doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Return After A Long Journey: Stock Wood

My apology for a long absence from this fine forum. I was having withdrawals from the good information shared by all whom post here.

Anyway,I have collected more wood for my projects and had the thought to share photos with the forum members. The wood is English Walnut from Oregon. Crotch wood up from the stump a bit. Air dried for 15 years.


Pictured are three slabs I obtained. I will use the slabs for making stocks for some of the barreled actions I have.

I have somewhat of a dilemma in laying out stocks on the slabs to obtain both the maximum number of blanks and good figure in each blank. I will spend some time with the Plexiglas tracing patterns before deciding just how to cut the slabs!

I will run the slabs across the band saw in a few weeks and then to the duplicator to begin the task of stock making for some barreled actions laying in wait.

The black stock in the photos is a pattern for the Brno 602. The black mark on the right hand slab is a burn mark from the drum sander. Nothing is on the slabs to enhance the figure, just plain wood.

Best part of the story is I have access to more slabs and will be selecting several to "bring home" after the Christmas rush is over.










For those that have not seen the duplicator photos in older posts, below photo shows the duplicator with pattern stocks set up on the centers, just for illustration purposes.



And below I am carving a pattern, with changes, from an existing pattern. One of the neat uses for a duplicator is making patterns from existing patterns, I do this when I need to change stock dimensions such as drop, pitch, cast off, pistol grip length, etc. I use hard Maple for the patterns.

Who's (what brand) duplicator is that?

NorthStar Master Carver. Three spindles, one for the pattern and two for the blanks being carved. The Right Hand position is equipped with a reversing mechanism, allowing carving a LH stock from a RH pattern, or vice versa, or any combination. It will take up to 72 inch patterns/blanks.

Northstar still makes duplicators, but not of this type with the linear bearings for the fore and aft movement of the carving spindle carriage. It is a beast, weighs 1800 pounds.

I was just looking at a video of a Gemeni machine

Wish I had a duplicator. I had found one guy that did a great job(wasnt cheap), but he hasnt returned my inquiry I sent last week to get another stock duplicated. Might have to find someone else now

Try Mike at the colorado school of gunsmithing. Whitey

Thought I saw Mike Greene had a ad to sell his duplicator and was maybe retireing?

Any one use Mike Kokolus?

I have John Vest's price sheet, wow.

Altamaha, could you post a picture of your drum sander and tell us what uses you put the drum sander to?

since this topic is up now, I have a duplicating job for which I need a recommendation. I am building a pistol-gripped Hawken (of which only three originals are known). I have a cheap maple blank which I am using to put together a "try" rifle from bondo and epoxy and whatever else I need to make the rifle fit just right and to get the shape just right.

In any event, in a couple of months, I'll be ready to send this to someone who can shape a clone from this pattern. Because this is a Hawken, it requires a ramrod hole in addition to everything else.

So, who might be recommended? I am hoping to find someone that can do this much more closely than the average stock from Treebones or some of the other pattern shapers. I would like to minimize the amount of work required to refit all of the parts that I am so painstakingly working to fit now. As I understand it, some stock shapers are much more accurate and precise that others.

So, recommendations (and contact info) would be greatly appreciated.

Brent

Use a stockmaker who uses a Don Allen machine. Try Al Lind.

There are many duplicators in the hands of stockmakers, but the gents are sometimes hard to find!

The Allen and the Hoenig duplicator are top end machines, closely followed by the Green. Generally a stockmaker owning one of these machines has advanced to a skill level high enough to fully use the capabilities of the machine, not to mention the dedication to "step up to the plate" and purchase one, as they are very expensive. Sadly with the demise of Dakota Rifles I believe the Allen unit is no longer manufactured, and I believe Mike Greene no longer builds duplicators.

A few highly skilled machinists have built their duplicators. Sterling Davenport is one, I have seen his machine, it is excellent. And I have used a massive 5 station duplicator built by Leroy Wisener, the current owner resides about 20 miles from me.

I have had my hands on a Allen and a Green, and like both. Saw a Hoenig once, but did not use it. The Northstar I own has some unique capabilities not matched by other duplicators, is a very robust machine, and after a learning curve I feel quite good when using it. Not saying it is better than others, but I think it would be a good unit for a full time stockmaker. It has a lot of power going to the cutters and easily carves the toughest woods.

I will do a litle research and pick up names of stockmakers with duplicators that are in the business. As my signature says, I am not in business to work on stocks or guns. I only work on my rifles, this is what retirement is all about!

Carving the final stock is easy on a duplicator. The real work is in making patterns, especially if one is making stocks that are vastly different from the common manufactured stocks, which may be used for a pattern. I have around 30 different pattern stocks for Mausers, M70's and Brno/CZ actions. Over the past year I have put many hours into developing my ideal big bore stock, to fit me, with proper pitch, drop, cast off, pull length, and overall stock dimensions that really fit my statue. Now that I have a proper pattern, it is time to carve some real stocks!