Fibre glassing over a wooden stock.

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rooshooter

New member
I have a new laminated F class/BR stock which is a bit flimsy for the long range barrels I will be hanging off it. Weight of the stock Isnt a problem as it is already fairly light, so I was thinking of fibre glassing over some of the stock to stiffen it up a bit. Has anyone done this? Does the fibre glass bond to the wood? I was hoping to get one of the packeted firberglass kits from the local hardware shop, will this kind of fibre glass be OK?
 
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Yes, that will work but you might do better with a resin that's made for wood. I suspect that what you're looking at is made for auto body repair? If so, its not great for wood as its not designed to penetrate but to sit on top of metal. Find some resin made for wood. West System is what I use. If you want to go all out put a layer of carbon fiber on it. It'll be stiffer than fiberglass and costs more but you're not going to use much of it.

Take the stock to bare wood with a good sanding. Saturate it with a heavy coat of resin then lay the cloth over it. Wearing rubber gloves squeeze the fabric in place and the air bubbles out. If you can, figure out a way to turn the stock until the resin cures. Think of something like a rotisserie. Otherwise you'll have sags - but you can sand them off. If you can keep it turning you'll get a nice finish easier. If not, just sand off the sags and recoat with a thin coat. Keep this up until its nice and smooth.
 
If by chance the forend of your stock is flat on the bottom I have a solution for that. Prepare the wood of course. Get some carbon fiber. Try ebay for small amounts. Try to find the light weight stuff, I think I used the 5-6 oz per yard stuff. I had two pieces of tempered glass, doors off an entertainment center, that were nice and flat. I coated the glass with release agent, use plenty. Lay up several layers of carbon fiber/resin, then put the other piece of glass on top and weight it. USE PLENTY OF RELEASE AGENT. I too use the West Systems resin. You will end up with a laminate of carbon fiber that is super smooth and flat. Trim and epoxy it to the bottom of your stock forend. A little sanding and refinishing works good. Gives a super smooth and super strong forend. I used this method on a Balsa wood stock I covered with carbon fiber and epoxy. To get really serious about this method you need to learn how to vacumn bag the stock. West Systems has a lot of information on how to use their resins, etc.
 
rooshooter said:
I have a new laminated F class/BR stock which is a bit flimsy for the long range barrels I will be hanging off it. Weight of the stock Isnt a problem as it is already fairly light, so I was thinking of fibre glassing over some of the stock to stiffen it up a bit. Has anyone done this? Does the fibre glass bond to the wood? I was hoping to get one of the packeted firberglass kits from the local hardware shop, will this kind of fibre glass be OK?
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You would be much better off by drilling horizontal holes/sawing slots, epoxying metal tubing or metal flats vertically in the interior, and plugging holes or slots.

Will be much stiffer than an outer fiber shell, easier, and will not noticably change the exterior finish of the existing laminated stock. Use any boating wood/fiberglass 2 part epoxy.

Just a much cleaner and easier approach.................Don
 
I will probably end up screwing and glueing some metal strips along it and fibreglass over the top. I will chase up the proper wood resin as well. I like the idea of the carbon fibre base, but I,m trying to get it together in a hurry and on a budget.
Thanks for the tips and info.
 
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These photos show how I built up a hunting stock to target style, the stock at the bottom is the same model as I built up

See the full description on Ausvarmint
http://ausvarmint.kjd84.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6527
 
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