Next one will be blonde...NOW FINISHED !!!

[bobfortier]

Next mark everything, and take the fostner bit to the press drill to remove wood

Punch the center of the hole, adjust depth, and do the hole, next take a bigger bit (3/4) adjust depth, and remove wood

You will end up with this

Next, take some SHARP chisel, and follow the line. You will end up with this. Don't bother going precisely to the line, we'll come back later for this.

Hope you enjoy this step by step stock making !


Edit : You could go with a router and a jig, but personally, I do prefer the hand work. And it takes me less time doing it by hand that building a router jig.

 

[fat tony]

nice work bob, I 'fitted' my # 1 mkIII* buttstock by pounding it in there with a piece of scrap wood, now I have to rig up some sort of slide hammer arrangement to get it off. . .

 

[bobfortier]

More stock making, fitting the action

Ok, more pics. Next step is to do the round groove for the barrel. I draw the barrel shape on the wood, using my center line and by measuring at the tip, center and about where it meet with the action.

Next I measured how deep it needed to be at those 3 points, in reference to the flat bottom of the action, and it is 1/4 at the tip, 5/16 center and 3/8 near the action. I did a small hole to those depth.

Next I took the tablesaw, and I did a 1/4 deep groove on the lenght of the barrel, and I took a carving gouge to remove wood.

So now I have a 1/4 inch deep barrel shape. But I need it to be about 3/8 at the end, so I took the table to 5/16 deep, and I grooved to the hole in the center (5/16 deep)

A bit more carving later, I did the same table saw set-up, but 3/8 deep this time, up to the 3/8 deep hole

 

[bobfortier]

Next I remove a bit more wood near the action, but not much, you can always remove wood later, adding it is harder...

Next I cutted the wood to lenght, just behind the front sight guard. I'll adjust this lenght later when I get my metal pieces. This will allow me to lower the whole action into the wood.

Next I took the fostner bit, and I marked where the magazine will go, and also where the trigger mechanism is in the wood (measured from the king-screw hole all the time)

 

[bobfortier]

Next step is crucial

Ok, now the fun begin. Take a adjustable square, and find the degree of the action. In my case, about 10.5 deg. Then adjust a miter saw, and cut the end of the block or a scrap just to make sure you got the good angle.

I'm good to go

Then measure the distance between the center of the king screw and the beginning of the angle on the original stock, or on the action itself. THE REFERENCE IS THE BOTTOM OF THE RECESS (3/4 deep) and mark with a line. Then cut slowly until you reach the line. This pic is the first cut, I cutted to the line.

Next, insert action, mark wood, cut wood, re-insert action, re-mark wood, remove wood, and repeat. I decided to stop here for today, thing go so well I have the feeling i'm about to make a mistake.

Tomorrow, more fitting of the action, with the use of anti-seize.

 

[Billyboy13]

I'm following this. I'm particularly interested in the buttstock, as I want to make a monte carlo buttstock for my SMLE.

 

[LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1]

This is great, learning a lot!

 

[bobfortier]

This is great, learning a lot!

Let me know if you need more detail !

 

[louthepou]

Holy smokes Bob, beau travail...

Maybe late for this tip but... make sure the butt stock, when going in its socket, is quite tight, even so that you need to pound on it to seat it all the way in.

Lou

 

[joe n]

Just imagine what if bobfortier and louthepou joined forces to combat evil Longbranch bubba'ery?? I am very envious of the talent both of you posess!

 

[bobfortier]

Just imagine what if bobfortier and louthepou joined forces to combat evil Longbranch bubba'ery?? I am very envious of the talent both of you posess!

Wow, being compared to the Great Louthepou, I'll take this as a compliment !

I'm counting the numbers of hours it takes, I might offer my services to build stocks.....thinking about it....

 

[louthepou]

Thanks Joe, but I don't think I deserve much credit, I'm just following instructions that others patiently shared with me (and in some cases, very patiently).

Bob, on the other hand, does know what to do with woodworking tools...

Lou

 

[bobfortier]

Lowering the action into the wood

Now is the longest process of all the job. Since a No 4 is designed to have precise bearing point into the wood, around the king screw and at the muzzle, it is important to mark the progress and even there you can make mistake. I'll even show you how to fix it....

First take the barreled action, and put a coat of anti-seize all over the under side of it. Action, barrel, everywhere

Next you lower the action into the wood, and apply pressure where the king screw is (front of the action), next you remove the action, and look at the wood. Remove gray area with chisel/gouge

Repeat the process until all of the bearing point are gray. But wait, not that fast. I had to make a mistake to show how to fix it

I accidently removed too much wood just around the trigger, so there was a gap at the back of the action, where the wood is cut at an angle

What I did is I took some wood veneer (look at the closest cabinet shop, ask for non-glued edge band) and I glued back 3 layer in each side, which gave me a solid foundation to work again.

 

[bobfortier]

Sorry for the fuzzy pic. here is a pic of the veneer piece I used. (I work in a cabinet shop...)

Also, when pressure is applied, check that the barrel is free floating, except at the muzzle. You can do this with a piece of paper. Remove wood where the paper stops, and try again until it goes all the way.

Here is the result tonight. It is not perfectly and evenly gray, but it is enough for me.

 

[bobfortier]

Fitting trigger guard

Hi

Here is what's next. I emptied where the magazine goes with chisel and a mallet

Next I measured the thickness of the original stock, which is about 2 1/4. I then cutted the blank to 2 1/4 with the table saw. I messed up the hole for the screw, next time I will do do it at first...

Next I market where the trigger guard will go

Next I measured the thickness needed at each end, and I used the press drill to do the hole to the right depth, so I'll have guides.

 

[bobfortier]

Next is some chiseling to lower the trigger guard into the wood. Again, the anti-seize trick to the rescue !

And here I am tonight, the trigger guard is fitted, i tried with the tubular spacer and it does bend a bit, so I'll have a bit more wood to remove.

I hope you find this interesting !

Next will be the hand guards

 

[Kevin M.]

Neat. Following this thread now. Same thing happened to me where I got enough interest, and now I am a dealer. I have my first run coming up soon for CZ-858 wood sets.

Nice work so far. Keep it slow and pro. No need to rush it and make a costly mistake.

 

[macadoodle]

very cool

 

[bobfortier]

Hand guard

Hi all

I began to fit the handguard. As usual, I measured the depth along the barrel, and at the end where the chamber is. I also did a groove with the table saw, and a hole with the fostner bit.

Next I finished the fit of the trigger, now I could shoot it !

Then I marked the handguard ring, and I carefuly removed the wood until I had a tight fit.

Now I got a square Lee Enfield. I'm awaiting some metal parts from Marstar, as soon as I got those I'll keep going.

 

[enefgee]

Amazing, I always find it fascinating to watch skilled craftsmen work. Maybe because I can't cut firewood, never mind anything approaching this?