DIY Network

Finishing the Rifle Finishing the Rifle From "Trade School" episode DTRS-106

In this segment, follow along as Tim further refines the gun stock and finishes the rifle ....

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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

• At the owner’s request and for aesthetic reasons, Tim installs extremely hard African black wood on the fore-end and grip cap areas of the stock (figure A). He also installs silver spacers to divide the two woods. (figure B). He reinforces the connections with steel rods and superglue.

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  

• Next, Tim begins the arduous process of hand-shaping the contours of the rifle stock. To remove a large amount of wood, Tim secures the stock in a table vise and removes wood with a Shinto, a tool made up of interwoven hack saw blades (figure C). The Shinto allows Tim to refine both the wood and the silver spacers. He also uses a hand plane to remove wood aggressively along the grain (figure D).

  Figure C

  Figure D

  
  

• Then, again using the vertical mill with the flycutter bit, Tim trims the bottom side of the stock to remove much of the bulk excess. This levels the area for the trigger guard assembly (figure E). He also trims and levels the grip cap with a 3/4" end bit (figure F).

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

• After laying out the final flow-lines on the stock with a grease pencil, Tim carefully removes wood around the finger clearance, cheek plate and thumb arch areas with a plastic mallet and chisel (figure G).

• With the stock shape complete, Tim wet-sands the wood smooth. He starts with 60-grit sandpaper and an oil-based stock finish and work his way to a very fine 600-grit paper. Once smooth, he applies another coat of stock finish to raise the grain (figure H). Then he "mud-rubs" the wood using a sludge of sawdust and stock finish to fill in the pores of the wood. Then, he applies several more coats of stock finish, letting each one dry until the desired gloss is achieved.

  Figure G

  Figure H

  
  

  Figure I

• Next, Tim painstakingly hand-checkers the grip areas of the stock. Any mistake here could ruin the stock. Checkering serves two purposes: Decoration and the enhancement of the grip surfaces. With the stock stabilized in the vice, Tim carefully traces the outline of each area with a razor-sharp checkering tool. Then, using a series of checkering tools, he carefully grooves a series of parallel lines within the outline. He makes sure to keep his lines perfectly straight while keeping the tool at a ninety-degree angle.

• At this point, Tim repositions the stock and repeats the process, cross-hatching until little raised diamond shapes develop (figure I). With the checkering complete, he applies an additional coat of stock finish to each grip area to finish the stock.
  

• Before final assembly of the rifle, Tim's instructor treats the metal components with a controlled rusting process called "bluing". Bluing causes carbon steel to turn a bluish-black color. The instructor dips the steel parts into a series of boiling vats. The first one contains water and an extremely alkaline detergent to remove any residual oil, the second contains only water to remove any detergent and the third vat contains a bubbly concoction of caustic acid, which actually rusts the steel (figure J). He repeats the dipping process until the metal turns black (figure K). Then the steel parts are dipped into an oil tank to neutralize the rusting process. He removes the steel parts from the oil tank and cures them for twenty-four hours.

  Figure J

  Figure K

  
  

• Finally, Tim assembles the gun and mounts a rifle scope and presents it to the owner (figure L). Although she's never before fired a gun in her life, the owner's first performance at the shooting range is exceptional, proving that Tim has mastered the art of precision (figures M and N).

School Contact Information:

Colorado School of Trades
1575 Hoyt Street
Lakewood, CO 80226
Phone: 303-233-4697
Website: www.schooloftrades.com

Figure L

Figure M

Figure N