- Joined
- Jul 29, 2020
- Messages
- 395
I got a Manners EH1 for pretty cheap and wanted a cheekpiece.
Lots of options out there, but I felt like going to the Nth degree for no reason. Here's how I performed hand layup with carbon fiber and epoxied it into shape.
My unadjustable Manners stock
Here's what I ordered. Shipping is cheaper if you have them fold the carbon fiber fabric instead of keeping it in a roll. Can't remember which way I did it. The stock uses a twill weave (I think), so I just bought whatever twill weave they had on sale.
The roll of the carbon fiber, with my cardboard template on top. I did 6 layers of carbon fiber for these I think. Highly recommend a good pair of scissors for this. The 10" Wiss "shears" they sold me were great for this.
The male mold I made with a chunk of pine. I just measured the width of the buttstock, and then ripped this large chunk of pine to match. It is 1.625" wide or something like that. I used wax paper draped overtop the mold to be my "release agent". The first one I made had the wax paper stick to it. So I used Johnsons Paste Wax and put several healthy coats of it on the wax paper for the final products. That worked alright. The wax paper is flimsy and still stuck to the inside of the composite a little. If I were to do this again, I would find a proper plastic/paper for this.
Next I mixed the epoxy according to the instructions. It doesnt take a lot, but I think I made like a cup each time. Then I brushed the epoxy onto the wax paper, put my first layer of CF, then brushed epoxy, then CF, etc. Repeat until 6 layers of CF are on there, then put a final coat of epoxy on top to wet everything out.
The first cheekpiece I made I just let cure in the open air. It came out extremely glossy so I chucked this one. Good learning moment. This was also where I found out the wax paper needed more wax added to it to make it release better.
The process was identical for the next cheekpieces I made EXCEPT:
I put a waxed-up piece of waxpaper on top the final ply of carbon fiber, used a squeegee to get the excess epoxy to get out of there, and let that assembly cure WITH the waxpaper on top. No air bubbles, nice and tight. Came out in a much more matte finish like you would want. Nice.
In the above picture you can see the EH1 with holes in the butt already. Here's just a closeup. I used my gunsmith's mill with a 9/16" endmill to make the through holes at a perfect 3" spacing. I also used that mill to cut the slots in the cheek pieces. CF cuts hard, so nice sharp endmills are necessary.
Closeup of the shell on a Manners. I just thought it was interesting. Sharing for others interest as well.
Here's the aluminum pillars I made to be my bolt-hole. 1/4" through hole, 9/16" OD. Put lots of ribs in it so that I can Marine-tex / glass bed it into the butt of the rifle. I wanted pillars because I did not want to squish the carbon fiber butt with my 1/4" carriage head screws and thumb-nut. Little overkill probably. Two pictures back, you can see these pillars dry-fit inside the holes.
Picture of prepping the stock for when I marine-tex'ed the pillars inside. Nothing much to say here. Gobbed in the black epoxy, gobbed epoxy onto the outside of the pillars, and pushed them in there. Cleaned up the outside and let it sit 24 hours to cure.
cont...
Lots of options out there, but I felt like going to the Nth degree for no reason. Here's how I performed hand layup with carbon fiber and epoxied it into shape.
My unadjustable Manners stock
Here's what I ordered. Shipping is cheaper if you have them fold the carbon fiber fabric instead of keeping it in a roll. Can't remember which way I did it. The stock uses a twill weave (I think), so I just bought whatever twill weave they had on sale.
The roll of the carbon fiber, with my cardboard template on top. I did 6 layers of carbon fiber for these I think. Highly recommend a good pair of scissors for this. The 10" Wiss "shears" they sold me were great for this.
The male mold I made with a chunk of pine. I just measured the width of the buttstock, and then ripped this large chunk of pine to match. It is 1.625" wide or something like that. I used wax paper draped overtop the mold to be my "release agent". The first one I made had the wax paper stick to it. So I used Johnsons Paste Wax and put several healthy coats of it on the wax paper for the final products. That worked alright. The wax paper is flimsy and still stuck to the inside of the composite a little. If I were to do this again, I would find a proper plastic/paper for this.
Next I mixed the epoxy according to the instructions. It doesnt take a lot, but I think I made like a cup each time. Then I brushed the epoxy onto the wax paper, put my first layer of CF, then brushed epoxy, then CF, etc. Repeat until 6 layers of CF are on there, then put a final coat of epoxy on top to wet everything out.
The first cheekpiece I made I just let cure in the open air. It came out extremely glossy so I chucked this one. Good learning moment. This was also where I found out the wax paper needed more wax added to it to make it release better.
The process was identical for the next cheekpieces I made EXCEPT:
I put a waxed-up piece of waxpaper on top the final ply of carbon fiber, used a squeegee to get the excess epoxy to get out of there, and let that assembly cure WITH the waxpaper on top. No air bubbles, nice and tight. Came out in a much more matte finish like you would want. Nice.
In the above picture you can see the EH1 with holes in the butt already. Here's just a closeup. I used my gunsmith's mill with a 9/16" endmill to make the through holes at a perfect 3" spacing. I also used that mill to cut the slots in the cheek pieces. CF cuts hard, so nice sharp endmills are necessary.
Closeup of the shell on a Manners. I just thought it was interesting. Sharing for others interest as well.
Here's the aluminum pillars I made to be my bolt-hole. 1/4" through hole, 9/16" OD. Put lots of ribs in it so that I can Marine-tex / glass bed it into the butt of the rifle. I wanted pillars because I did not want to squish the carbon fiber butt with my 1/4" carriage head screws and thumb-nut. Little overkill probably. Two pictures back, you can see these pillars dry-fit inside the holes.
Picture of prepping the stock for when I marine-tex'ed the pillars inside. Nothing much to say here. Gobbed in the black epoxy, gobbed epoxy onto the outside of the pillars, and pushed them in there. Cleaned up the outside and let it sit 24 hours to cure.
cont...
