Carving my own stock.....

[kombi1976]

I was given a stock blank of silky oak by a friend and am considering having a shot at carving and shaping the stock myself.
Only one problem......
I have NO idea how to inlet it and when I contacted a renowned stock maker here in Australia do it he said he doesn't touch any balnks he hasn't chosen himself.
He also doesn't work with any wood apart from walnut due to the repiratory problems other types have caused in the past.
I'd like to put a M98 action in it and realise how complicated this is.
Here's the blank:



It aint pretty but then if I really butcher it I won't feel so bad....well, kinda.
Can anyone give m some hints as to how to go about this?
Who's done this before?

[longgun]

I have no idea what "silky oak" is.....  But if it il like the oad we have here it is probably very hard and heavy for stock making.    What I do is probably not the norm for stock making but I take a sharp hatchet and rough cutting wood rasp to give the general shape that I want.  Take small cuts mich like hacking the wood with the hatchet then rasp the wood down.   This is pretty fast wood removal if you have to do things by hand.  Once the shape is made then take wood chisles and a hammer and begin removing wood for the inletting.  It helps to have a barrel inletting tool but hammer and wood chisle will do the job.   Then some course cutting sand paper wrapped around a piece of pipe or wooden dowel.   If you have the old stock you can get a good idea by comparing the two to tell where you need to remove wood.   Takes lots of patience and you really need to think it through before you make cuts, because it is difficult to put the wood back on if you cut the wrong place or cut too much off.  Inletting is the hardest part but if you remove too much here most of the time it can be corrected by glass bedding.   It is much cheaper and less stressful to just order a stock and fit it rather than cutting one from a blank.   IMO....   don

[gunnut69]

I would advise a lot of reading before you start.. Working from a blank is great fun but time sonsuming and there's more to it than how to remove wood quickly. "Professional Stockmaking' by Sweeney(??) is a great resource.. These turn up a lot on EBay and can be had from Brownells.. In essence.. a centerline is drawn on the top and bottom of the blank. The locations of the action screws are marked, top and bottom. They are drilled from both top and bottom with undersized bit, then enlarged.  Trace the outline of the action and barrel onto the top of the stock. The action is easy the barrel is measured and the dimension divided and a mark placed on each side of the centerline. After all the measurements are marked down(measure at 1 inch intervals) the marks are connected.. creating a barrel outline. The wood removal actually stops well short of the line and is finished with the spotting in technique. I usually draw in the magazine box cut, on both sides..and remove the majority with drill bits. The barreled action is let into the blank useing spotting agent to show where wood has to be removed and headless guide screws to keep things aligned.. The center line can be move in the vutt stock area to allow for cast on- or off.. and  the top and bottom can be differed to allow for cant.  After the inletting is complete the stock is shaped... Be careful with very course rasps as they can create tears in the wood which create problems at finishing time.. I use draw knives, and spoke shaves to roughing, along with gouges and chisels helping to create the hollows such as the fluting at the comb nose.. and the cheek piece scuplting..  Pistol grip radii, butt stock sizes,, there are many factors and things to consider.. Do some research.,  it'll make the experience a lot easier..

[John Traveler1]

I can heartily SECOND gunnut69's comments.

As an amatuer stockmaker, I had to learn most of the tricks the hard way.  Gunut69 is a professional stockmaker, and he gives good advice.

After reading (some) and tedious carving (a lot), I have now streamlined my rifle stock making as follows:

1.  Square edges of the stock blank.
2.  Layout centrelines and reference points.
3.  Drill stock screwholes on milling machine.
4.  Milling machine and endmills to rough of action and barrel inletting.
5.  Finish inletting using chisels, gouges, and scrapers by spotting in.
6.  Shape outside of stock using drawknife, chisels, block plane, rasps, and coarse files.

It's relatively easy to make a stock if you have woodworking skills.  Just make sure you choose a suitable stock material for that first project.  I've never heard of "silky oak", but I don't think any oak is a good choice for a rifle stock.  It's too splintery, porous, and needs extensi e filling for a decent finish.