Stock building info?

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TrxR

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I was wondering what glue is recommended for putting the stock blank together? Also wondering what woods I should consider and which I should stay away from? When laminating ny material is there anything I should consider as far as grain direction goes? Looking for something with a nice grain but can't be too heavy as it is going to be for a F/TR rifle.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

I use gorilla water proof wood glue , walnut and maple make a nice combo. you need a good plainer and lots of clamps.
 
Unless you're doing something decorative like FLSTFO2 has shown why do you think you need to laminate anything? Many stocks are cut from one solid piece of wood.

Will the stock you want to make be painted or will it be clear finished? For some snazzy custom car look paint job just working with a good solid wood with very virtually no grain is nice as a base. Maple or Birch are good options for that direction.

For a clear finish that shows off the wood the sky is the limit. Just about the only wood I'd avoid is regular red oak. It tends towards being brittle and splitting a little too easily.

If you want to do a laminated veneer stock then you'll want to find a source of somewhat thicker maple or birch veneer. This isn't something you can make with your planer. Or if you want to go laminated but work with your wood then you'll want a good bandsaw to slice your own thick veneer and then plane it down to around 1/8 thick. With wood that thick forget about dyed veneer as the dye won't penetrate to the middle of the wood. Stick with contrasting colours like black walnut and a whiter wood or something redder like proper true mahogany.

There's lots of woods we can use that have flashy grains such as zebrawood, which isn't that pricey these days. But you don't want to use such woods in a laminated stock since you're covering up most of the attractive face grain with the next layer.

If you're doing a laminated veneer stock blank you want to alter the grain direction to point up about then down by 10 to 15 degrees so you get a semi stabilizing plywood like support for the layers. But with the 20 to 30 degree variation instead of 90 degrees you're focusing on the important axial loads and stability.
 
I was thinking of doing something like the one above using light and dark wood but haven't made up my mind. Also finding some thing thick enough to do it one piece isn't that easy. It will be lightly stained of cleared but not painted.

Thanks
 
TrxR there is a place in moncton that sells hrdwood called London lumber I have picked up some nice wood there a few times .
There is also a place in Halifax that sell exotic hardwoods but dont remember the name of the place but I'm sure someone here might.

If you do buy a chunk of wood try and get it quarter sawn it will be more stable and the grain will be much nicer than flat sawn .
 
If you have a bandsaw and jointer to go with the planer (or a jig for the planer to help replace the jointer), then as mentioned, you can do whatever you like. In addition to the regular retail sources other people mentioned, you could check woodworking forums for local sawyers who might offer better prices and have some neat stock. I'm on the other side of the country from you, but I picked up a variety of wood from a local guy, including this wonderful piece of walnut. I love the purple colouring in the wood which has been revealed only after jointing it. In this particular case, you can see how you'd want a bandsaw if you didn't want that light sapwood in your project.

walnut-Copy_zps11cbd85a.jpg


There are lots of treasures out there. I hope you find them. :)
 
Oh Ive got a nice big old Rockwell band-saw as well as a good jointer actually 2 jointer a small 6 inch and a 10 inch I think. My father was a carpenter and cabinet maker for years. He is going to help with the project but has never done anything like a stock before so I am looking for all the advise i can get .

Thanks
 
Nice! A great father-son project too. :) Use a decent outdoor glue (I'm a Titebond III fan) and offset the laminations (if desired) as BCRider mentioned and you'll be good to go.

Only last requirement is to post pics when you are done. :)
 
TrxR said:
Oh Ive got a nice big old Rockwell band-saw as well as a good jointer actually 2 jointer a small 6 inch and a 10 inch I think. My father was a carpenter and cabinet maker for years. He is going to help with the project but has never done anything like a stock before so I am looking for all the advise i can get .

Thanks
Click to expand...

You have the best "tool" available in your father the cabinet maker... and that's not meant in to be funny or derogatory. I built a laminate stock last winter, and one the previous winter: The latest was an alternating laminate of American Beech and Butternut. The first was laminated solely from the Beech. I started a thread a couple months back about the build "diary" with pictures and the Butternut stock is lighter than the beech, and the woods are a large contrast, beech being a light - light brown and Butternut being almost as dark brown as Black Walnut... if that's the contrast you desire. If you are willing to sacrifice the bump resistance of the hard Beech, you could substitute that for Basswood, a very soft and light coloured wood - not the prettiest grain or strongest, but it would result in massive weight savings (and easy to work with).
The wood grains in my laminates run parallel: I saw no need to angle alternate boards given the size of the stocks, and diminuitive calibers they serve under (222rem, and 6.5X55)

A note on availability: Butternut has made the endangered species list in Ontario anyway, but I don't know about New Brunswick. Apparently, the limit of governmental reason is, mosquitos can't survive at the north pole so they must be protected. Anyway, because I live at the northern extent of it's range, and it therefore does not thrive here my pre ban supply of Butternut is limited. However, they thrive in New York state, and quite likely around your locality so it would be a viable option.

I've used both conventional wood glue (Gorilla manufacture) and the translucent, foaming adhesive offering from Gorilla: The latter is stronger and water proof, but both the butts of my laminated stocks experienced a temporary dunk of about an hour and a half with no noticeable adversity resulting. Regardless, I am for some reason pre-disposed to using the more expensive latter glue, not that having to club a particularly thick skulled baby seal, or recoil would ever be sufficient to loose the bonds of the former.

Enjoy the experience!
 


some pic's of my latest . 12 coats of clear. I got the walnut from the west coast and even though it was kiln dried it took a month to settle down. I think the most important part of the stock is the trigger placement so before you inlet the action make sure its in the right spot for you. I use a shaper blade on the table saw to cut the barrel and action channel, give yourself at least 1/8th under and a 16th on each side of the action for the bedding. hope this helps.
 
TrxR, you need to break away from the main street commercial lumber suppliers and go looking for the small guys out in the country that cater to the serious hobbyists and smaller commercial shops. It's those sort of places where you get both variety and reasonable cost.
 
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