Anyone doing stock drop bending? Or recommend someone that can bend to reduce drop?

What gun?
Metal thru-bolt
Etc ??

German double. No thru bolt.

I've done it but only for myself (I am not even an internet gunsmith). It is a job you can do if you want. Takes some space and the building of a substantial jig, but it is a fun project.

I bend stocks fairly often. Bending for drop is usually more difficult than for cast and pistol grip stocks tend to be more difficult to bend than straight hand stocks. That said, German guns usually have stocks of thin shell walnut which bends better than black. Typically a bend at heel will yield about 1/3 the change at comb. How much change you want and current dimensions will factor heavily into the feasibility of the bend.

How much do you charge ?

300$ for a bend. I'm not taking work at the moment but stock bends are an exception.

I thought $150 was high...

it was high, back in the 60's.

Dennis Smith has a lot of experience bending stocks. You can PM him for current pricing.

Mike

Rumor is they won't stay bent...

and rumors have little value. Like most of your posts Frank, I bet you have no actual experience with the topic at hand. Have you had a stock bent or bent one yourself? If so did it return to the original position? I guarantee my bends. I have had a couple that were difficult and wanted to return to original position. Sometimes you need to bend a gun several times as spring back is very hard to gauge. You have to go farther than the desired final dimension and try to "figure" how much the gun will move back. I am happy to bend the gun again for no charge. Each piece of wood is different but in general they stay when bent.

WOW, SKB, that is a good guarantee! Jim

Always been my guarantee Jim. I have only had to re-bend a couple in the 15 years I have been bending them and those were guns that just did not want to move. There are definite limitations on what a piece of wood will do. I would rather stop short than crack the wrist. I keep my clients in the loop when I bend a gun and if I feel I just can not hit the numbers they would like I consult with them. If he wants to push it I will but my preference would be to listen to what the wood is telling me and stop when it does not want to go farther. You can typically move a stock with moderate pressure from your thumb whey are warm, to a point. Once the wood gets close to its elastic limit it becomes much more difficult to move. When you have bent a few of them you can really feel it.

My rumor came from a well known Gunsmith that bent them...my guess the guns you bent were later sold so who knows.

Your guess would be wrong. I do not bend guns I am selling, only for clients.

Frank, you really need to curb your rumor mongering. There are other ways for you to draw attention to yourself.

I believe you Frank, you have no real knowledge regarding the bending of stocks other than what one Smith told you.

I had a stock bent for cast and twist, or wrong cast at toe. I remeasure it every six months or so, and it has stayed as bent.

Free loading Brent D for dummy needs to make a donation to this site or shut the hell up....

just an observation

Just for the record Steve O' wouldn't make a pimple on the gunsmiths azz that told me they eventually go back.

I believe you Frank...that you, nor anyone else's word you take as gospel, could ever be wrong.

Good luck with that Frank. There ain't a damn thing you can do about it except draw more attention to yourself. As usual.

Just a fact.

YUP THREAD RELATED
I have a first year Superposed with a Monte Carlo stock, Through the Stock bolt, and a Miller mechanical trigger that i am going to bend.((Cast off)). I have done this before to other shotguns, with"" some success"". I have a good solid jig. In the past I Have used a heat lamp with wet towels. I start slow and work up in side pressure against the side of the stock, Takes a few days.

I would like to get some tips or other information on this procedure. OR MAYBE I am doing this wrong. I would like to hear of others experience with stock bending.
Thanks for reading my post
David

Mike Orlen's article from "American Gunsmith" magazine courtesy of Juan Carlos Jobet is here David, with some images of jigs and the process
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/16314697

Jack Rowe's Video
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZBtS_WlcG4
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnRgaiU5GEs

long range....water will only allow the wood to get to 212-215 degrees. Wood burns at 440 degrees. It bends best if the wood is warmed above 250 degrees. Or so my experience has taught me in the past 30 years of bending gunstocks. I use Raw Linseed Oil on a rag which is wrapped around the wrist of the gunstock. I have heard others using other vegetable/seed oil products. Each is trial and error. The key is to get the wood warm enough to move easily and without breaking.

Yes, I started bending gunstock using water. If you are not paying attention, the water evaporates and the gunstock is damaged by heat charring....don't ask me how I know this.

SKB is correct in the information he has relayed. By taking your time and paying attention to the wood....much may be accomplished. I too guarantee my services in this area. Stand behind what you do....no matter what. Steve got the first nod. Believe him. He is good at what he does.

Whenever I�ve had a stock �bent� ....and by various gunsmiths, there were no guarantees in terms of cracking at the wrist. I see Steve has a �guarantee�. Is that guarantee only that for �if it returns to the old set�, or does that include cracking the stock for the guarantee? What about you DES/TSD? Seems like a high risk for cracking even if one has the perfect �feel�. I�d love to find a stock bender who guarantees against breakage. and.....what would that guarantee include, a new stock or a repair? Repairs sometimes work, but sometimes they don�t. Thanks.

mike orlan did bend a lovely 12 bore pistol grip 32'' francotte 20e pigeon gun that I bought from the late, great Bill Wise...he put a 1/4'' cast off into it , & it was the same when I sold it 5 years later...so some stay put, this was a brute of a 8 3/4lb gun with beefy stock
cheers
franc

I do not know of anyone who guarantees against breakage during a bend or a frame cracking during the CCH process. Some things in life just come with risk, stock bends are one of them. I will happily re-bend a stock if it returns to the old dimensions.

I don�t blame you, since high risk. We all roll the dice with these sorts of decisions. I know I have. An ill-fitting stock, not much choice in my opinion. A �shooter� gun, I�d risk with a bend, a collector quality gun, likely not.

It's all about calling attention to Freddy the doublegun forum free loading twit BrentD....

At $300 bucks he ought to guarantee against breakage.

Hmmmm....$300 does seem high priced. I didn�t pay that much in the past.

Maybe he farms out his bending...

pictures on my website of the jig I built and a stock I am bending. I'll be posting more work as I complete it just for you Frankie b0y. Some freshly browned damascus rifle barrels and two new hammers coming up among other interesting projects.

I've never done any business w/ SKB but I would happily spend $300
in today's market for a single plane stock bending job assuming it was quality work that includes bending the trigger guard & retiming the trigger guard tang screws as required & in a reasonable ie. <6 months turnaround.

No good gunsmith is going to guarantee results on bending a stock but I would expect good guidance on what is possible & what is not.

Stock bends I usually turn around in under three weeks. I like doing them and they are easy to fit in among the other restoration work that occupies most of my time.

If you want to try something different than linseed oil, I used Canola - it has a high flash point so it burn on the stock. I can't say that is it better or worse than Linseed however as I haven't tried that.

Are you sure they always have to �bend� the trigger guard? With heat, such as a torch? That�s not what I�ve observed, at any rate. It does not appear all that complex, otherwise BrentD wouldn�t be able to do it., like he says he can.

you add nothing here Frank.

just say'n

If you bend for cast then the trigger guard needs to be bent. I bend them cold, not that complex, if you you do right. Twist it at the hole and you have a real mess on your hands.

My guarantee is that you must be satisfied with the work I have done. If it is not to your satisfaction, it comes back at my expense and returned the same way. I continue to work on the project submitted at the price quoted until I have met your satisfaction. At no further cost to the client.

As for cracking a stock...it has happened. Maybe 6 in 30 years, but it has happened. In those cases the gun is repaired. Invisible and timely done. The client is notified that it has happened and we discuss what is to happen next. Since I have made my living at repairing gunstocks for over 30 years....I am confident in what I can do. (I am confident in what SKB is able to do also. He is a very skilled craftsman who is very conversant with the masters of our trade on both sides of the Atlantic.) To my knowledge....there is NO ONE who bends stocks that guarantees they will not break. That is the risk the owner takes in altering a gunstock instead of having a new one made...IMO.

I have a 30 day turn time for bending stocks. However, there is time built for any spring back that may occur. It if does.... I do it again until it stops where the client asked for it to go to. When I can not meet the expectations the client is called and it is discussed.

I take all of the precautions I can in order to not have a broken gunstock. Disassembly of the gun first, to make sure there is no "unannounced prior damage", is a must. Before you may bend a stock you must spend time looking it over for obvious breakage or repairs. Bending is not just science...it is an art. Physically anyone may do it. Making sure it stays put over time is the art. One must spend time with wood and learn how it moves and why. All of this is determined over time. Very few learn an art form in a day/month/year. The mechanics yes...the art no.

nice!

Do you think it might be that costly because he has to factor in a fair amount to pay Dave for the business advertising he is doing on his forum? We know Dave doesn't care for those who use his site for free advertising and self promotion, because he has said as much:

Why would he pay for advertising...liberals think it's their right to free everything.

Frankie b0y,
You seem cranky lately. Cabin fever maybe? I was thinking you should get out some, maybe some fresh air. Maybe take a drive up to P.A. and help your BFF Billie get his horse back in the barn after he left his door wide open. You know how busy he has been snooping around board members hard drives.



Of course he will deny it when confronted about his behavior.

Then again, maybe getting that horse back in the barn might be near impossible. Say Hi to William

M
i
l
i
c
h

for me. Bwahahaha!!!!

Have a great day b0yz.

Sounds like Dennis has a better guarantee than you....might think about farming some out to him.

Just be patient Frankie b0y, lots more photos of my work coming up just for you. Don't bother asking though, I am not taking any more work in at the moment.

You need to get with John Roberts his whining to the establishment gets immediate results....

Can you explain your post? I have no clue what you are talking about.


If you are implying I have contacted Dave about any forum members behavior you are mistaken. We do know that Billie had his last name turned into a censored word. Think he contacted the admin about that?

Talk about TSS or a Four Ten in one of JOhn Roberts threads and he gets it immediately deleted.

I know nothing about how threads become deleted but from what Dave has posted it sounds like when a thread becomes bogged down with useless personal attacks he deletes it. I have noticed that nearly ever post that has been deleted you and Billie are always at the center of the mess. Just sayn'

You and your liberal buddies have been there more than eYe have SteveO

Hardly Frankie b0y.....you start a mess in every thread you post in and contribute nothing.

I made three comment on page one and you and your attack squad started trying to make me look dumb...

Go back and read it.

Wrong, you made one INCORRECT comment, were corrected and then acted all butt hurt. If you would stick to facts as opposed to rumor maybe the board would not feel the need to constantly correct the mis-information that you post.

Here ya go sweetie....you spent most of your reply trashing me did you not ?

Trust me I aint butt hurt....I don't have a problem turning the other cheek....


Of my arse to you.

Actually no Frankie, I pointed out that with out any actual experience in the matter you were merely expelling nothing but hot air. I never implied you were dumb, just ignorant. There is a difference. Besides, no one could do as good of a job making you look dumb as you have done yourself.

So I think you're an arrogant entitled liberal idiOt...you think I'm alone in thinking this ?

I my hope is one day you'll wake up look in the mirror and realize it.

frank, you should quit. You are digging the deepest hole. Why you keep on shoveling just confirms your troll behavior.

You confuse arrogance with confidence Frank. Entitled eh? Interesting seeing how I worked for everything I have and came from a very poor back ground. If I am entitled I sure wonder when what ever I am entitled to will arrive. I'll keep an eye on my mail box.

To get back on the subject of stock bending:

Great turnaround time quoted by both SKB & DES.

It's been some years since I've had a stock bent. Looks like I've been dealing w/the wrong people re. turnaround time on stock bending but to be fair my stock bending jobs usually involved some other things like leather covered pads etc.

Yeah adding a leather covered pad does add time. Unlike stock bending, I do not enjoy leather covered pads though they do turn out very nice. Sort of like browning barrels, looks great but dang is that a ton of work.

Rumor is your barrel browning is the bOmb...

You will see shortly Frankie.

All the strife on the board currently brings these prophetic words to mind.

"It's a shame those boys couldn't be more copacetic"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztmo-E1lcVI

Enjoy....prime Garcia.

"Can you explain your post? I have no clue what you are talking about."

I believe you frank....

Battle- I had several stocks bent by a local person with a bending jig patterned after Mike Orlen's. He did a good job but hasn't done stocks in some time now. Saying that, Mike Orlen may be your answer. I have never used him for anything, but his name gets dropped here frequently.

My experience is very mixed. I had three Fox guns bent. Two had 2-3/4" drop from factory and wound up about 2-9/16" best we could do. One of the guns was particularly tough, as the bend would just not stay. The third had been nicely restocked and bent down slightly and over to the right, easily. The other gun i did was a Miroku Daly which went up and over easily. Both of the guns I had trouble with bending had Fox black walnut wood. The other two had French and unknown wood.

When you bend any distance, cracks may appear where the stock pushes against the trigger tang or the top strap. Guns with straight stocks bend easier than pistol grip.

At this point I have a couple guns that could use a stock tweak, but i doubt that I'll do it.

The person who bent my stocks did not guarantee against breakage. He did say he had only one stock break in the bend process (out of dozens).

Good luck.

I built one of those jigs, but don't use it now. A gunsmith friend does it a different way and it's what I do now. Maybe some of you guys would comment about it. Not sure how it would work for cast, but drop it does work just fine. He lays the gun on a table with the trigger guard back, off the table. He puts a couple bags of shot [ 50#s ] on the muzzles. Two heat lamps and a rag soaked in some type of oil wrapped tightly around the wrist. One bag of shot is put on the butt. He then puts a stop of some sort the distance away he wants the stock to move. He then goes to some other gunsmithing activity, or reloading, and keeps a eye on the progress being made. He hasn't bent a lot of stocks, but has never broken one. He claims if it doesn't want to bend, it won't. I've had to put two bags on the butt on a couple, but also haven't had a problem with breaking stocks. It's pretty simple and the only out lay is the two heat lamps and light fixtures which are pretty cheap. I just thought I'd throw this out there. Any thoughts ?

Seems pretty reasonable to me, Paul.

Just out of curiosity I checked the contribution page and noticed that Brent had finally changed heart and paid his dues. It is presently 7th from the bottom on the list. Looks like he even gave jOe credit for convincing him...Geo

Nyet. jOe donated .50 cents in BrentD�s name.


__________________________
She caught the KATY.
https://youtu.be/6YLSnqBPjt4

Gosh. I must have misread it?...Geo

Yup. Have to stay current As the World Turns or you�ll end up with the...


___________________________
Keep up Blues
https://youtu.be/zQh5IW7PWnc

I confess I made the donation....50 cents is more than he's worth.

Mr. Travis; your phone number area code did not come through clearly. Please call me. I will do my best to answer your questions regarding bending gunstocks.