Thread: Bent timber stock.

Hi folks,

I've got a project tidy up Ruger M77 with original timber stock.
It's got quite a pronounced bend centred around the grip.
I heard that it was the thing to bend stocks left or right depending on your handedness, perhaps this has been done here ?
I am thinking of trying to straighten it.
I'm hoping to use steam "Comments please".
If steam is a go, should I apply it to the inside or outside of the bend ?

(Please be gentle with me)

Hall

Stock bending is an art. Properly done in a bath of hot linseed oil. The stock is braced with several adjustable clamps and bent after heating. Usual to over bend as the wood will "return" after cooling somwhat. Best to use a professional unless ypu accept a risk.

Steel tube with a wallpaper steamer, what have you got to loose worst case you put a plastic stock on it. I certainly would be giving it go if I thought I could do it and had time to spare

Never tried anything this complex but if you heated the whole stock in a bath/steamer I'd expect it to warp/twist randomly. You could try to avoid that by securely clamping all around the butt and the fore-end separately then apply tension in the required direction and use focused steam in the area you want to flex.
Steam may work better if there's no coating on the wood.
Whatever way you decide to do it you may be able to open up the stock and re-bed the action to counter any movement.

Having steamed bits for boats, I'd steam the whole thing and have a form, to bend it to and clamp it to.

A good thick plastic bag in a wooden box is all that is needed to contain it, the stock and form inside that. Steam for some hours, open and adjust clamps a bit, repeat as necessary.

As Woody says below, 1 or 2 mm would be my guess.

Originally Posted by Woody

...Usual to over bend as the wood will "return" after cooling somwhat...

IMHO-take it to a good gunsmith seek their opinion and if there is a person who can sort the issue.

Yeah difficult job to do on a stock. I haven’t done it (haven’t needed to) but I’m a stock maker and have experience bending wood when making self bows.
When adding recurves or untwisting the limbs of a bow, most bowyers use dry heat. Steam can be used, as it’s just another way to get the heat into the wood fibres. It’s the heat that allows the fibres to slip past each other when the bend happens, not the water. Anyway, the problem you’re going to have is getting enough heat into the wrist of the stock to allow the fibres to slip, without pushing the heat into the action area and bending it through there too. Also would need to be careful not to bake the wood (make it too dry and brittle).
Going to take jigs, heat, lots of time for the heat to soak in, and a way to hold the stock in the desired shape until it has cooled completely.

Originally Posted by MarkN

Having steamed bits for boats, I'd steam the whole thing and have a form, to bend it to and clamp it to.

A good thick plastic bag in a wooden box is all that is needed to contain it, the stock and form inside that. Steam for some hours, open and adjust clamps a bit, repeat as necessary.

As Woody says below, 1 or 2 mm would be my guess.

This. And for proper penetrating heat don't skimp on the steam time. This may mean several refills of the wallpaper steamer's reservoir unless it's a big industrial one.

The steam itself is not what does the job but it's just a means of delivering heat. The heat softens the wood's lignin which then allows bending of the wood with relatively light effort. Once the wood cools and is released from its clamping it retains its new shape ... with no springback! Magic!

I did it once with a twisted No 4 lower wood, using a clear polypropylene plastic sock designed for heat sterlisation of instruments. Allowed me to pre-clamp it to the desired shape before heating, which avoided rushed handling of hot wood.

Thanks folks,
I've got nothing to lose.
Got good clamping ability and stability.
So probably use a hot air gun shooting down a piece of furniture tube.
Last night I left it clamped and held straight, this morning when I released it, it initially remained straight, but as expected by lunch time it was bent again. Looking optimistic though.

Beware hot air gun also super dessicates the wood. It will take in moisture quite hungrily once out of your kiln.

I'm probably off the mark, but what about heating it with stripped action and bottom metal in place? With a good coat of rust prevention of course. Stand off barrel with tape or similar to prevent forend warping and then just clamping through the wrist?

The point with steam is that it doesn't dry the wood out. If you dry the wood out, you can bend it but it can also shrink in weird places due to drying out and also as it is now really dehydrated, it can drag moisture out of the air basically acting like a damp rid and end up warping in weird ways...

My gunsmith dose it with a hot lamp. He would have done thousands of shotguns.
Getting your shotgun fit here is a regular thing. Cost about £150.
Basically puts it in a vice and the applys the heat to the required area.
Have a read through here might help with your project https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads...rience.527328/

Post #6 on that sight shows a similar set up to what my gun maker dose.
Post #10 shows one in the jig with the lamps on.

Might be cast
ie bent on perpose
Alot of custom stocks for rifles and shotguns are
Problem with it is its very personal to the shooter
Which is why you don’t see it often on factory firearms even very high end ones because it’s impossible to make it suitable for everyone
Most common on shotguns but i have seen it done on rifles and owned a couple
Way better than a straight stock…. If it happens to fit you that is