I'm just getting started on a Kit Carson Hawkins kit from TOW. The escutcheons are already inletted in the forestock and the slots are indicated. I assume that you have to inlet the breech plug and barrel first and then drill out where the slots are indicated to correctly locate the position for the underlug staples. My question is this: How much leeway do you have when positioning the staples with a precarved stock? The slot in the stock determines the location of the staples in the barrel, but what if I am off a few hundreths of an inch? Are the staples maleable enough to move them over? I just don't want to ruin the barrel because I drilled the holes in the wrong place. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Installing staples on precarved stock
- Thread starter bioprof
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Measure the width of the staple slots and the width of the wedges. That is how much tolerance you have.
This is why we keep telling you to measure twice, cut once, swear repeatedly.
Nerve wracking ain't it?
That barrel cost what??? $100, %200, $250
Just think, one slip and you drill all the way through!!!
Yikes!!!! What did I do???
:results:
This is why we keep telling you to measure twice, cut once, swear repeatedly.
Nerve wracking ain't it?
That barrel cost what??? $100, %200, $250
Just think, one slip and you drill all the way through!!!
Yikes!!!! What did I do???
:results:
Sure, get the barrel inlet first. Then use a square to measure down from the barrel flat to mark where you need to drill. Drill from one side to the middle with a small drill with a piece of tape wrapped on it etc limiting how deep you go. You just want to go to the middle of the flat/staple. Remove the barrel and look into the staple inlet to see how it came out. If all is good, do same from other side. Repeat as needed till you have a start then finish up with chisels.
As I read between the lines: I think the staples are installed on the barrel? and the barrel channel has been roughed in?, and you say the Key escutcheons are in place.
First off, the staples are just low carbon steel and easily drilled but your not going to pound them forwards, backwards, or sideways without breaking off the little ends that are in the barrel.
You are right about the process.
First work on the barrel channel to allow the barrel to fit down into the stock like it is supposed to.
Then true up the breech area so the barrel seats nicely against it. Assuming you have a straight barrel, insert it upside (staple side up) and muzzle against the breech support wood. This will allow you to get the wood nice and true to the metal. Try to remove only the wood that's interfering with the muzzle. Coat the muzzle with transfer medium and ram the barrel into the breech shoulder. It will leave traces of itself on the high areas. These are the only areas you should be removing material from.
Only when the breech shoulder is good should you start worrying about the tang, but you will have to inlet it into the wood.
Although the side fit of the wood to the tang should be line to line, it is a good idea to remove extra wood about 1/64 (.015) from the end of the tang. This little gap will not be noticed, and will keep the recoil from the barrel from driving the tang into the back end of the groove.
Failure to provide this little clearance can result in a cracked wrist in the stock.
Of course while your doing this, you will have to cut the slots for the staples if this has not been done for you.
Don't worry too much about this until you get the breech area close to being finished. Then use a transfer medium like candle soot, inleting black or lipstick on the bottom of the staples to let them tell you where they want to live in the bottom of the barrel channel.
The slots you cut for these can be quite a bit longer and a little bit wider than the staples without hurting a thing.
Also, on a Half Stock, try to make the cuts just deep enough to clear the staples. If you break thru into the ramrod hole, it isn't a big deal, but it is nicer if you dont.
When the barrel/tang/breech work is done, then worry about the staples and getting the cross key or pins installed.
That process is a whole new chapter.
:: ::
First off, the staples are just low carbon steel and easily drilled but your not going to pound them forwards, backwards, or sideways without breaking off the little ends that are in the barrel.
You are right about the process.
First work on the barrel channel to allow the barrel to fit down into the stock like it is supposed to.
Then true up the breech area so the barrel seats nicely against it. Assuming you have a straight barrel, insert it upside (staple side up) and muzzle against the breech support wood. This will allow you to get the wood nice and true to the metal. Try to remove only the wood that's interfering with the muzzle. Coat the muzzle with transfer medium and ram the barrel into the breech shoulder. It will leave traces of itself on the high areas. These are the only areas you should be removing material from.
Only when the breech shoulder is good should you start worrying about the tang, but you will have to inlet it into the wood.
Although the side fit of the wood to the tang should be line to line, it is a good idea to remove extra wood about 1/64 (.015) from the end of the tang. This little gap will not be noticed, and will keep the recoil from the barrel from driving the tang into the back end of the groove.
Failure to provide this little clearance can result in a cracked wrist in the stock.
Of course while your doing this, you will have to cut the slots for the staples if this has not been done for you.
Don't worry too much about this until you get the breech area close to being finished. Then use a transfer medium like candle soot, inleting black or lipstick on the bottom of the staples to let them tell you where they want to live in the bottom of the barrel channel.
The slots you cut for these can be quite a bit longer and a little bit wider than the staples without hurting a thing.
Also, on a Half Stock, try to make the cuts just deep enough to clear the staples. If you break thru into the ramrod hole, it isn't a big deal, but it is nicer if you dont.
When the barrel/tang/breech work is done, then worry about the staples and getting the cross key or pins installed.
That process is a whole new chapter.
:: ::
Zonie,
No, the staples aren't installed already in the barrel. I decided to try to do all the work myself this time except I had Mr. Rice install the breech plug. I think I got a super deal from him. I got a 36" 54 cal. 1" barrel for $100 on closeout. He installed the breech plug for an extra ten bucks. The stock is a fancy maple precarved stock that I got for 1/2 price because of a couple of tiny knots in the butt. One of them is so small that it has a bird's eye maple effect. They don't bother me at all because they are just part of the natural wood and add to the beauty. The stock has wide curl over most all of the stock except where the patch box would be. If I wanted a perfect stock, I could have bought one of them plastic things.
That was a good suggestion to put the barrel into the channel backwards to determine where to remove the extra wood at the breech end. I hadn't really thought of doing that before. I can't wait to get started now that it's warm enough to go outside to work. My landlord would probably throw me out if he saw the drill press on my dining room table. :nono:
No, the staples aren't installed already in the barrel. I decided to try to do all the work myself this time except I had Mr. Rice install the breech plug. I think I got a super deal from him. I got a 36" 54 cal. 1" barrel for $100 on closeout. He installed the breech plug for an extra ten bucks. The stock is a fancy maple precarved stock that I got for 1/2 price because of a couple of tiny knots in the butt. One of them is so small that it has a bird's eye maple effect. They don't bother me at all because they are just part of the natural wood and add to the beauty. The stock has wide curl over most all of the stock except where the patch box would be. If I wanted a perfect stock, I could have bought one of them plastic things.
That was a good suggestion to put the barrel into the channel backwards to determine where to remove the extra wood at the breech end. I hadn't really thought of doing that before. I can't wait to get started now that it's warm enough to go outside to work. My landlord would probably throw me out if he saw the drill press on my dining room table. :nono:
Piker! - I had a band saw, bench, drill press, and oxy-actelyne rig in the living room of the first apartment I lived in after college, plus a boatload of aircraft sheet metal tools. Either never got caught, they didn't care, or didn't understand what they were seeing.
Amazingly, carpet damage was minimal, and I fixed it right up with a comb and pocket knife. I had a piece of particle board on the floor in front of the bench - well, guess what, hot steel bounces off particle board.
bioprof: Just some words of warning about drilling the holes for the staples.
The reason the ******* Guns barrel is only about 31 inches long is because I drilled the front staples holes thru the wall into the bore. :curse: :curse: I had to cut off the damaged length.
On a Half Stock, that would be a lot of cutting if you drill thru your barrel so measure 3 times on the drill depth and drill once (per hole).
Better yet, don't trust drill stops on a drill press. A good way to set the depth, whether your hand drilling or using a drill press is to carefully measure the depth on the drill and wrap a strip of masking or adhesive tape around the drill at the correct depth.
Watch the tape carefully when drilling, and when it just touches the barrel flat, stop!!
Had I done that with the ******* Guns barrel, there wouldn't have been a reason to build it, but I'd be $200 richer.
(The ******* Gun, for those who haven't seen it)
Your stock wood sounds like it's going to be something very special when your done!!
The reason the ******* Guns barrel is only about 31 inches long is because I drilled the front staples holes thru the wall into the bore. :curse: :curse: I had to cut off the damaged length.
On a Half Stock, that would be a lot of cutting if you drill thru your barrel so measure 3 times on the drill depth and drill once (per hole).
Better yet, don't trust drill stops on a drill press. A good way to set the depth, whether your hand drilling or using a drill press is to carefully measure the depth on the drill and wrap a strip of masking or adhesive tape around the drill at the correct depth.
Watch the tape carefully when drilling, and when it just touches the barrel flat, stop!!
Had I done that with the ******* Guns barrel, there wouldn't have been a reason to build it, but I'd be $200 richer.
(The ******* Gun, for those who haven't seen it)
Your stock wood sounds like it's going to be something very special when your done!!
Zonie,
I like that idea of putting the duct tape on the drill bit so I don't go too deep. I don't have enough experience with my drill press to trust the drill stop either. Thanks for the advice.
One bright spot in my life is that I have bought a house after losing my first house to divorce. It's in a nice neighborhood with a big fenced back yard, a parkway behind the house, a finished heated garage with two built-in work benches, and a separate shop with a work bench and electricity. Maybe this will turn into a good hobby for when I retire (in about 30 years by the time I pay off my three kid's college bill). Now I have room for that scroll saw, bench grinder, and metal lathe that I'll need for my next project. ::
I like that idea of putting the duct tape on the drill bit so I don't go too deep. I don't have enough experience with my drill press to trust the drill stop either. Thanks for the advice.
One bright spot in my life is that I have bought a house after losing my first house to divorce. It's in a nice neighborhood with a big fenced back yard, a parkway behind the house, a finished heated garage with two built-in work benches, and a separate shop with a work bench and electricity. Maybe this will turn into a good hobby for when I retire (in about 30 years by the time I pay off my three kid's college bill). Now I have room for that scroll saw, bench grinder, and metal lathe that I'll need for my next project. ::
