Thread: Build yourself a fibreglass stock

Step nine
Trimming and joining the halves

Right, now that the two halves have been layed-up, it’s time for a bit of waiting..... What you are waiting for is for the resin in the laminate to harden enough that you can cleanly and easily trim the laminate flush with the joining surfaces of the moulds. For the resin and hardener that I was using (West 105 resin with 206 slow hardener) it worked out at 2 hours post laminating was about right. You’ll know it’s too early because the resin will leave gummy deposits on your blade, and you’re too late when your blade won’t cut it reasonably easily. A good sharp Stanley knife is sufficient.

With that done, make up a thickened resin glue mix (I used west 403 filler) and apply to the freshly cut edges where the stock halves will join together. Now, bolt the two mould parts together nice and tight. Once that is completed, I layed two layers of glass cloth over the join from the inside. About 50mm wide is plenty. The forend is easy, buttstock more difficult, and the pistol grip really bloody fiddly. I made up a tool to help smooth the glass out inside the stock, which was basically a coat hanger bent to the appropriate shape with a loop on the end.

Once that’s all done, have a bit of a cleanup and crack a cold one, you deserve it! The best bit comes the next day......