Glue ? Or epoxy ?

[Gregg C]

So Mr Dosh- are you doing all the cutting ? By hand ?

 

[Gregg C]

If you want laminate, Boyd's- I've been buying from them since Rutland Plywood burned up five years ago. No other game in town (I think Richard's Microfit sells blanks, but are much more expensive).

If you've never done it before, consider making your stock from inexpensive lumber and bondo- and then having the real deal cut on a duplicator using it as a "pattern stock".

I make all stocks this way, using Bondo/body filler allows for screw-ups to be easily fixed, and the same pattern can be modified indefinitely to produce differing variations ( as in changing barrel contour inlets).

You could still do most of the work on the end product, just have it rough cut on the duplicator and you can still do the final shaping/sanding, fit the recoil pad, bedding, etc.

I gave it some thought. Shucks, Richards blanks are 100 bucks. Wasted more than that on beer many times. This stock that I broke is a Boyd's, my second, and I liked it well enough, except not fitting me all that well. Not their fault, I had no idea what I wanted when I bought it. Having said that, since my stock IS broken, I decided to step up my skill set. I'm actually confident of the in letting, and as far as a laminate goes, I'm thinking of something along the lines of a stock Joel Russo posted a couple days ago, Big Blue 50. Amazing craftsman. Not the first time I've thought about it either. Saw some analine dying done on a guitar body once( laminated wood ) and the seed was planted. Why not a rifle stock ? Then I broke my stock. Then, Mr Russo posted another of his masterpieces, and here I am !! The first hurdle is glue, or epoxy ? Titebond is amazing stuff, and III is water resistant. Just concerned about solvents, and such. There are ALOT of epoxies out there, just read about one called rescinol, I think, but apparently what's on the market called that now ain't the same as the original. I'm getting long winded here. Please keep the input and comments coming. I've got a seed of an idea trying to come to the front brain...Ill post it here for disemination. Thanks

 

[Dosh]

Wow, that does seem ambitious! I'm not a pro wood worker, by any stretch of imigination; yet mesquite is some tough stuff to work with. You said finish a semi-finish, did that come from Richards Microfit ? I thought I saw mesquite offered there, not sure. At any rate, the grain pattern is positively mesmerizing ! That will be amazing ! Saw some mesquite, a table top, I think, that had some voids in the wood filled with a turquoise colored epoxy. Freaking gorgeous ! Man, hurry up and gitter done ! I can't wait to see pictures!

C, cut it from a 30" tree trunk that was being cleared from a construction site a mile from my home. It seasoned for about five years. A sharp chainsaw cut the rough blank easily.

 

[Gregg C]

Further research shows Titebond II or III a popular and effective adhesive for my intended use. More later!!

 

[longrangebob]

Ohhhh Boy - unless U mentioned it — & I missed it !!! U never mentioned what 338 Manufacturer !!!???

I thought you said laminate - or are you building your own laminate ?..

if the Former Boyd's I have a number and couldn't be more pleased — JB quik around Lug & ACTION screws - devcon for rest of bedding & channel

If the latter & you are going to make your own laminate out of Mesquite Wood - how thick are your planks?? Plane them - make sure U have plenty so you are wider than required for palm swell, cheek piece, & area around Action where it transitions to fore-end —
- Wellbond or similar Glue in Excess between boards and if you have differing colours put in areas that as the stock is cut they will appear & if you have figure try to place so the boards with it will be on the outside laminates &/or will be exposed in cutting process
If this is your intent - write me & I will go into more detail - if I knew how to put up an avatar, it would be my 260AI FClass w/ Jatoba Wood Laminate —- adj. Cheek, LOP, Stock that I spent all summer on {that saved my when I had Shingles and couldn't get comfortable so I had to stand with verrry lil on & do stock work!!! Sorry about that image } — Jatoba is so hard it smoked my 1 1/8" Carbide Drill bit, had to use Bastard File for contouring as for all intents & purposes sand paper dinna work!!! Lee Valley has some cutters that did -

 

[longrangebob]

While awaiting Moderator approval for my last one - & now I've seen more of others - I'm assuming that TiteBond is similar to My Wellbond - used in wood working- yes Glue for laminating way to go - serious clamping is required with excess glue so voids are filled and no air spaces - sawdust mixed with glue in any areas of larger voids etc.

 

[longrangebob]

Was your old stock a good shape & fit ??
Did you like it ??
Do you still have it ???
How Broken?

If all above &/or you can put it together enuff - send it with your Laminate Blank to somebody who cuts stocks - get it roughed out & rough inletted (assuming popular manufacturer of rifle) should be accomplished without too much trouble
Then you do all the details for bedding and the sanding & external finishing

 

[Bucklowery]

Here is a pic of a stock I did from a Richard microdot blank. It was for a Stevens 223 I converted to 204 with bottom mag. It was a lot of work but very rewarding building your own stock. I just used basic hand tools thus all the work and sanding

Thanks

Buck

 

[ntsqd]

If you're going to laminate the blank yourself I will suggest building a way to pull a vacuum on it.
FFT:
https://www.fibreglast.com/product/...ent-and-techniques-for-room-temp-applications
Vacuum may only be ~14psi clamping force, but it is distributed over the whole surface area and it will pull out the excess adhesive

 

[25WSM]

For clamping I use cement bricks. They stack easy and are heavy enough. For 10 bucks you could get 3 80 pound bags of sakrete. Titebond 2 or 3 Will get it done. Shep

 

[Core781]

Being a consummate DIY kinda guy (which I think really means broke tightwad w/more time than sense), I'm considering making a stock for my heavy recoil 338. I had it in a popular laminate, but was never really happy with the way it fit me. I started making modifications to it, and got it to feeling better, but I broke it in the last modification session. Soo,,,,,,I'm gonna make one from scratch. Thinking laminate, but what glue ? Or maybe epoxy ? You folks that have done this might think, That guy is NUTS ! and you might be right, but I got a thing about trying new stuff on my own. At the end of the project, I love knowing I gave it all I had.
Thanks in advance, for any advice, comments, nuggets of wisdom, or concerns, even.

Honestly because you asked that question, I have to believe you may not have the experience necessary to do the milling and fitting properly? That said it's epoxy period. Glue is for joining joints, and requires pegs, pins, mortise and tenons etc. Glue typically fails in applications that are relatively static in a matter of decades. Epoxy is much thinner and harder typically and is what you want for laminating wood together. I would recommend you find a good blank and do the finish work, even that can be hard for a beginner and I see a great deal of bad finish work. My other recommendation is buy a walnut stock in the raw from Boyd's, and do the inletting, it's enough of a project to build your skills on the cheap. You'll probably need pillars or some sort of chassis so that will be additional cost depending on you skills and abilities. Walnut is lighter, better for lugging around. You can also epoxy the walnut and do a super cool camo job like we did before all these pre-made stocks were common. If you need something a bit more durable, a McMillan style fiber stock can also be done with patience if your willing to research and take your time.

 

[Core781]

If you're going to laminate the blank yourself I will suggest building a way to pull a vacuum on it.
FFT:
https://www.fibreglast.com/product/...ent-and-techniques-for-room-temp-applications
Vacuum may only be ~14psi clamping force, but it is distributed over the whole surface area and it will pull out the excess adhesive

No real need for a vacuum unless you are going for minimal weight or using porous materials like glass, carbon etc. But vacuum will always produce better results at the additional cost of bagging and pump plumbing. I would cut some veins on the surface of each wood strip and use a thin high tensile epoxy, and just apply the epoxy to each layer and press them together. Cut the black using a band saw, and then jig out shapes, mill the action oversized, and shape sand out the rest. Mill pillars, and glass bed the action. Fit the action. And finish. You might want to dye the wood prior to epoxy if you want a stained look or use pigmented epoxy. I'd keep it natural, it will look better. Put some UV inhibitors into the expoxy if it's not already UV resistant. I'd go the natural route and just buy a AAA wood blank and do an English oil finish myself.

 

[corsair4360]

Honestly because you asked that question, I have to believe you may not have the experience necessary to do the milling and fitting properly? That said it's epoxy period. Glue is for joining joints, and requires pegs, pins, mortise and tenons etc. Glue typically fails in applications that are relatively static in a matter of decades. Epoxy is much thinner and harder typically and is what you want for laminating wood together. I would recommend you find a good blank and do the finish work, even that can be hard for a beginner and I see a great deal of bad finish work. My other recommendation is buy a walnut stock in the raw from Boyd's, and do the inletting, it's enough of a project to build your skills on the cheap. You'll probably need pillars or some sort of chassis so that will be additional cost depending on you skills and abilities. Walnut is lighter, better for lugging around. You can also epoxy the walnut and do a super cool camo job like we did before all these pre-made stocks were common. If you need something a bit more durable, a McMillan style fiber stock can also be done with patience if your willing to research and take your time.

I disagree with your comments regarding glue vs epoxy. Glue lines can be every bit as thin as epoxy. Pins, mortises, tenons are used with both glue and epoxy. I am a furniture maker and I interchange the two depending upon how water resistant I desire the wood joint to be. That said 99% of my glue up is titebond.

 

[ntsqd]

No real need for a vacuum ......

I didn't suggest it as a need. I suggested it because it will produce a superior product. If the laminations are porous enough and the adhesive chosen is low enough viscosity it will pull the adhesive into the air voids within each layer.If they are not it is still a good way to clamp the layers together.

I see the debate about "Glue" vs. "epoxy" as useless semantics. Both are adhesives or bonding agents. Chose the adhesive by the desired properties and let others worry about what to call it.