Stock Makers in Australia

[AlexE]

Hi Folks,

Can anyone point me in the direction of a stock maker who can make a good f class stock from a timber blank I supply? I'm having a woodworker mate build me a laminate blank using some Aussie hardwoods that I'd like to turn into something pretty, but am having a hard time finding someone to do the stock work

Geoff at JAG is in the process of moving house and is out of action, RV Rifle Stocks won't work with customer supplied blanks and Cameron Hatcher doesn't have a pattern that's suitable and won't copy a GRS stock I have due to copyright concerns.

Cheerio,
Alex

[willow]

Ken Noye?

[Tim L]

As a general rule I find there are few "craftsman" that want to take on half a build.
Your chippie mate may well know how to build a laminate blank, but does he know how to build a rifle stock? Is he putting any stiffeners in there? If so, where, what are they made of and how is he fixing them?
You then want someone else to take that blank and turn it into a stock with their name on it,,,,
To which guy will you point if it splits, warps or snaps?

[AlexE]

As a general rule I find there are few "craftsman" that want to take on half a build.
Your chippie mate may well know how to build a laminate blank, but does he know how to build a rifle stock? Is he putting any stiffeners in there? If so, where, what are they made of and how is he fixing them?
You then want someone else to take that blank and turn it into a stock with their name on it,,,,
To which guy will you point if it splits, warps or snaps?

My other hobby is playing bass guitar and have several high end custom basses that make f class guns look like cheap toys. Humidity and temperature changes will often turn the best of guitars from something that plays very well into something that needs some attention. Grain orientation and timber selection/seasoning is critical when putting together a guitar neck as if it twists much at all, it's junk

I'm confident enough that I can apply the same theory used in guitar neck construction in directing getting my woodworker when putting together my blank.

As to the location of of stiffeners, they'll be 1/4" laminations of quarter sawn purple heart with mirrored grain orientation. Everything will be held together with West Systems epoxy.

With any luck I can convince a stock maker that I have a least half a clue and they'll be confident enough to use a blank I supply - I've just got to track one down!

[BATattack]

Jerome at ziersch custom rifles. Has a really good f class pattern and knows how to build both high quality timber and metalwork.

[ilc]

You could try Phil Mastin

https://www.mastincustomstocks.com/

[Cutanything]

http://hatchersriflestocks.com.au/ Custom built inletted to suit Omark grip style of my choice

[Cliff Austen]

Contact bobeager. You can private message him. Details in Members List. he makes an excellent stock to your specifications.
Cheers Cliff

[Toddy]

As a general rule I find there are few "craftsman" that want to take on half a build.
Your chippie mate may well know how to build a laminate blank, but does he know how to build a rifle stock? Is he putting any stiffeners in there? If so, where, what are they made of and how is he fixing them?
You then want someone else to take that blank and turn it into a stock with their name on it,,,,
To which guy will you point if it splits, warps or snaps?

My other hobby is playing bass guitar and have several high end custom basses that make f class guns look like cheap toys. Humidity and temperature changes will often turn the best of guitars from something that plays very well into something that needs some attention. Grain orientation and timber selection/seasoning is critical when putting together a guitar neck as if it twists much at all, it's junk

I'm confident enough that I can apply the same theory used in guitar neck construction in directing getting my woodworker when putting together my blank.

As to the location of of stiffeners, they'll be 1/4" laminations of quarter sawn purple heart with mirrored grain orientation. Everything will be held together with West Systems epoxy.

With any luck I can convince a stock maker that I have a least half a clue and they'll be confident enough to use a blank I supply - I've just got to track one down!

Hi Alex,

There is a timber craftsman in Port Lincoln South Australia who has just stared making timber laminated stocks. I am trialling an F Open stock on my 284. He insists that the laminates must be 2mm thick and uses the west system epoxy only. The one I am using is made from West African Mahogany and silver Mountain Ash. The silver Mountain Ash is the main timber he will always use for vibration dampening properties and stiffness. The other laminates can be any quality timer such as Mahogany, Jarrah etc. He makes it with a spine using horizontal laminates. The stock I'm trialling at the moment is 39" long and has very little deflection which is due to the clever timber spine he uses. (no carbon fibre at all) quite amazing really considering how stiff it is for the length. He has also made a FTR stock also 39" long using the same spine for stiffness which weighs around 1kg using silver Mountain Ash and Paulownia, which is as stiff as cedar but is extremely light. I'll add a couple of photos of the f open stock. Wanted to share as his design is very clever.

[Toddy]

These are some of the photos during development. I can take a couple more pics if anyone is interested in the final finish? Cheers

[willow]

Looks nice, I like the nice wide forend which I presume will help tracking. Any plans to add adjustable hardware such as cheekpieces and buttpads?