Hunting knives and related projects

[Von Gruff]

This superb piece of wood turned up this morning and I couldn't wait to get it to the shed and plane off one side to straighten and flatten it then run it through the thicknesser to see what was hiding under the rough sawn surface.
I was more than plesantly surprised to see the wonderfull colours emergs with the grain structure being swirls and fiddleback with a marblecake apearance. It is the most even on both side of any blank I have seen and would easily sit amongst exibition grade blanks in any walnut supplier.
A very big thank you to Frank for this one.

[Von Gruff]

Made a start on the action inlet today. I didn't profile the top of the butt section so I would have a flat surface to run the hand router on. That gets done after the primary inlet is done down to the action flat
The underside is cut paralell to the top for the drilling of holes etc. As mentioned in drawing up the stock pattern the face of the trigger is marked in first (from the pattern) and the screw holes can be plotted from there. The grain has a lot of twists and turns so the inet is time for real concentration with grain ends going in all sorts of directions.

When the action flat depth has been reached the butt portion is run through the bandsaw to make the inlet of the tang easier.
Have still got nearly an 1/8 in to go but it is getting there and will do for today.

[Von Gruff]

Got the action inlet done and the trigger slot cut in. Next in line will be the blind mag well.

[Von Gruff]

The blind mag well has been done and turned out as well as I could have hoped for.
This is the slow wedge so that when I am routing it down I know that the well will be paralell to the bottom of the stock.


You can see the block that locates into the recoil lug area


There needs to be a means of holding the guide plate to the slow wedge so a length of 2x1 1/2 (cramping blocks) along each side has a notch cut in it to take the ends of the locating block. The top plate was screwed to these cramping blocks and with the notches and screw locating points I can be sure it will all go back to the same configuration on any stock I care to do the same thing to.



The router guide area cut into the top plate was cut undersize at first and with the stock in the vise held by the cramping blocks I could take the top plate off and it would go back into the same place again so I could gradually open up the guide area to leave the correct size well.


I fitted a piece of buffalo horn up the back of the well to locate into the action the same way as the metal extension does on the rear of the metal mag box. It will sit overnight with a wedged block holding the horn plate untill the epoxy sets.

[Von Gruff]

When I got to the shed this morning I had a look at the horn back plate and decided I didn't need it so chiseled it out and squared out the rear of the well and called it good. Fitted the bolt top and chiseled filed and sanded it into position then cleared over the top of the tang and left it for now.


I marked in the center of the butt and then marked in for a 3/16 cast plus another 1/8 for cant



With the butt plate fitted like this the mount to shoulder will be enhanced and I will have the necesary wood to do the cheek piece.

[Von Gruff]

With that done I turned to the grip cap as that will demarcate the wrist size for the shaping of the butt stock.
With a piece of buff horn trimmed to shape (1 3/4x1 1/4) for a slim grip


a rebate was filed round the edge



and then it was radiused over the top



after which a sand to clean off the file marks.

[Von Gruff]

The holes were drilled for the 2 little brass dowles and it was epoxied into place.


With the grip cap epoxied in place the stock was run through the bandsaw but just from the tang back so the shaping of the butt and cheekpiece was about all I can do untill the barrel arrives.

The cheekpiece is marked arround with a chisel but the multiple grain directions means that more care is taken with wood removal with this blank than any other one I have ever worked with.

Once the lines are marked in I found that files were the ony safe way to get things shaped without the risk of having the short grain chip out.

[Von Gruff]

Having got the general shape of what will be the shadowline filed in I will leave it like this un till the final finish shaping is done so the fine edge of what will be the actual cheekpiece is not damaged.

Getting the off side done was much easier so this is how it will have to sit for the time being.

[Von Gruff]

I decided to cut the two triggers today cut today and ready for when the GS can do the micro weld.



Both finger pieces are cut off so that when they are back together the fingerpiece is a 1/4 closer to the rear of the guard and much better visualy (my opinion) It requires the TG to have a waist filed into it but this all enhances the feel.

[Von Gruff]

this is what it will look like when done as I did the same thing for my DWM 7x57



after that was done I got the shadowline roughed in on the cheekpiece

[Von Gruff]

I had a real success with the barrel band sling eye. I had a few of the Lee Enfield inner bands that looked remarkedly like a good start to barrel band sling eye so I deceded to see what it would lok like with a bit of alteration.
I found a long threaded piece that fit the LE inner band thread and with it screwed right in to touch the opposite side of the band it held tight, so I could hold it in the drill press. Then with a file, I reduced the dia of the locating screw portion to the dia of the sling stud from TOTW. I also managed to hold this in the drill press on the tapered screw threads and with a small 3 corner file was able to reduce the shank to the o/d of the screw (still leaving a shoulder to go against the band locating screw area) and will get it threaded to go into the band although I may shorten the locating screw portion to the shortest that will allow the swiver to rotate without impacting the barrel. Was probably about 2 1/2 hrs in it so not a bad way to save sending money off the NECG.

Yhe i/d of the band is almost right but these bands have 4 little ridges to facilitate fitting to the LE barrels and with a little fitting it will be move up the barrel for another few inches till it ends up half way between the end of the forestock and the muzzle.

[Von Gruff]

Have made a decision on the trigger guard. I had originally thought to use a SxS shotgun styled guard but will use the mauser bottom metal and cimply cut the mag box off it, continue the bow curve round to where it meets the base that will be under the stockwood and cut it square from there. It will require a little weld to fill what is left of the sling attachment hole but the anchor screw for the rear action screw will need filling anyway so not a big deal. I will fit a nut into the under channel so an anchor screw can be drilled down through the stock and locate to hold the front of the guard.
It will get a waist on the bow so that is another part decided on that will get attended to in the days to come.

[Von Gruff]

Got the mag box cut off the bottom metal and shaped as intended. I thought I was going to have to weld some of the sling hole but when I filed the bow to the desired shape it dissapared so that is one thing to tick off the list and then it was simple matter to inlet it into the stock. I fitted the altered trigger from my 7x57 so I could comfirm it was all going to work untill I can get the two into one welded for this rifle. I still have to file the slot in the trigger bow base to allow the fingerpiece to travel to the rear further because of the change in its position.

[Von Gruff]

A little more got done after lunch with the tang re-shaped



The waist filed into the trigger bow



and with the t/g inlet down to depth, I could then refine the wrist shape and start to get some slimness into it. I wont go any further untill the barrel is inlet and I can shape the forestock and then it will be a simple case of joining the forestock to the wrist in a nice continuous radiused easy to handle shape

[Von Gruff]

I decided to changes thing a little as I had intended to lengthen the trigger when the two halves were welded back together as the bottom line of the stock is .185 deeper than ordinarily it would be with the standard bottom metal so I could have the mag capacity in the blind mag without compromising the strength of the remaining wood. There is about 3/16 left but this was making the wrist a little beefier than I like. It was near 6 inches in cicumference which is way to big for the style of rifle I envisage. The answer was to raise the trigger bow up so the trigger length would be standard and the wrist could be made much smaller and to do that I thought I would do the same as they do when an extended magazine is made. It can be subtle like this 350 Rigby mag

or this Hartmann & Weiss
or over the top like this one

I was thinking of the subtle end of the spectrum and set the trigger bow in an extra .185 which leaves the trigger length the same length and will preserves the stockwood thickness under the mag well.
Have it roughed into shape and was able to reduce the wrist circumference to 5 5/16 but should get down to under 5 inches when the finish shaping is done which will have to wait untill the barrel gets installed and the forestock shaped. This is how it sits for now.

Incidentally, the drop box can be made by cutting the standard box and welding it further down the trigger bow face. (If the available funds dont run to one of the expensive off the shelf units.