Archive for July 2012
Winchester 94: Stock wrap up
In this next to the last post on the Winchester 94 stock project I will cover the issues I mentioned in my earlier post on this project. I will also show the almost completed stock and fore end. In the earlier post, I milled out the area between the upper and lower tang of the receiver to fit all the internals. Although I did protect the wood from the clamp on the milling machine, it did suffer a little and I was left with a few small dents in the wood. Luckily, they were not very deep and I did manage to steam them out. If you look at the full size pictures, you will also note that you can still see some pores in the wood. At this stage, the stock and fore end only have a few finish coats on them.
The next few pictures show the stock and the fore end close to what they are looking like now. Although it is difficult to see, there is still a few places where the wood pores show through.
I will do one more post on this project. I have gotten it very close to the point where I am totally satisfied with it. I still have a few small pores in the fore end which I hope will no longer be there after the next finish coat. Once I am happy, I will re-assemble, take a few close-ups and post those for everyone to see.
Posted in 
Quick update
I am taking a break this weekend and visiting some friends and family. As a result, I will not add any posts this weekend. Our semester is winding down and I will have a short break soon. During the break, I am hoping to update my posts to the point that any new posts will be on work that is no more than a week old. As I am getting ready to enter my second study year, I am also going to start on a metal engraving certificate course that is offered at MCC.
Tags:
Winchester 94: Stock finishing
The stock on the Winchester is now on the last few steps. To obtain a grade, we have to do at least one finish coat on the wood. During grading the instructor looks and makes sure that there is no scratch or tool marks in the wood. The finish I used for this stock is Custom Oil by Gun Sav’R. I chose to use a satin finish. The finish is available in an aerosol and liquid that can be sprayed by airbrush or paint gun. I used both, starting with an application of liquid rubbed into the stock.
First finish coat, left side
First finish coat, right side
Once I got to this point I realized I had forgotten something quite important. I had not removed all the wood in the buttstock and the action would not fit at this point. For reasons I will show you in the next post, I will make sure I do this earlier in the finishing process next time. So, of to the mill, to clamp and mill out most of the material that is in the way. It is a little tricky to clamp this and I had to take care to make sure everything was lined up correctly.
Milling work
After I completed the milling work (with a little filing as well) I started to assemble the rifle to ensure proper operation. I cleaned all the parts first and then assembled. Since it had been a long time since I disassembled the rifle, I did not go together on the first try but that is how you learn!
All of the parts!
Assembled
The next few pictures speak for themselves. When you work with wood, it is always difficult to predict exactly what it will look like as you shape the wood. An interesting pattern on the outside could just fade away as you start removing wood. That did not turn out to be the case on the forend. The slight discoloration between the forend and the receiver is some Acraglas. This time, I did color it a little darker.
Close up 1
Close up 2
Close up 3
Close up 4
Fore end view
I am happy with the way this project is shaping up. The barrel band fit is not perfect and there is a few dimension not quite the way they should be, but those are not very noticeable. The forend feels and fits really well in my hand. I should have one more post on this project where I will be able to wrap up.
Thank you again for stopping in and reading!
Mauser: Barrel crown
The final project for my second semester on the Mauser was to cut the barrel to length and do the crown. As this rifle is intended as a hunting rifle, I opted to do a recessed crown. This provides protection for the crown as hunting rifles generally go through a little more abuse than most rifles. I started by measuring the barrel to the length I wanted and doing the rough cut with a hacksaw. If you are wondering about the cardboard holding the barrel, it has been replaced by a proper set of vice jaw protectors.
Cutting the barrel to length
Rough cut done
After I completed the rough cut, I mounted the barrel in a lathe to complete the process. As with all the other barrel projects, the barrel is accurately centered in a 4-jaw chuck before any of the work is started. I then squared the muzzle of the barrel.
Squared
After squaring the muzzle, I cut the recess crown and cut a 45° chamfer step to the muzzle front.
Done!
At this point, I completed work on the Mauser for this semester. The next item that I will work on the this rifle is when I do the stock from a blank. This will take place in the first semester of my second year (starting August 2012). I gave the rifle a good cleaning, made sure I protected all the metal parts and stored it.