Preparing for Carving SKS Stock Replacement

[sharkcutup]

I will say that the Vectric software is impressive but I have gained a lot of knowledge from many of the users of this forum (which by the way puts the perspective way over the top).

I have recently been toying around with some of the various toolpaths I have used very little of and have found them very useful. So I decided to try to setup and prepare to carve an SKS Stock Replacement.

Moulding toolpath

Have a ways to go yet but I am very impressed as to how easy it is just to have accomplished this much of the project thus far.

Any Ideas/Recommendations out there as to material stock for carving this SKS stock out of???

Sharkcutup

[highpockets]

Nice start, keep us up today on the project...

[sharkcutup]

Thank You, I will definitely try!

Sharkcutup

[sharkcutup]

Continuing with the moulding toolpath I have been diligently fine tuning the the cheek pad contour blended towards forward portion of the gun stock. I have also tapered the tailstock portion of the gunstock.

Slowly progressing but I am achieving my goals.

Cheek pad carved in Mahogany

tapered tailstock

I have also been researching gun stock blank material and have found a couple of sites that sell gunstock blanks just have not decided as of yet which gunstock blanks would serve my project. I will post the links to the websites I have reviewed in another post after I have decided.

Sharkcutup

[scottp55]

For VCP...Coming along Excellently!!
scott

[rscrawford]

Nice to see that you're using the moulding tool paths. Too many people with Aspire go straight to 3D modelling, when you get a FAR better (and faster) cut using a moulding tool path.

[sharkcutup]

Thank you for the comments gents!

The Moulding toolpath is a tool that in some instances take some time to master when trying to achieve carvings such as this. For simple edge mouldings not so much -- A profile vector, a vector for the profile vector to follow with the proper direction selected.

In just trying out different orientations/positions the results can be very interesting and sometimes trial and error turn into something worth using (Happy Mistake) with a little fine tuning in the right direction.

A little more fine tuning in V-Carve and then it is on to the CNC to carve the proto-type for inspection.

I will have to create a jig to hold the gunstock upright for hollowing it out for the mechanical workings of the SKS rifle. Any thoughts or comments on this would definitely be considered!

Sharkcutup

[sharkcutup]

New Status of SKS Stock Replacement project:

Made first proto-type (trial) SKS stock out of 1 1/2" thick pine board. I am well aware that this is a bit undersize for it needs to be 1 3/4" - 1 7/8" thick to allow enough room for hollowing out stock for mechanical rifle parts.

The moulding toolpath played out very well in this project.

Looking sharp just some minor tweaking and changing around the curve on the butt of the stock (not exactly sure how that got like that)! Anyhow with the aforementioned items done I should be ready for the actual stock material which by the way I am still searching for.

Sharkcutup

[TReischl]

Coming along pretty darn well.

I am not a gun expert by any stretch of the imagination. Somewhere back in my memory archives I remember reading about guys who make custom stocks. An interesting tidbit is that they look for wood that has a bit of a bend to it so that the grain flows along the grip a bit better. Makes sense because the cross grain at the pistol grip is the weakest part of the stock.

The thickness required for making rifle stocks and wood selection is probably what drives the cost of those items up a lot.

BTW, I really like wooden stocks on guns, it just seems right to me.

[sharkcutup]

Thank you for the comments.

The thickness required for making rifle stocks and wood selection is probably what drives the cost of those items up a lot.

I totally agree that material thickness and the type of wood material can influence the overall cost!

I am not a gun expert by any stretch of the imagination. Somewhere back in my memory archives I remember reading about guys who make custom stocks. An interesting tidbit is that they look for wood that has a bit of a bend to it so that the grain flows along the grip a bit better. Makes sense because the cross grain at the pistol grip is the weakest part of the stock.

Yup! I am taking my time at finding a good wood material source for the stock needs to be at least 1 3/4" - 1 7/8" thick with a relatively nice grain structure.

What is going to be challenging is creating and making a jig to hold the stock upright for the hollowing out process for the rifle mechanics and of course the actual hollowing out process of the gun stock!

Sharkcutup

[TReischl]

Hmmm. . . .

Doing the mechanicals might best be done first? The reason I say that is then you can create a fixture that locates those features when you sculpt the outside? That way you do not have to create a sculpted fixture to secure the workpiece.

I am thinking that if I were to attempt this I just might build an indexing fixture that allows rotation in 90 degree increments, but that would take some serious figuring and thinking.

[sharkcutup]

This an old SKS stock in which I am using as a reference. This is what I am duplicating along with a few features of my own such as the cheek pad on the stock butt.

Here is a photo of what I dealing with as far as hollowing the stock out.

Sharkcutup

[sharkcutup]

Progress report:

I am presently working diligently on creating a fixture for holding the gun stock upright for hollowing out the inside for the mechanical rifle working parts. I am now thinking that maybe that rough cut hallowing should be done first then do the outside finishing. No need for special holding fixtures to do that just hollow out material edge to a rough dimension then finish later. Of course on the other hand, in order to finish the hollowing out you would probably need special holding fixtures anyhow.

Still searching for material stock to carve the good gun stock out of!

Sharkcutup

[sharkcutup]

Had to hold off on everything for this project.

Santa's elf needed the CNC machine for project gifts for Christmas. So it looks as if this project will be on hold until after the holidays!

Sharkcutup

[wmgeorge]

I have a very nice probe to duplicate a design, it works fine in Mach3 but I have nothing for Mach4 which I now run. I can switch back to Mach3 and do the probe routine and then save and touch up in VCP or Aspire, other software? Wondering if that would be an option?