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Step 7Shaping and sanding
the dim beams of desperate light, fighting with great determination through the minute cracks in the shutters, barely illuminating the object that lay clamped to the bench were still enough for the tresspassers to understand that they had encountered a thing which would have been better left undisturbed. It's rough unfinished shape filled them with unease; then they noticed the diminuitive creature in round spectacles holding a pointed rasp rather threateningly . . .
Tools and Materials:
The first thing you wan to do is take the rasps (a file will work too but will take much longer) and bevel all of the edges and give the underside of where your barrel channel will be a round edge. Remember that the rasp will tear the living daylights out of your wood but this is OK since we'll fix that by sanding. Also bear in mind that you want this to be comfortable. I cut into the round edges a bit to make it fit my shoulder well and narrowed out the area under the trigger where my hand is going to be. It's hard to be too specific since the actual shaping of the stock will depend very much on the design you've made . . .If you need pointers then I'd suggest looking at real gun stocks(if you don't have an old fashioned rifle then google should come to the rescue) and imitating their edges etc. Remember . . .when using rasps, files, sandpaper, and the like always (as much as possible) go with the lines of the grain!
Once you're happy with the way it feels(ignoring the fact that it's rough) it's time to whip out the orbital sander. Put a 100 grit piece of paper on it and clamp the stock in a vise (unless it's already in one) and carefully smooth out all the unevenness. Every once in a while check the paper . . .it will fill up with sawdust and needs to be taken off and whacked against something hard to clear it out. After a while, the paper is useless even after whacking so simply slap a new one on. Keep sanding until all the gouges from the rasping are gone and then move to a higher grit paper and repeat. Once you've worked your way up to 180 then you can probably call it quits but if you'd like to go higher then feel free. A thing to notice is that after you start smoothing the thing out your vise will begin to leave ugly marks. At this point it's advisable to get a thick towel or other cloth to wrap the piece in before clamping it.
A friend of mine absolutely hates this sort of work(sanding and whatnot) for some reason or another . . .probably finds it tedious but for me it's the best! You can take that ugly hunk of wood and give it a nice shape and really transform the way it looks! Whether you love it or hate it keep chugging along (and keep an ice cold beverage in a resealable bottle handy . . .that dust dries you out like no other!)
Tools and Materials:
- Sandpaper 80 grit and up
- Orbital Sander w/ a range of 100 to 180 grit sandpaper
- Rasps
- Your stock
The first thing you wan to do is take the rasps (a file will work too but will take much longer) and bevel all of the edges and give the underside of where your barrel channel will be a round edge. Remember that the rasp will tear the living daylights out of your wood but this is OK since we'll fix that by sanding. Also bear in mind that you want this to be comfortable. I cut into the round edges a bit to make it fit my shoulder well and narrowed out the area under the trigger where my hand is going to be. It's hard to be too specific since the actual shaping of the stock will depend very much on the design you've made . . .If you need pointers then I'd suggest looking at real gun stocks(if you don't have an old fashioned rifle then google should come to the rescue) and imitating their edges etc. Remember . . .when using rasps, files, sandpaper, and the like always (as much as possible) go with the lines of the grain!
Once you're happy with the way it feels(ignoring the fact that it's rough) it's time to whip out the orbital sander. Put a 100 grit piece of paper on it and clamp the stock in a vise (unless it's already in one) and carefully smooth out all the unevenness. Every once in a while check the paper . . .it will fill up with sawdust and needs to be taken off and whacked against something hard to clear it out. After a while, the paper is useless even after whacking so simply slap a new one on. Keep sanding until all the gouges from the rasping are gone and then move to a higher grit paper and repeat. Once you've worked your way up to 180 then you can probably call it quits but if you'd like to go higher then feel free. A thing to notice is that after you start smoothing the thing out your vise will begin to leave ugly marks. At this point it's advisable to get a thick towel or other cloth to wrap the piece in before clamping it.
A friend of mine absolutely hates this sort of work(sanding and whatnot) for some reason or another . . .probably finds it tedious but for me it's the best! You can take that ugly hunk of wood and give it a nice shape and really transform the way it looks! Whether you love it or hate it keep chugging along (and keep an ice cold beverage in a resealable bottle handy . . .that dust dries you out like no other!)
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