Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing File Primer

Ok guys..Sitka Deer, Sheister, Mule Deer...I need some information on files and rasps.

I want to do some reshaping, recontouring of my Boyd's laminate stock including chopping the forearm back to a shorter length.

Other priorities are a thinning of the wrist and grip area.

The reasons for this are it is slightly too large and has a slick feel to it that I want to get rid of.

I have looked at various files and rasps but am not sure what is best for this type of project. Flat, half round, single cut, double cut, the rasps looked like they were really aggressively cut.

The extent of my stockworking has been final fitting this rifles inletting and sanding and refinishing two others.

I may want to try my hand at some checkering when this thing gets done, but I'll save all of that for later!

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

You can't have too many files and rasps when it comes to woodworking in general and stockmaking especially.

The rasp that gets the most work around my shop is one of those 4 way rasps that is half round on one side and flat on the other and has a coarse and a fine grind on each end of the rasp. It seems to work great on the sweeping arcs like pistol grips and for rounding out edges. When it starts to get to the shape you want, anchor it in a vise (protect the wood with leather or cloth pads between the vise the stock) so the pistol grip is in a position you can easily get to. Then take a strip of heavy weight sanding paper in about 100 grit to start. Cut a thin strip, about 1 1/2" wide, and work it over the pistol grip in a shoeshine like motion by grabbing the ends and working it back and forth. Work your way to finer grits until you get to about 320/400 or so and you'll find it will come out like a champ. Be careful to keep the shape of your grip cap nice and round or it will look pretty amateurish (don't ask me how I know this) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

For the tip, if it doesn't wear a contrasting tip and is the base wood all the way to the tip, just cut it off at the length you want and take a rasp and start to round it off. It helps to have the old tip to use as a template to get it round. When you get it close, I find it is easier to use a quarter sheet or random orbit sander to finish rounding it out as that will contour out any lines you leave with the rasp shaping.

If the only thing that is wrong with your pistol grip is the "slick" feeling, you just need to have it checkered in the grip area and that will take care of it. Your grip will improve as well as add some detail to your stock. While you're at it, have a panel checkered on each side of the foreend. A couple of girls here in town who used to work for Kimber do checkering and a grip and foreend job runs about $75 or so. Well worth the money. I've tried checkering and so far it isn't something I will be doing on any of my own stocks. I'll need lots of practice before I'll feel confident enough to starting scratching out a pattern on somebody else's wood.

So many hobbies and so little time, huh?- Sheister

Mike, details please which boyds stock and for what rifle lol. tom

The Nicholson patternmakers' rasps from Brownell's are great, they really eat wood.

However, in the relatively soft wood that Boyd's uses, they can leave gouges that will be hard to sand out. So you'll want some plain fine cut mill files as well. You'll also use them as backing for sanding long straight areas such as the sides of forends.

I like the Boyd's stocks, they're pretty easy to remodel.

John

If you need to take off a lot of wood use the rasp first, then a corse file to get you down to the sandpaper stages. I've been checkering since I was 14, and am getting to where I can do a decent job. I'd never make any money at, as I'm way too slow. If you want to try it, get Monty Kennedy's book Checkering and Carving Gunstocks. Brownells are the best tool handles, Gunline makes the cutters I like. Get the kind of cutters that cut on both the pull and push strokes. Get a DemBart S1 cutter and a viening chisel (V shaped 90 degree gouge). Make yourself a cradle. Mine is made out of 2x4's. Practice on some scrap first. Don't get in a hurry, just cut 1 perfect line at a time. If you're willing to take your time with it, there is no reason it shouldn't turn out perfect first try. Read that book.

Tom it's the Mauser 98 JRS Classic on my Whelen.


If you have a Nosler Fifth Edition loading manual....The cover feels about like the finish on the stock..Kind of slick, I'm afraid it'll be too slick while hunting.

I like a thin grip like the Featherweight and Rem Mtn Rifle stocks.

Thanks for the input so far guys.

I'm not looking to remove tons of wood anywhere, maybe a sixteenth down the forearm and around the magazine area, the grip and I probably need to shorten the LOP I'm only 5'9.5" and don't forget the half <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mike

Geez, guys, whatever happened to roughing that sucker out with air tools? ZZZZZZZZ!!! RRRRRRRR. Gwzzt! Fwing!
Die grinders and peanut grinders have been my weapons of choice for the initial assault. The nuke weapon I used on one overbuilt stock was a peanut grinder with a chain-saw-tooth disc...a buddy that does "chainsaw" carvings turned me on to that one. Zooooom!
Of course, working with wood for wages and for pleasure are two different things.
Decent rotary bits and a little care will save you huge amounts of time....just don't screw up~

Dave that's how I did the final touch ups on the inletting..not air powered but Dremel powered <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> If I hadn't of gone with the Remmie style safety I wouldn't have had any touching up to do except some free floating.

Come on others tell me about files and rasps. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mike

Mike
Cannot add much other than to agree you cannot have enough of them and they are delicate things!!! Do not let them rest against one another on the bench or rack and keep them clean.

Do not use them on wood after you have used them on metal, which means you need a lot more so you can continue to cut metal.

With good technique there is almost nothing that a proper file does not do better than sandpaper and faster.

One of the most important tools is a metal straightedge just to make sure you are keeping those fields truly flat...

I much prefer a very slim grip and I am way over at the other side of the size spectrum with hands far larger than average...

Checkering a laminate is a waste of time IMO, the diamonds will not last where the laminations get thin...
good luck!
art

Thanks Art I was hoping you would check in.

Any preferences as far as single cut VS Double cut?

Mike

For hogging off wood you can use a #49 Cabinet Rasp
see link: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=5188 Sean

Here I go again, going against the grain. I use files for fitting actions but for stock shaping I use a Delta Rotary sander with a good selection of sand paper ranging frrom 80 grit to 220. I like to strike a center line down the fore arm so I can keep the stock dimensions balanced; equal amounts of wood on each side. I much prefer to work out in direct sun light when ever possible this allows me a better opertunity to see spots that are too flat or humps, flat spots are not a good thing, humps can be fixed easily just remove them. I do use files but not for shaping I use them for checling for straightness and flatness. Thus I use mill files. A good sander is hard to beat but care must be exersized especially on softer words. laminates are hard to hand sand due to their different densities of laminations. If you get in a hury you can eaisly get a wash board surface hand saning I suggust usinf a sanding block for final sanding.

Bullwnkl.

ROTR
You need lots of variety, so some of as many different sizes, cuts and shapes as you can find will be useful. Files really are cheap for the smoother cuts. The coarser the file the harder it is to keep it uniform, therefore they cost a lot more, rasps especially!

Good draw-filing type technique will go a very long way toward keeping the surfaces true...

Boily
Why am I not surprised? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
best to you
art