Stock Making

[crockett]

I have a cheap muzzleloader, 54 caliber that I want to re-stock, mostly just for the experience. Are there any good books covering stock making from a blank piece of wood?

 

[Bob Gular]

"The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle" by Chuck Dixon, Dave Ehrig, and Dave Miller and "Recreating the American Longrifle" by Buchele, Shumway, and Alexander are two great books on the subject.

 

[Birddog6]

I recommend "Gunsmiths of Grenville County". Get the spiral bound one so it lays flat on the workbench.

 

[crockett]

Thanks, I was thinking that way but I didn't know if they covered making a stock from a blank piece of wood.
BTW- in using a router for the barrel channel and ramrod groove, most folks seem to use a router table and move the stock against a bar. If the stock "bounces around" or the side of the wood blank is bowed or not flat, you could get a bad channel. Does anyone use a bushing on a router and a templete? It seems you could use one for a barrel channel, ramrod groove, and lock plate. Just wondering...

 

[LRB]

Dave, I would not try to discourage you, but unless you want to become a gun builder, I would suggest a blank already routed for the barrel, drilled for the ramrod, and at least shaped in the rough. There is plenty enough other work left to do after fitting the barrel. If either of the fore mentioned proceedures screw up, your blank can end up as just another piece of firewood, or knife handles. I cannot help you with either of those, but would be glad to help with anything else, if you run into problems.

 

[Roy]

BTW- in using a router for the barrel channel and ramrod groove, most folks seem to use a router table and move the stock against a bar. If the stock "bounces around" or the side of the wood blank is bowed or not flat, you could get a bad channel. Does anyone use a bushing on a router and a templete? It seems you could use one for a barrel channel, ramrod groove, and lock plate. Just wondering...

I have never used a table, what I usually ended up doing is making sure that the sides of the blank are square and true with the top. Making a center line and making sure that the router with a guide is running down the center line.

On my last several guns though I haven't bothered with the router at all. Sometimes its easier to just have at it then to go through all of the hassel of set up.

Even when I did use the router I just made a few passes down the center at the depth of the most narrow part of the barrel (swamped) and finished it out taking measurements and using chisels.

 

[crockett]

Thanks to all. I got the wood for about twenty bucks and the gun I want to re-stock is sort of an odd ball but it has a fast twist and shoots pretty good. In any event I want to try to make one from scratch but it is rather daunting- if I do screw up and have to scrap it- well it won't be the first project that fell into that catagory.
I was also thinking about using the router to rough out (undersize) the channel and then finish with chisels. My main concern is how to drill the ramrod hole, where do you get a three foot long drill bit? I may have to dig out a channel like on the cheap kits but I'd rather drill a hole to leave more wood.

 

Crockett, all of the books mentioned above are great references but the simplist step by step instruction I have ever seen is in

Foxfire V

Which you can get free from your local library.

Hershal House (a much younger Hershal House) takes you step by step from stock blank to finished shooter. This was back when he was not using any special tools, just a hand drill, a skill saw, files, rasps and chisels!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

What type of wood did you use? I found a website that sells the lower grage precut maple stocks for $40. Let me know if you want the site and i'll look for it. I'll be ordering a maple stock for a .36 percussion rifle im making for my 11 year old nephew.. Had one made out of pine but its just to soft and wasnt right. Shot straight tho! took 8 rabbits

 

[crockett]

Thanks Ghost, I've read those books but just forgot about them. That's just what I need- a stock from a blank piece of wood. If I recall, there was information on making tenons, pipes, etc.
The wood is sugar maple or what is supposed to be hard maple. I got it at woodcrafters. They'll cut you a shorter piece as long as 4' is left in the board. You have to mic the boards as they come in various thickness. I found one where the grain runs straight through the wrist and the rings are about 1/8" or more apart. I was told wider rings make the wood less likely to split ( originally for axe handles). Not the best looking but I want a strong stock- nothing more. This particular piece of wood was beat up at one corner but okay for my purposes so I got them to knock a bit off the price.
If you have a wood crafters near you, check them out. You can get ash for axe handles, etc, maple, various woods for knife handles. I got a nice figured block of walnut for a pistol handle. They sell to wood turners that want figured wood so you can get wood plain and straight or figured. The inventory changes from time to time but I keep a running tab in my head of what I want for future projects and I check in periodically- when I see what I want- I get it.

 

KYwindage, if you find the site that has blanks for $0 please post it. Thanks Bill

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Heres a link to the site with $40 pre cut gun stocks. They range from $40 poor mans maple to $150 Mid classmans maple. Im starting off with the $40 untill i build skills.[url] http://www.thegunworks.com/custprodgun.cfm?SubCat1ID=12&Cat1Name=Stockwood[/url]

 

My main concern is how to drill the ramrod hole, where do you get a three foot long drill bit?

Track of the Wolf is one place that sells them - a couple of the "tricks" to drilling a deep hole is to go slow witha consistent, even pressure so you do not build up heat and to CONSTANTLY clean out the chips so the drill does not walk off line.......it's not rocket science but neither is it for the faint of heart :hmm:

 

[crockett]

Amen, especially if you spent hours making a stock from a blank piece of wood. I often wondered if that's why belly plates appeared, someone drilled through the bottom and used the plate as a repair.
Which brings up an interesting question. If you drill a series of "check holes" from the bottom of the barrel channel and find the drill going off center- is there any way to straighten out the error???

 

Crockett, Track of the Wolf sells drill bits for deep rod hole drilling and they are true. Cost about $30.00 dollars apeice or so. Chances are ya won't build just one rifle.

 

[rich pierce]

There are tricks to straighten out the error but no guarantees.

Best deal is to bend the stock. If the drill is going left toward the lock side, bend the forestock to the same side. That will angle the drill away. You'll need to clamp it of course. Hold the buttstock in a solid vise and keep the forestock supported on a set of blocks clamped to a table. Push the forestock over, say 1/4" at the muzzle, 1/8" at the middle thimble, keeping it straight (support it!) at the entry thimble. strongly support the drill with a block with a half-round channel at the entry thimble and middle thimble locations so the drill does not bend at all before it enters the bole. Now drill very slowly and see if you are taking wood off the side you want to. You could tell by making pencil marks down into the hole as far as you can. Look again with a flashlight and see if you are only cleaning off the one side. Adjust angle of forestock as needed. Of course you can also alter the angle vertically as well as horizontally. But if the hole is already drilled pretty far, then there's no joy in the workshop. Best thing to do then is glue in a dowel and re-align the ramrod groove and give it another go. In the worst case scanario you could essentially rout out a groove under the barrel, glue in where you need to with pieces cut from the blank, insert a greased steel rod from the muzzle, and glue in a "lid" to the routed groove that will support the bottom flat of the barrel. Do a clean job and nobody knows but you.

 

[crockett]

I've done the glue in routine and it is a lot of work, I figured that may be the only option if most the hole was ok and only a bit at the end had to be corrected.
As a general rule, how often does a ramrod drill wander off course? half the time, very rarely?