doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com First Stock Bend Job...and Second.

Great job Chuck.Seems to me if you bend a straight grip stock up,say 1/2 inch it would change the bottom line of the stock and cause a hump in it? Bobby

Bobby,
The old Parker was a pistol grip. My Reproduction was the straight stock and it got bent down.

Impressive there Chuck. You bending apparatus looks very similar to those I have seen in high priced gunsmith shops. I wish I knew how to do it....seems I'm constantly having stocks bent one way or the other. The guns I have had bent are all French walnut which apparently bends easily. I would like to know how your bending goes with American Black walnut. I have 2 Model 21 Win's with original stocks I would like to bend but have been too 'chicken' due to fear of breakage.

Buzz,
My Repro appears to be black or Claro. It's been bent twice, counting the 1/4" I bent it Satuday.

If I understand it correctly, wood has the fiberous material bonded by resins. The heat softens the resins, allowing the long fiberous material to slip during a bend. One side of the stock is in compression and the other side is in tension during a bend. Beyond that, I dunno what else might be going on in the wood during a bend. It stands to reason that various wood species would have different resin and fiber properties. Possibly one type of wood has different "melting" temperature vs another species of wood.

Chuck,I understand about bending your straight grip down ,but has anyone bent straight grip stock up,say 1/2 inch or more? Would the up bend mess up the bottom line of the stock? Bobby

Bobby,
Yes, the grip will look funny. It'll have a belly in the grip. I had a straight grip stocked AYA that had a 2 7/8" ish drop that I had a smith bend up to about 2 1/2". It looked a little funny if you looked at the side profile. I often thought about reshaping the bottom line and re-inletting the guard tang. But I sold it after I out grew it.

Chuck; welcome to the BRIGHT side of the moon! Started bending stocks in 1995. Your jig is impressive. Keep up the good work.

Dennis

Good work. I've bent about 30 stocks - a couple didn't work out so great. He's what I've found. Always check the flow of the grain through the wrist. The two times I've cracked a stock is because the grain came out the top and I was bending down. Think I would have learned after the first time but nooo. Also once a guy wanted some cast off on a stock that had some cast on. Once again I didn't notice the grain going out the SIDE of the stock. Good thing I'm fairly good at putting pins in the stock and glueing em back togeather. Bachelder steams the stocks - claims it works better. Wish I knew how to steam a stock. Like most things, just when you think you know what you're doing it'll reach up and bite you. Paul

Paul,
Thanks for the tips on the grain flow.

On whether or not steam or the lamp/oil method is better, I think it's all about getting the wood to the proper temp. Both ways will do it, IMO.

I recall bending some wood strips with steam. It worked well and quickly. There's steam and then there's STEAM. Steam can be anywhere from barely 200F to superheated. I dunno how to do superheated, but I would think it would need to be from boiling under pressure.