It's been a while since I've been able to devote time to a build thread. A gun like this doesn't come around all that often and it being built entirely by a single shop is even rarer. It seemed only fitting to use it to get back into the swing of things.
This is a Palma Rifle for a gent out east. It starts with a chunk of tree and patterned off of an Ian Robertson built "Warner Palma" stock. Ian once owned Robertson Composites out of Canada. When he was around they were considered the top shelf choice for prone position shooting rifle stocks.
Sadly, the company is gone. Ian was a friend and hell of a guy.
I bought a used duplicator from a local guy and we spent the last couple weeks fiddling with it and making some improvements on it. First order was ditching the lathe dogs and making a clamping style arrangement to position/locate the back of the stock and the pattern. One slip with a lathe dog and the whole thing goes into the trash. It's near impossible to get everything oriented again. My solution with the alloy clamps eliminates the concern.
Here's photos as I progressed along with getting the general shape sorted out. From here I rolled the piece back inside (duplicators make one hell of a mess) and I'll begin the task of shaping out the final piece with a rasp and a collection of files. There's a couple knots in the wood that have to be dealt with. No biggy, just more work. All in all I think it'll be a really nice piece once its fitted up and finished.
More to come as we chew through this. Not too much longer Angel.
C.
Starting in the parking lot on a 35* windy day. No worries about being cold though. This thing is a workout to use!
New locators to replace the lathe dogs:
Initial rough cutting, just a general profile and stock removal:
Switch the tools and stylus, now onto some preliminary shaping:
Starting to put the "hips" in the grip area:
Done with the router, now back inside to get busy with a 49'er rasp. After a couple hours, its starting to look like something. Almost ready to come out and be shaped to final contour. Then it's off to barreling up the action, fitting the Grunig/Elmiger trigger (an LRI exclusive!) and finally inletting/bedding this bugger.
This is a Palma Rifle for a gent out east. It starts with a chunk of tree and patterned off of an Ian Robertson built "Warner Palma" stock. Ian once owned Robertson Composites out of Canada. When he was around they were considered the top shelf choice for prone position shooting rifle stocks.
Sadly, the company is gone. Ian was a friend and hell of a guy.
I bought a used duplicator from a local guy and we spent the last couple weeks fiddling with it and making some improvements on it. First order was ditching the lathe dogs and making a clamping style arrangement to position/locate the back of the stock and the pattern. One slip with a lathe dog and the whole thing goes into the trash. It's near impossible to get everything oriented again. My solution with the alloy clamps eliminates the concern.
Here's photos as I progressed along with getting the general shape sorted out. From here I rolled the piece back inside (duplicators make one hell of a mess) and I'll begin the task of shaping out the final piece with a rasp and a collection of files. There's a couple knots in the wood that have to be dealt with. No biggy, just more work. All in all I think it'll be a really nice piece once its fitted up and finished.
More to come as we chew through this. Not too much longer Angel.
C.
Starting in the parking lot on a 35* windy day. No worries about being cold though. This thing is a workout to use!
New locators to replace the lathe dogs:
Initial rough cutting, just a general profile and stock removal:
Switch the tools and stylus, now onto some preliminary shaping:
Starting to put the "hips" in the grip area:
Done with the router, now back inside to get busy with a 49'er rasp. After a couple hours, its starting to look like something. Almost ready to come out and be shaped to final contour. Then it's off to barreling up the action, fitting the Grunig/Elmiger trigger (an LRI exclusive!) and finally inletting/bedding this bugger.
