Fabricating rifle stocks
- Thread starter Khalnath
- Start date
Man, I used to build fibreglass boats for a living, and dabbled in some other stuff for ####s and giggles, it is NOT as cheap and easy as it looks.
How do you want the stock to look in the end? what are you after that you think 'glass will provide?
You could do as others have suggested and mock up the stock to fit you, then lay some carbon fiber mat overtop(which is hella expensive BTW), or paint it. Regular glass will not provide you with a signifigant weight savings over wood. It will probably weigh more. Not to mention the cost in time, labor and material, a lot of which will be wasted as you build experience.
Hope this helps, just my .02 ducats.
How do you want the stock to look in the end? what are you after that you think 'glass will provide?
You could do as others have suggested and mock up the stock to fit you, then lay some carbon fiber mat overtop(which is hella expensive BTW), or paint it. Regular glass will not provide you with a signifigant weight savings over wood. It will probably weigh more. Not to mention the cost in time, labor and material, a lot of which will be wasted as you build experience.
Hope this helps, just my .02 ducats.
It's not a question of weight. I've shot both fibreglass and wood stocks, and I just like the feel better. They feel more solid.
It's likely I may give up on this project ONCE SOMEONE TELLS ME WHAT I NEED TO DO. So I guess I'm waiting for Colin's pamphlet to show up.
It's likely I may give up on this project ONCE SOMEONE TELLS ME WHAT I NEED TO DO. So I guess I'm waiting for Colin's pamphlet to show up.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Take orig stock and build up to fit you. Shape the way you want the fiberglass stock to look. Exterior finish to the quality you want the FG stock to look (or at least before you finish).
Make a holding tray so that the stock fits 1/2 way when lying on its side. You will need to cut out the silhouette of the stock out of the tray. Use arborite as the tray top as it is nice and smooth and allows for easy mold separation.
With the stock will supported in this tray, seal the gaps around the stock with clay. You want this to be sealed and flush. Apply mold release. Apply gel coat over the stock and 2" around the perimeter. Let it set up.
Start layering cloth and build up about 10 layers of mat and cloth (heavy). You are building the female mold half and you want this to be very rigid. You can glass in strips of wood on top and along the flange to help with rigidity. Extend about 1 to 2" beyond stock to form a flange.
Once all is cured. Pop the mold off the tray while still attached to the stock. Clean off all that clay.
Flip over, support mold side down, apply mold release, repeat above on the exposed side. Let cure, drill indexing holes around the perimeter. Pop halves apart, clean edges. You now have a female mold set for your stock.
Support halves, lay up cloth, either let cure and trim or reassemble halves when things tack up. Lay tape in the seam. Build in the action area, inlet, finish stock.
Big work for a one off...
Jerry
Make a holding tray so that the stock fits 1/2 way when lying on its side. You will need to cut out the silhouette of the stock out of the tray. Use arborite as the tray top as it is nice and smooth and allows for easy mold separation.
With the stock will supported in this tray, seal the gaps around the stock with clay. You want this to be sealed and flush. Apply mold release. Apply gel coat over the stock and 2" around the perimeter. Let it set up.
Start layering cloth and build up about 10 layers of mat and cloth (heavy). You are building the female mold half and you want this to be very rigid. You can glass in strips of wood on top and along the flange to help with rigidity. Extend about 1 to 2" beyond stock to form a flange.
Once all is cured. Pop the mold off the tray while still attached to the stock. Clean off all that clay.
Flip over, support mold side down, apply mold release, repeat above on the exposed side. Let cure, drill indexing holes around the perimeter. Pop halves apart, clean edges. You now have a female mold set for your stock.
Support halves, lay up cloth, either let cure and trim or reassemble halves when things tack up. Lay tape in the seam. Build in the action area, inlet, finish stock.
Big work for a one off...
Jerry
Okay, yeah, that does sound like a lot of work.
Once you have a mold, how hard is it to cast a stock? I take it then that you can't really mold in the inletting?
It sounds like the fibreglass end of thing is pretty much covered. Since it sounds like I'm going to need to build up the original stock one way or the other, what kind of methods do you all recommend for that?
Once you have a mold, how hard is it to cast a stock? I take it then that you can't really mold in the inletting?
It sounds like the fibreglass end of thing is pretty much covered. Since it sounds like I'm going to need to build up the original stock one way or the other, what kind of methods do you all recommend for that?
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Mould release (Canajan spellin' eh?)
Although I haven't tried it, I keep seeing postings on the Interweb that Pam cooking spray is a good mould release. And there is more Pam in circulation than Brownells's blue mold (US spelling) release goop.
Although I haven't tried it, I keep seeing postings on the Interweb that Pam cooking spray is a good mould release. And there is more Pam in circulation than Brownells's blue mold (US spelling) release goop.
