some basic wood working them making a stock is not that much of a reach.
Keep it simple, a bandsaw if possible or a jig saw if that`s all you have.
All the shaping can be done with a few wood rasps and files.
Inletting with a crank neck chisel or you can do what I did, wrap a piece of 40 grit paper around a piece of dowel smaller then the dia. of the barrel.
Progress to finer paper and go slow when you get close to the right size.
I inleted first so that if I was slightly off centre I could adjust for it in the final shaping.
Cutting out for the action is done with drill bits to rough in and chisels.
Be patient and take your time it is labour intensive.
I sprayed mine with bedliner but my next attempt will be stained and clear coated so I will have to do some finer sanding.I will probably leave the checkering to a professional or practice on some scraps and see if I can get good enough to do it myself.

Now grab a chunk of wood and give a try.:rockOn:
 
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How about some plastic? Do you know any sites which has a description/some kind of tutorial eg. how to make a fiberglass stock? (I'm planning to buy a Tikka T3, but it's extremely ugly, I would be happy to make my own stock for it.)
 
i've build 2 for myself. the latest is a tactical sytle for my savage.

i have 12 years fine woodworking experience, so a stock wasn't too much to worry about. a router is essential for inletting. you can make jigs to guide the router through the barrel channel and cut the action out. it took me 5 hours to inlet the stock, i roughed out the shape with a band saw then then a belt sander and rasp for 2 more hours to shape. after i pillar bedded i spent 1.5 more hours fine tuning the shape.

the finish on the tactical is spray in truck bed liner. the first one was walnut.

for practice use spruce or pine. its about 1/6th the price of walnut. then when you get confident carve up the $50 walnut block.
 
"...for next to nothing..." That it won't be. Walnut stock blanks aren't cheap and you can't just cut down a tree. The wood needs to be dried for several years.
Blanks start at about $80US and go up from there. You can spend $700US for a really nice piece of English walnut.
"...serious Personal Satisfaction..." That part is dead on. There's nothing like making your own stuff. Built a couple of tents a while back. One of 'em would have cost me about 2 grand U.S. It ended up costing me nearly a grand Cdn.
 
Before you do any carving, get some books on stockmaking and read them carefully. Local libraries can be a good source so if you decide not to go ahead, you're not out the cost of the books.

My list of power tools include a band saw, drill press(with good set of Forsner bits), palm sander, router(for removing excess wood from the action area), Dremel and a electric hand drill.

Hand tools include a cabinet rasp, cabinet file, gouges, sand paper, measuring tools and others I can't think of right now.

Decent, inexpensive black walnut is plentiful and easy to get for $150.00 and up per blank. My last blank was US$175. It was very dry and quarter-sawn.

http://www.gobywalnut.com/
http://www.dressels.com/

In truth though, I find carving from a blank to be a PITA. I much prefer semi-inletted stocks.
 
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dinsdale said:
What about building a foam blank then Fibre glassing over it?
Was toying with this idea for a fun project.
Click to expand...

My first thoughts are that you would have to insert fibreglass rods to give it added strength.
Also use a high density foam and tie the rods into the glass case.
I would also think you would need a solid material block at the receiver inlet so the fibreglass didn`t crack from recoil.
Just a few thoughts.
Hey give it a try and let us know how it works oout.
 
I build all my one-of fiberglass stocks from styrofoam and laminated fiberglass mat/cloth and epoxy resin (poleyester resin will eat the styrofoam).

I get the styrofoam blanks custom cut and do the rough shaping with a hotwire cutter and electric knife, the detailed work is done with rasps and sandpaper. Once the outside dimensions of the stock are where I want them and the rough inletting is done, the stock is layed up with a layer of fiberglass cloth to give it a skeleton. The rest of the inletting is done with heavier layers in the areas around the receiver to make it solid, the exterior is then further built up with laminations of cloth and mat to final shape.
Small imperfections are filled and the stock can then be painted or done with a gel coat.

The same process could be used on a foam block made from expanding foam insulation and can give you the option of using cheaper poleyester resin.
If you lay up the fiberglass properly you don't need any type of metal reinforcements in the stock but can incorperate them if you wish.
 
The best advice I ever heard was "Just remove the wood that looks like it doesn't belong"

A spokeshave for shaping is handy. The biggest skill is sharpening tools.After a couple of semis,I just bought four blanks.
 
Mudpuppy I would be very interested in the stocks you have done could you post some pics and more info on how the inletting stands up to recoil?
I have thought about trying something similar to what you have done but using resin soaked balsa in the action inlet area.
I always thought that area would need some sort of reinforcement, don`t ask why it just seemed logical?
 
i made a stock set for my 1911 :D
a peice of oak pallet and 5 hours later and voila.
i have been thinking about making a rifle stock though.
how thick do you need your peice of wood?
it would be nice if a regular 2x6 would work, but i dont think 1.5" is thick enough.
 
The Hippie said:
i made a stock set for my 1911 :D
a peice of oak pallet and 5 hours later and voila.
i have been thinking about making a rifle stock though.
how thick do you need your peice of wood?
it would be nice if a regular 2x6 would work, but i dont think 1.5" is thick enough.
Click to expand...

Could you not run 2 2x6's through a jointer and biscut/glue them together then clamp and you would have the thickness you would need?
 
hicaliber said:
My first thoughts are that you would have to insert fibreglass rods to give it added strength.
Also use a high density foam and tie the rods into the glass case.
I would also think you would need a solid material block at the receiver inlet so the fibreglass didn`t crack from recoil.
Just a few thoughts.
Hey give it a try and let us know how it works oout.
Click to expand...

Project gun will likely be a Savage 93r17FV so light recoil but I was thinking of a more substantial material for the Action area. Balsa block a possibility. The other thought was a couple of layers of Kevlar for the Action area.
 
This thread turned out a lot better than I thought it would. KEEP GOIN!!

If anyone could post pics of home made stuff that would be FANTASTIC!

Can I guy just go buy a big block of Walnut or Maple and Have at'er or does it HAVE to be a "Blank"?
 
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