Steaming a stock

[JGD88]

Hi all,

I am in the process of building one of IMA's Bess kits. The stock is unfortunately bowed upwards down the barrel channel like a banana (not that extreme, but the bend leaves around a 2in gap from surface to surface on the barrel channel).

I have been reading up on the best thing to do about it and it seems to be steaming it straight or soaking it and clamping it straight to dry. I've read a few things online, one says to soak it in close-to-boiling water for 1 to 3 hours then clamp, another idea was to create a steam box with foil and a tray of water with candles under it (do you do this whilst clamped, or steam it and then clamp?) and a third idea was use ammonia...

The trouble is, when searing for 'how to' all I get it videos and tutorials on steaming a shotgun stock or remove dents. Does anyone have any info on how best to do it? Clearly this is my first time, hence asking.

Thank you very much in advance!

James

 

[erhunter]

I tried the steaming method on a Chambers' Early York that was twisted 2 ways till the muzzle and it didn't work for me.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Send the stock back & request one that isn't bent. You've already wasted enough time. Don't make it worse. Even if you get it "straight" it will return to the "bent" position anyway.

 

[4575wcf]

If you've got to move the stock, use dry heat. I learned the trick from a musical instrument maker. I corrected a fore end one time by clamping it in position and placing it on top of our wood stove spaced off a bit until it took a set.. Does not take as much heat, or as long as you would think. Introducing steam can cause the fibers to swell, the grain to whisker and generally can add a lot of problems and work you don't need. I believe first I would try clamping the barrel in the channel and then applying dry heat with a hot air gun.

 

[dave_person]

Hi James,
Don't do anything right away with steaming or heating. Just clamp the barrel in place in the stock for a week or so and that may straighten it out. I've been battling the same issue this summer probably because of the unusually high humidity in the Northeast this year. I had a Kibler kit stock warp pretty badly and an English walnut blank with the barrel inlet but clamping the barrels in place solved the problems.

dave

 

[muzzlejrt]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I wish I could send it back but I'm based in Europe and shipping back to IMA to have another one sent over wouldn't be cheap... I've contacted IMA anyway to ask if they have a 'way to fix it' they can think of.

I have inletted the breech and tang to near-perfection so I am going to try 2 things, first I will try just clamping the barrel in with some zipties and a few joinery clamps for a week. If that doesn't work, I will hit it with the heat gun, then I've tried the best of both worlds. If that doesn't work then I'm not sure what to do. I will see how this goes and keep my fingers crossed.

Maybe I'll get lucky and IMA will send me another stock, but I won't hold my breath...

 

[FlinterNick]

Unfortunately those IMA stocks are some type of exotic wood that is very Closely grained, steaming it will likely only send it back to its original position when it dries.

I’d ask IMA for another stock as they supply them for these kits.

Atlanta Cutlery also has a stock you can use.

The only time steam a stock is to open up the grain for staining, but i’ve only done it for beech and birch.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Here is my way of fixing such a problem;

I use a heat gun and a propane torch, first I heat the barrel with my torch to the point that I can barely touch it for a couple of seconds and put it in the barrel channel. Next I heat the surrounding wood with a heat gun to the same barely can touch temperature, the wood will move fairly easily, I use zip ties to pull everything together while I continue to apply heat from my heat gun. After I zip tie the barrel to the stock I wrap old tee shirts around the whole barrel and fore end to hold the heat. You should have a perfect fit when everything cools off.

Be sure to keep your heat gun moving constantly or you will burn the stock.

 

[TFoley]

Yup, moving the heat gun is a great idea to stress. I left a pal doing just this with the bent stock of a K31 [sorry, Mods] that had obviously been at the bottom of the pile.

When I called in a few hours later he was watching TV, but looked up long enough to ask me where he could find a new stock, as the one he had been working had unaccountably burst into flames...

 

[springfield art]

Send the stock back & request one that isn't bent. You've already wasted enough time. Don't make it worse. Even if you get it "straight" it will return to the "bent" position anyway.

Probably good advice!

 

[user 34300]

Once you cut on it you own it.

 

[JGD88]

I've just realised I'm posting from 2 accounts.... Looks like my phone has logged me into an old account.... So I have an alter ego, 'muzzlejrt'

I currently have rubber bands pulling it all together. I'm going to leave it like this until this time next week and then take another look and see what state it is in...

I've opened the dialogue with IMA and they've asked for pictures. I'll see how that pans out but next step is this time next week I'll be attacking it with a heat gun

 

[Eric Krewson]

I should add I did the above on a TN rifle precarve that had a 30 degree downward dogleg in the fore stock. Using the above technique everything pulled back into place easily and stayed there.

 

[JGD88]

I'm tempted to just go pull the rubber bands off and do this straight away... But I'll give them a chance. Patience is a virtue! I know it'll end with a heat gun eventually though

 

[4575wcf]

Well I don't know at all about the propane torch. I've burned several unintentional holes in heat shrink plastic with the propane torch, but I have also seen water well guys that could heat shrink electrical connectors hip deep in a trench with propane and get them perfect. I guess it is all in your skill level with the torch and keeping it moving. Personally I use boiling water to heat the flex pipe and hot air to heat the shrink wrap, and leave the propane torch to the pros. Ditto for stock work. I do like Eric Krewson's idea about heating the barrel, the wood, and wrapping to hold the heat in for a long duration and a slow cool. I think that method offers the best improvements about what we have been discussing, and it will be my next attempt when the time comes.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The torch is for the barrel heating, I wouldn't put it near a piece of stock wood if someone held a gun to my head.

I have done thousands of bends on bow staves with a heat gun, the only ones I scorched were when my mind drifted off and I quit paying attention like I should have been.

I believe I could put cast off in a stock easily with my set-up but I haven't tried to do so, yet.

I use stuff like this, a 5 gal bucked with 25# of lead in it, a pipe wrench and my heat gun., in this case to remove propeller twist from a piece of wood.

 

[Eterry]

After I had fully inlet the barrel on my early Lancaster I pulled the barrel, set the stock aside then stopped for the day.
Things fell apart at work and it was several days before I got back in the shop.

The stock had started to bend, a lot like you described. Of course I panicked, but Ken said to put the barrel back in the stock and clamp it in the bench vise with clamps holding the wood to the barrel.
A few days later it was good as new, and a lesson learned by me.

 

[Pete G]

Long rifles and urgency do not mix well.

 

[JGD88]

It has been in the cupboard since my last post with rubber bands around it. I just took them off to see how it is doing and there is a slight bit of spring in it, but it has pulled back up to the barrel. I put the bands back on and will take them off again on Monday.

I will then leave them off for 2 or 3 days, with the barrel in the channel, and see what it does. If it starts to bend up again then the heat gun is going on it!

 

[Vaino]

Steamed a precarve that had the muzzle end warped and twisted for approx. 14" so soaked that end in hot water overnight and then put the waxed bbl in and heated w/ a heat gun. Then the bbl/stock was very tightly wrapped w/ surgical tubing. Let it sit for 5 days so it dried out and then removed the surgical tubing. It was straight and not twisted!

Of course the sides were very thin {nearly finished size} and the web was 5/32". When working on the build, took the bbl out a few times and the stock was still straight and not twisted.

Actually, warping and twisting is more common w/ precarves....never had a stock made from a blank do this and these were the majority of my builds......Fred