Allright,whos going to admit it?

[squib load]

I was in my garage working on my hawken long stock.I was using my hand rasp looking over at my 80 grit sander.Did I mention it was 94 degrees?I put that bad boy in the vise and went to work on my butt plate putting the curve in that wood.Now I know some of you sneake around and dont tell your buddies.Now whoes going to own up?The truth will set you free.squib

 

[Roy]

heck I use an angle grinder with 40 grit.. :haha:

 

[ohio ramrod]

As a cabinet builder I learned long ago that a belt san der can turn a light touch up into a complete rebuild. So I don't use the power sanders on gun stocks. Bridge port mills yes, belt sanders no! :hmm: :hmm:

 

[necchi]

60 grit on a bench mounted 36" belt sander.

 

[Birddog6]

This with a 40 git belrt will cut the buttplate work time to 1/4th of what it used to be.

Caution: It can also turn your intended 14" LOP into a 13" LOP, if yer not real careful with it !! :redface: :rotf:

 

[Roy]

:haha: just keep it movin :thumbsup: :haha:

 

[matt denison]

There are two rules of power tools:

1. one instant of inattention can equal 8 hours of work to repair your mistake.

2. if you can do it with a power tool then why do it by hand.

I have a die grinder air tool that with a 60 grit drum can do the contour of a butt plate in mere seconds. The trick is to stop 1/32' short of final finish.

If you can learn the skills needed to use a chisel then you can learn the skills needed to use a belt sander/die grinder/dremel tool with the right bit.

 

[buzz]

to rough shape the wood yep fit it nice nope
the old guy who taught me machining said the
hammer to fit file to finish

 

[F.G. Ford]

I have used belt sanders to rough stocks, but always file, chisel, or sand to fit.
One of the handiest tools that I have is a Black & Decker electric chisel, once again only for roughing. It really shaves the wood away in a controled fashion.
Old Ford

 

[LaBonte]

I'll admit to using powertools (as many old timers did - they just used water, steam, and or animal power rather than electricity) but I also use lots of hand tools all depends on my mood and what the intended end piece is....
Now if you really want to see something "scarey" watch Wallace Gusler in his video use a hand axe to roughout a stock......

 

[gmarc]

Just today I was working on fitting the buttplate to my TVM "Early Virginia" kit. I used, in part, a tool called a "Shinto Rasp" This tool really hauls off the wood, but offers great control

I don't have the nerve to take a grinder to a stock

Fitting this buttplate was bear....kept having to adjust the tang cutout depthin an effort to get the buttplate to nest up with minimal gap

Next I'm going to work on fitting the trigger group, tang and lock. I'm expecting a bumpy ride, if it goes anything like the buttplate. :cursing:

 

[duckhunt93]

or you could use a cheese grater

 

[rawhide]

I use one when building. just go slow then finish by hand or oops!

 

[Zonie]

I'll admit to using a 2 inch diameter expandable drum that uses 2 inch diameter sandpaper cylinders in my drill press or in my hand drill to rough in the general shape of a butt plate.
It works great as long as you take your time and don't force it.

I also use a 1/2 inch drum sander in my Dremel tool. I mount the drum in the Dremel flexible cable so it is easy to control.

It does speed the job of removing the many little high points that are blackened when the butt plate is pushed into place but to avoid mistakes one has to watch where its sanding and use a very light pressure.

That and using the Dremel with a router base and a small straight bit to cut the pockets for the tumbler, sear, bridle and spring in a lock mortice is about the only other place I use that power tool.
I should add that I NEVER USE A Dremel tool for actually cutting the line to line fit between the wood and the lockplates exterior. That is strictly a hand cut operation because the slightest quiver with a Dremel can gouge out a ugly gap.

 

[Xtramad]

Anything that makes the work easier and dosn't show on the finished gun, is fine with me. I regularly use a angle grinder for making lock parts and shaping barrels.

 

[mikemeteor]

heck, I wanna be set free too.

I use a chainsaw. :shocked2:
Ok, no I don't :wink: .

I've only fit 3 buttplates so far, but I found the 2" drum sander - 80 or 100 grit - in my cordless drill, referenced by Zonie above, does a better, smoother job with the buttplate radius than I was doing by hand. Ya do gotta keep it movin.

 

[bob243]

Sure I use a belt sander to remove allot of material in a hurry.

I also use a Dremel with an 1/8" endmill for removing material from a lock mortise ( I stull outline and remove edges with a chissel, but all the material in the middle comes out with the dremel)

I cut out my underlug and ramrod pipe slots with my mill


Once I get everything fitted thats when I move on to files and sanding blocks :grin:

 

[Birddog6]

Fitting this buttplate was bear....kept having to adjust the tang cutout depthin an effort to get the buttplate to nest up with minimal gap

Next I'm going to work on fitting the trigger group, tang and lock. I'm expecting a bumpy ride, if it goes anything like the buttplate. :cursing:

Just out of curiosity, why are you doing the buttplate first ? Most would do the lock first, then barrel, then tang, then trigger, then buttplate.

I do the buttplate after the trigger, because you set the LOP by where the trigger is positioned. If you do it prior to the trigger, the LOP could be too long & then you may have to reinlet the buttplate, and if it was a perfect fit you stressed hours over, that would upset me..... :cursing:

Or that is my way of thinking anyway.

I not being critical, and I know guys build them differently & lots of ways of doing it, just wondering of you thoughts are. :hmm:

Keith Lisle

 

[gmarc]

I ordered the kit with the LOP predetermined....but your order of operation makes perfect sense

I suspect the barrel tenon/pin fit up is going to be the real toughie. I plan on setting the tang/lock/trigger group, bolting the assemblies and then fitting the barrel tenons & pins.

These are stake type tenons rather than dovetailed, and I plant to stake them into their holes by peening the hole edge against them.

If you have any suggestions, I'm listening.

 

[Zonie]

This really should be in another Topic rather than this one that deals with using power tools when making a muzzleloader.

Maybe you could copy your text, Poke the "Add Topic" button to the left of the screen, title it something like "When Do I pin the barrel", poke the Paste button in the window that opens when you right click with your mouse, modify it a bit so it stands on its own and you'll get a whole raft of answers.

Now, back to the power tools. :hmm: