Gunsmithing How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

mdesign

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 2, 2004
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Nebraska
Any good ideas on what works to hold a wood stock firmly in a mill or drill press so you can drill or make a modification?

I have not found a good way to hold it tight without risking damage to the wood.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

Okay, I can do that. How do you deal with the tapper in the stock where one side of the vice tightens before the other? Put some extra leather on the thin side so the vice tightens equally?
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

chad has some interesting ideas going on in this thread that may help: link

this picture in particular:

DSC_0021.jpg
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

Sounds like that'd work Greg depending on how much taper your working against. There has to be either a shim of sorts or a clamping fixture to hold the stock down and or in place. The trick is to not damage the work piece. The end result is to hold the work piece in as rigid a set up as possible and avoid chatter and damage.

For one off projects, fixtures and jigs may be cost prohibitive. How ever you get from point A to point B is irrelevant, as long as you get there. Our imagination is usually the only limiting factor.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

Thanks 300, looks like I better watch that Palma thread
smile.gif
I like that "self aligning" clamp jaw that Chad is using on his Palma project.....gives me a low cost idea on how to make this work.

Yes Roscoe, this is those 1 of projects...my boy wants to pillar bed an old hunting rifle of mine. Sort of like it that he is taking an interest in such things.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mdesign</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yes Roscoe, this is those 1 of projects...my boy wants to pillar bed an old hunting rifle of mine. Sort of like it that he is taking an interest in such things. </div></div>

They do sell piloted Forstner Bits for boring pillar holes.

Here
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Skunkworks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I have a sneaking suspicion that those ideas didn't originate with Chad.... </div></div>

i never claimed they did and don't <span style="font-style: italic">think</span> he claimed that either. it was just a recent photo example that i thought may help someone.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

I have pinched wooden rifles stocks in vise jaws with foam rubber.

Turn the r.p.m.'s up really high for low tool force.

Follow the cutting with a vacuum, not coolant.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

Regarding my fixture.

I built this in 2004. It's a pair of Kurt Vises, one with gimbled jaws and the other with rigid jaws that are cut out at the bolt handle location so that I can machine those features in the stock as well. They hadnt been used since I left Nesika in 2006. I bought all the stuff I made back from them last summer when I was getting set up. NICE as I was not looking forward to having to do it again.

The vise on the right of this contraption is actually set up as an air table. The whole thing is so damn heavy that I did this so that it'd be easier to position/align the stock with the X axis during set up. Just mash a foot peddle and 20lbs of air picks the vise up slightly so that you can wiggle things easier. The vise on the left is on a big brass pin that allows for rotation.

Nesika's fixturing was waaaay over complicated for what we were doing back then. They had taken a "pallet" approach. Build several fixtures that would captivate the stock from start to finish. It never left the fixture till all the top side work was done. The problem was the set up. It just took too long to align the stock in the thing. IF you got too aggressive with it (like when peeling the action from the stock after a bedding job) the whole thing would slip and you'd be stuck with starting over. The other issue was all the bulk. The clamps and registers were always in the way of what you were trying to do. It just made the process lag.

This fixture was my solution to the problem. One fixture that provides for rapid set up that doesn't leave the machine. Chip to chip I can set up a stock in less than 10 minutes and have it qualified in all 3 axis's. My other solution was to build a "bedding jack" similar in function to a gear puller. Just slap it over the action and it bites the show line of the stock. Tighten two studs and you have a "drama free" method of pulling the action from the stock. Protects the delicate recoil lug area from being dinged up during that initial tug too. No more rocking!

DSC_0025.jpg


I set my work offsets so that the stock above the right side vise jaws by the radius of the action. This way I can set the receiver on the jaw and visually align/reference the tang location with the stock and establish the X zero position easily. All my programs are written so that the recoil lug/receiver ring is the Zero position.

It sounds complicated, but in practice it goes very quickly.

A piece of leather between the jaws is all you really need to avoid marking up wood. I used to use pieces of fire hose but it brinneled the wood with the fabric weave. Keep in mind I also rip through these at 300 inches per minute and 12K rpm. Great for machined surface finishes but you better be jonny on the spot with your work holding.
 
Re: How to hold a stock in a mill or drill press

Mmmmm...a piloted bit would make this process pretty easy. Have to check into this and see what my cost is.

Using a jig to pop the action out of a bedding job is also a good idea. Never really had a problem with round actions but have had the Mauser types be a little tricky, even when lubed correctly, due to all the edges.