DIY Network

Inletting the Stock Inletting the Stock From "Trade School" episode DTRS-106

In this segment, join gunsmithing student Tim Mullin as he focuses on inletting the metal into the wood stock of the custom rifle. Tim starts with a beautiful piece of Triple A grade English walnut, a wood that is extremely durable, but somewhat difficult to work with ....

Basic Tools:

Machining Lathe
Cutting Oil
Calipers
Micrometers
Cobalt Steel Lathe Cutters
Lapping Compound
Reamer
No-Go & Go Gauges
Pull Gauge/ Tape Measure
Vertical Mill
Combination Square
Plastic Mallet
Chisels
Hand Plane
Barrel Fitting tool
F1 checkering tools
Inletting compound

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Figure A

• As this is a custom rifle stock, Tim first takes the owner's specific measurements. He measures her length-of-pull, which is the distance from the trigger finger to her shoulder (figure A). He also measures her length of grip and also measures her grip diameter. He takes all these measurements into consideration as he lays out and refines the rifle stock.
  

• Tim roughs out a basic shape and marks the flow-lines on the stock. Then, he employs a vertical mill to remove much of the excess wood (figure B). Using a flycutter bit, he levels the top line, checking frequently with a combination square (figure C). He bases the remainder of his refinements on this line.

  Figure B

  Figure C

  
  

• Then, he scribes a center-line along the length of the stock. He measures the distance between the two inletting pins from the receiver and marks the drill points (figure D). Then he drills the two holes accordingly (figure E).

  Figure D

  Figure E

  
  

  Figure F

• Next, to save himself hours of labor, Tim roughs out the bedding areas on the wood stock with the vertical mill. He leaves some excess to be refined later. He frequently lines up the metal components as a reference guide and tracing the patterns on the stock (figure F). He mills a large channel for the receiver with a ball-end mill (figure G), and uses a smaller ball-end mill to create the groove for the barrel (figure H). To create the space for the recoil lug, he uses a standard drill bit (figure I).
  

  Figure G

  Figure H

  Figure I

  
  

  Figure J

• When satisfied that he can remove no more wood with the mill, Tim trims the stock down on the band saw, still leaving some excess for later refinements (figure J).
  

• To embed the metal into the stock, Tim coats the metal with a marking compound called Prussian Blue (figure K). He taps the metal into the bed with a plastic mallet transferring the blue dye onto the wood (figure L). The transferred ink identifies pressure points where wood will need to be removed. Tim repeats this process over and over, removing tiny amounts of wood with chisels and a custom scraping called a barrel fitter (figure M). He continues this process until the compound completely transfers from the metal to the wood, indicating a proper seating.

In the next segment, Tim finishes the gun stock ....

Figure K

Figure L

Figure M