First blank build

[StarnesRowan]

I am starting my first build from a blank what are some pointers you have for the overall experience

 

[Col. Batguano]

Have you built from kits or pre-carves before?

 

[user 34300]

Stick a piece of while paper to the side of the board. Draw an exact blueprint on the paper. Build a square gun. Shape the stock. I find that working from a board is less frustrating than precarve. It is more methodical. I like that.

Most precarves I have used had mistakes built in that that were unacceptable to me. I expect any gun I make to be straight and have zero inletting errors. Many precarves are messed up and make that impossible to achieve. Many hobby builders are happy to make a shootable gun. Most precarves are fine for that.

 

[StarnesRowan]

Have you built from kits or pre-carves before?

yes a chambers kit and a pecatonica

 

[Dave Dworshak]

Blanks are more fun. Finding the wood is the hard part.

 

[Sean E Bug]

the absolute hardest part is to slow down and do the task at hand as correct as you can manage.

 

[oldwood]

Item # 1 is , run the band sawed blank blank through a planer to make the sides flat and even , one side to the other. Draw center lines top and bottom , allowing for any desired cast on , or off in the butt. Draw the barrel position on the top of the forearm , and inlet. Draw lines on the butt stock to emulate the drop and shape of the butt. Measure back toward the butt end of the rifle from the breech end of the barrel , about 3 1/2 inches , and mark this spot. This will be the approximate position of the sear arm in the lock mortise. From this spot , the approx. position of the trigger can be estimated. From the front of the trigger position , the butt plate position can be drawn onto the blank using the Length of pull determined from measuring yourself. ............Are we having fun yet??? Don't cut the position of the butt plate until the lock is installed once you've located the touch hole on the side of the barrel in relation to the breech plug face.. ..........Have any regrets yet? We haven't even thought about all the stuff needing done on the forearm yet. R/R channel and drilling the r/r hole , etc.. I've done this entire process many times , and it might be good to have a knowledgeable person to help . Most of the self help books have this process written , and with drawings. Dixon's book , The Art of Building , The Pa. Longrifle ,has a good step by step instruction , with drawings , on how to build from a blank. The reason I like this book , is that it doesn't have you wasting time , making jigs and fittings to do simple operations , any good wood worker should know how to accomplish. The almost 1" thick instruction book is well worth the about $25 + postage. Good luck on your build. I don't build from a board/blank any more , but it used to take me 40+ hours , To do the above steps. A band saw is a must to maintain accuracy in removing the volume of wood , when working from a blank. I wish you well ................oldwood

 

[Mulemauler]

With even the best kits you are pretty much limited in design, with one from a plank you can do whatever you want. Oldwood gives some good advice. Just be sure you have a good idea of what the finished rifle will look like and don't try to make changes on the fly.

 

[rich pierce]

Keep things square while inletting everything. I mean 90 degrees.

 

[StarnesRowan]

Item # 1 is , run the band sawed blank blank through a planer to make the sides flat and even , one side to the other. Draw center lines top and bottom , allowing for any desired cast on , or off in the butt. Draw the barrel position on the top of the forearm , and inlet. Draw lines on the butt stock to emulate the drop and shape of the butt. Measure back toward the butt end of the rifle from the breech end of the barrel , about 3 1/2 inches , and mark this spot. This will be the approximate position of the sear arm in the lock mortise. From this spot , the approx. position of the trigger can be estimated. From the front of the trigger position , the butt plate position can be drawn onto the blank using the Length of pull determined from measuring yourself. ............Are we having fun yet??? Don't cut the position of the butt plate until the lock is installed once you've located the touch hole on the side of the barrel in relation to the breech plug face.. ..........Have any regrets yet? We haven't even thought about all the stuff needing done on the forearm yet. R/R channel and drilling the r/r hole , etc.. I've done this entire process many times , and it might be good to have a knowledgeable person to help . Most of the self help books have this process written , and with drawings. Dixon's book , The Art of Building , The Pa. Longrifle ,has a good step by step instruction , with drawings , on how to build from a blank. The reason I like this book , is that it doesn't have you wasting time , making jigs and fittings to do simple operations , any good wood worker should know how to accomplish. The almost 1" thick instruction book is well worth the about $25 + postage. Good luck on your build. I don't build from a board/blank any more , but it used to take me 40+ hours , To do the above steps. A band saw is a must to maintain accuracy in removing the volume of wood , when working from a blank. I wish you well ................oldwood

I will have the barrel and ramrod already done thank God

 

[oldwood]

StarnsR........I'm excited you had the barrel channel , and r/r stuff done. This means you can really git er done on the rest. It's all fun. At 76 , I still get excited to build a long rifle. Hopefully , if everyone around here stays well , and I can round up a fresh road kill deer ,so I don't have to go out in the cold and hunt , I have a walnut stock smooth bore .555 cal. long rifle leaning against the bench , waiting for my return to the shop. I gotta see for myself if it's true , that at 50 yds , smooth bore's group as well as rifled. It's a good project to expand my knowledge. ............oldwood

 

[billraby]

Why does everyone think the barrel channel and ramrod hole is a hard part?

 

[Cruzatte]

Why does everyone think the barrel channel and ramrod hole is a hard part?

The barrel channel maybe not so much. But the ramrod channel on a fusil with a barrel longer than 48" is going to make it tough to find a drill bit that long. And here I'm admitting that I don't know how to make one in my meagre shop. My guess is that it would take some welding skills I don't have, and some equipment that might be as expensive as the barrel, itself.

 

[billraby]

https://www.drillbitsworld.com/Extra-Length-Drill-Bits-High-Speed-Steel-A60.html
60 inch drill bit, 3/8 inch diameter for about $100. Only tool you need is a drill. That will cover any barrel length you are ever going to use. Its an easy job.

 

[oldwood]

Bill.........My odds of drilling a r/r straight hole at my age is about , 50--50. If you do it often ,your chances improve , but a Nubee doing that operation might get in trouble , and ruin a nice pc. of wood. My huntin' buddy Fred , has a Don Allen five axis m/l gun stock shaping machine ,and when he was cutting stocks , he had about 100 different m/l stock patterns to copy , many from KRA members that allowed Him to copy from their private collections. When he was working , he would drill several r/r holes a day w/o any screw-ups. The D/A shaper would make perfect r/r channels every time , simplifying drilling the hole. I'd just ask the expert to drill the hole. Fred's retired now , and has sold his patterns............oldwood

 

[BadDaditood]

Get a good book like “Recreating the American Longrifle “
Near the beginning is a set of steps that make things easier for rookies. You don’t HAVE to follow them exactly but I found out the hard way when I jumped around.
Step back and check what’s happening often.
Building from a plank is great, all the mistakes are your very own!
My first one took twice as long because I had to build a bunch of jigs, tools, silent partners and holder- upper thingies, those are fun too, and handy later.
Take your time and have fun!!!

 

[Cruzatte]

https://www.drillbitsworld.com/Extra-Length-Drill-Bits-High-Speed-Steel-A60.html
60 inch drill bit, 3/8 inch diameter for about $100. Only tool you need is a drill. That will cover any barrel length you are ever going to use. Its an easy job.

Ah yes! Here's another example of "Gosh! I shouldda known." Got the site bookmarked. Thanks, Bill.

 

[Vaino]

I ink in the pattern and then bandsaw the blank as I rec'd it. Prior to this I usually sent out the blank to Dave Rase for bbl inletting. Once bandsawed, the blank is nearly like a precarve. ...except it still has more wood to be removed. After this, the normal steps are done until a nearly completed rifle is the result.....Fred

 

[StarnesRowan]

I have heard of some people using a angle grinder with a wod carving disk to shape the stock. Is it worth it

 

[Sean E Bug]

it would work but just like a dremel it would not take long to ruin things if you loose focus.