Non-Adjustable Cheek Piece

[lckytylr]

Not sure if this should go in the Gunsmithing section, as I'm not a gunsmith and this project is nothing more than woodworking . . . so feel free to move it if there's a more suitable place.

With my new Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50, I had to mount the scope a little higher than I'm accustomed to, which meant that when my cheek was fully welded to the stock, I couldn't see through the scope. I searched and I searched and I searched some more, but I couldn't find a cheek piece that I liked. The adjustable ones all have big knobs sticking out of them and I really don't need to "adjust" it once it's on. The soft pads all either tie on or strap on and none of them seemed like what I was after. The rubber ones that can be "post mounted" didn't fit very well even after x-acto alterations.

So, I decided I was going to make my own.

I helped cut up several cherry and black walnut trees last time I was visiting my parents%2

 

[lckytylr]

Then I used a barrel bedding tool to cut out the inside contour to match my pattern lines.

 

[lckytylr]

 

[lckytylr]

The tools I used.

Barrel Bedding Tool
Rasp
Straight Edge
Wood Clamps
Dremmel (not much)
X-acto knife

 

[lckytylr]

Taking shape . . .

Dry Fit

 

[lckytylr]

It took a lot of fine-tuning to get it so that there was a nice clean seal between the wood and the stock. It's still not perfect, but getting close.

 

[lckytylr]

Next came the tricky part . . . how to secure it to the stock.

As you have probably guessed, it needs to be removable so that I can remove my bolt for cleaning or field stripping.

First I tried industrial strength velcro. MISERABLE FAIL.

I spent 3 evenings trying to recess the velcro strips into the stock and into the wood.

 

[lckytylr]

The Velcro was a complete waste of time and I REALLY did a number on my stock while I was trying to inlet for the velcro.

It just didn't hold as well as I had hoped it would.

I kind of assumed that it wouldn't hold REALLY well, but I was hopeful that it would have been better than it was.

Back to the drawing board, I finally gave in and decided that I needed a mechanical connection. I batted around the idea of a slotted track system (like a tongue and groove). I was thinking that if I had a metal channel (groove) and a metal slide (tongue), that maybe it would hold up for a long time and still give me the strength and stability that I was after, but I could never settle on the metal components that I had in mind. I ALMOST went to a HVAC shop to have them bend me up something, but figured they would think it annoying.

Sooooo, I finally caved in and went with a plain ol' nuts-and-bolts approach.

Ace Hardware was my one-stop-shop. They had the allen-head bolts, recessed nuts and washers that I was after. I used several different sized drill bits to work up to a hole size that was close to the outside diameter of the washer. For the finishing touch, I used my dremmel with a router-style depth gauge to get a nice finish around the edges of the hole.

Next I used Gorilla Glue to secure the washers into the wood recess. Next I counter-sank the nut into the stock and secured it, again, with Gorilla Glue.

 

[lckytylr]

Once the glue set up, I removed everything and scraped off all of the excess glue with the X-acto knife and cleaned everything up.

This is NOT the finished product, as I have some intricate plans for decoration, but it's close.

Still to come:
Final Sanding (250 and then 400 grit)
Decorate
Stain
Seal

 

[sp6x6]

I have seen military guys use a wood spacer w/2 pins that just point down into stock,that is then covered by a stock pack,such as a eagle.Simple ,easy and the pack is nice for bullets,range card,etc.There is a video on here for scope mounting that shows it.