Traditions Kentucky build

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shooterm

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Jus wondering if anyone here has any experience with this kit I am near the finish line with mine down to sanding then staining.

I drilled the holes for the pins which wasn't to bad not sure how long it will stay tight as the holes are not as tight as i would like. However the directions say to sand down to flush, if I do that I won't have much wood left the pins are a bit longer then the width of the barrel. unless I got to short of pins?
I can see I will need punch to put this in and out for now on which I would bet at some point I am going to damage the wood and my finish or the pins become loose over time.
Any advice?
 
Some carpenters or gorilla glue may work. I have to built this particular rifle before but when repairing wood stocks with brass pins I have generally drilled a hole small enough that I had to tap the pin in lightly with a brass hammer. I have only used clear glue so far mixed with the wood shavings removed from drilling the stock. One the pin is set and everything is dried then a light file can be done on the surface of the exposed pin to reach some level of flushness. Lastly if the pins are to be placed in the stock without the action a old trick would be to swell the stock with a bit of water then insert the pins and as it dries the stock pins will be tight as can be. I did this to replace the front barrel band spring on a mosin nagant that I broke. Got the stock wet which expanded the wood fibres, the small piece remaining was easily removed, and with some glue I put in the new one and let the stock dry so as not to warp. Good luck, I have considered one of these builds only wondering about the quality of fitting of the materials provided in the Kentucky kit.
 
shooterm said:
Jus wondering if anyone here has any experience with this kit I am near the finish line with mine down to sanding then staining.

I drilled the holes for the pins which wasn't to bad not sure how long it will stay tight as the holes are not as tight as i would like. However the directions say to sand down to flush, if I do that I won't have much wood left the pins are a bit longer then the width of the barrel. unless I got to short of pins?
I can see I will need punch to put this in and out for now on which I would bet at some point I am going to damage the wood and my finish or the pins become loose over time.
Any advice?
Click to expand...

the stock will swell a bit when you stain it anyway ~ as Philhut says 'swell it a bit' - finish the gun off and if the pins are still an issue then address them (they can wait ;) )

- the pins do not need to be flush with the stock, I find it looks better if you don't see the pins anyway. cut them shorter than the stock - or flush, it's your gun ;)
- to prevent them from blowing the wood out:
--> always clear the holes with the same size (drill) bit as the hole itself before removing the pins
--> taper (slightly) the ends of the pins
--> always drive them in from one side and out from the other. (traditionally in from the right, out from the left)
--> polish the pins, use drill rod, drill bits or tool steel ...
--> once stained & finished you can use some extra thin CA glue (any hobby shop) - a little drop in each hole. clear with a drill bit when cured.
--> if the pins are still loose make new ones, find letter or number sized drills just slightly larger than the loose ones & use those.

If the pins are still loose, you may have to replace the lugs and re-drill (you can use the same holes in the stock)
In that situation when you go to drill the new holes, use a bit of overpressure when clamping the barrel to the stock, not enough to ding up or dent the stock, just enough to compress it a bit. then drill. when the clamp is removed the holes will be ever so slightly out of alignment - you will have to squeeze the barrel and stock in your hand to get the pins in (this is where a slight taper helps as well) That being said - the quality of the hole is directly related to the quality of the tool making it - drill bits from the hardware (Crappy Tire) are rarely particularly straight or round - they almost always make over sized holes... fine for general purpose, but if you want some precision buy some cobalt (tipped) jobber drills from KBC the size you need will be around $3/$4 each may as well get some of the same sized drill rod while you are there ;) for drilling into metal you want a 135^ split point.


https://www.kbctools.ca/CatSearch/8...int Angle","Drill Point Angle","135° Split"]]

I like the 'Precision Twist Drill" brand - have not used the KBC brand.
 
Thanks
I have considered one of these builds only wondering about the quality of fitting of the materials provided in the Kentucky kit.
Drilling and tapping were the biggest worry of this kit, other then that the kit was pretty good with minor wood removal adjustments so the trigger would work propperly. It was also missing in the kit the tennons so had to get a hold of traditions they sent me 2 within a week.

The pins are tight going into the wood but the holes in the tennons aren't. when first drilled, the pins wouldn't go in the tennons so carefully made them a bit bigger. In doing so i made the holes a little to big. the drill bits sound like a good idea for down the road.
If I sanded the wood down to the tendons then there would be to much wood gone. So I will leave as is but will need to get s smaller punch in oder to remove pins when cleaning.

Now on to the staining and polishing, any tips?
 
shooterm said:
Thanks
I have considered one of these builds only wondering about the quality of fitting of the materials provided in the Kentucky kit.
Drilling and tapping were the biggest worry of this kit, other then that the kit was pretty good with minor wood removal adjustments so the trigger would work propperly. It was also missing in the kit the tennons so had to get a hold of traditions they sent me 2 within a week.

The pins are tight going into the wood but the holes in the tennons aren't. when first drilled, the pins wouldn't go in the tennons so carefully made them a bit bigger. In doing so i made the holes a little to big. the drill bits sound like a good idea for down the road.
If I sanded the wood down to the tendons then there would be to much wood gone. So I will leave as is but will need to get s smaller punch in oder to remove pins when cleaning.
Click to expand...

tapering the pins would have helped a lot on your initial try - good to know the tenons/lugs are easily available - you could make some fairly quickly but probably easier to wait. :)



shooterm said:
Now on to the staining and polishing, any tips?
Click to expand...

not really ... same as any other finishing job, it will only be as good as your sanding & prep. stain covers and hides grain, dye does not - I like dyes :)
 
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