Stiffening a wood stock with epoxy/carbon

U

UlicniTrkac

Guest
Hello,

maybe you can help me with this question.

I want to stiffen my wooden stock - not just the bedding area, but the whole stock inside and outside.
I tried looking over the net about that topic, but maybe I am looking into wrong terms, so no luck there.
Maybe someone can point me in a right direction?

To clarify, I am looking for a cheaper way to do this - epoxy, carbon. From what I believe is doable, this should be done like spray painting the wooden stock with that material and get better strength.

Thanks in advance
 
I don't think that you're going to spray carbon fiber on. The strength comes from the fibers being in tension. The epoxy matrix only holds it in place.

If you have a wood stock now, you might start with sawing it in half top to bottom along its full length, doing a layup as if gluing the two halves back together. Then, if you didn't get everything that you want, a second layup in the barrel channel would be a good try. You'd have to make room for the layup, of course.

If it's a flat-bottom stock, you could cut the butt off in line with the flat bottom then do a layup along that entire length. You'd be "gluing" the butt part back on with the layup, but you'd have to put a slick finish on the forearm part for it to look OK and ride a bag smoothly.
 
thanks for the answers fellas

Maybe I didn't express myself correctly - I don't intend to do some sort of laminating the stock (or even using the laminated wood for one), but I am asking is there a way to use some sort of paint/epoxy or some other product, that when applied in a way painting is done, that can the wooden stock stiff, so that wooden part wouldn't "breathe" and change shape in the future?
 
Thanks,
I did come to conclusion to that answer myself in the meantime.
So I should go in another direction.

Where to look for a thin fiber of carbon/Kevlar or something similar, that can be used to "wrap" the stock with, and "glue" it with some epoxy based glue, and then paint it in some conventional way?
 
If you line the barrel channel with carbon fiber, that should go a long way toward stiffening the stock in that area. The question is whether you have the tools and skills to do this. If not, your best option would be to purchase a more suitable stock. How do you know that you have a stock stiffness issue? What kind of rifle do you have, and what do you use it for?
 
to "stabilize" a stock is what we call it in the m14 world you keep soaking it with some kind of epoxy and vacuum bag it. it'll pull it into the wood and make it solid.
 
UlicniTrkac said:
Thanks,
I did come to conclusion to that answer myself in the meantime.
So I should go in another direction.

Where to look for a thin fiber of carbon/Kevlar or something similar, that can be used to "wrap" the stock with, and "glue" it with some epoxy based glue, and then paint it in some conventional way?
Click to expand...

If you are just looking for a finish, then the hydro dip kinds of finishes might work well. Won't do anything for stiffness, though.

You can wrap a stock in layups. Some of the most popular benchrest stocks going are balsa and carbon fiber inside wrapped in a shell of carbon fiber.

They are generally just finished and painted with auto clear as the carbon fiber finish is pretty attractive.

As an aside, there are all kinds of colors and weaves of carbon fiber cloth. For example, I saw one last year that had copper wire woven into it. It was super attractive.
 
I want to use it on several rifles, all based on Mauser actions. One is for hunting, other is for long range shooting (nothing competitive), third is for lets call it plinking.
Where I live, purchasing of a suitable stock is almost impossible. Also, ordering it from USA isn't an option - too much paperwork and freight/import costs.
I do (with help of others) have the skills and machinery needed for that kind of work.
I am not about the looks - those stocks will be painted after the work is done, right now I am just looking for a source of material (and what material) to use for this kind of upgrade.
I notice the issue periodically, because of the climate (shifting poi etc). Maybe these stocks were made poorly at first, but after spending time to set them to fit me, ordering and paying for another three is a last thing I am going to do, if needed.
 
just vacuum bag em with fiberglass resin and theyll be solid as a rock. when we do it to an m14 stock it essentially makes it fiberglass. any custom car restorer types that do fiberglass work will have the stuff or since its not firearms related you should be able to score it locally
 
Thanks for the tips. I ll let you know how it turned out :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top