gap along forearm.....

[magyar]

Morning all. my tow pre carve stock has a gap of about 1/16 around the barrel from about mid way to the muzzle. It is obviously noticeable. Not sure how to handle this. The barrel flats were only sanded so there has not been much if any metal removed. I am wondering if I should bed this area in epoxy thickly so it runs over so the gap is not noticeable. Ideas? I dont think I can simply leave it this way. Appreciate any ideas. Thanks

[Acer Saccharum]

You should be able to soak the forestock in HOT water, put the barrel in, then wrap tightly with surgical tubing or strips cut from bicycle inner tubes. Let dry for a few days, then unwrap, see what you've got.

I'd wax the barrel before you put it in the hot and wet stock.

[rich pierce]

I would try to bend the wood inward.  Wax the barrel, wet the stock thoroughly inside and outside the channel on one side about a foot at a  time.  Heat the wood with a heat gun inside and outside and place the barrel in there, then clamp it with a board squeezing the edge inward.  It will be tedious but may work.

Just saw Acer's response.  If it will work w/o heat so much the better.

[Acer Saccharum]

Rich?: Work w/o water? or w/o heat?

I think you need deep soaking heat. By soaking heat, I don't mean wet heat, but the wood you want to move heated all the way through. the fibers of the wood will move once hot enough, and stay when cooled.

You may have good luck with a heat gun. It's worth a try. Just don't char the wood.

If the heat gunt doesn't work, then try the steam/hot water method.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I have done the water treatment on a rifle to close a gap I thought was bad. If I was doing it again I'd wrap the barrel in saran wrap, 1 layer, the wet wood will aquire dark stains from the barrel if it contacts it.

If I had a steam box that would be my first choice but soaking the stock well, place the barrel in wrapped with saran, and either clamp or wrap with rubber tubing. It will close up the gap when the wood is fully dried and it won't re-open.

[coutios]

   Have you called TOW???   Once you have messed with it, it's yours.. Mention your concern. Follow their lead.. Can it be fixed?? Most likely... But.....

Just my two cents
Regards
Dave

[Bill-52]

I've used a steam box for a similar issue with excellent results.  The box was roughly 5" x 5" pine and long enough to steam the entire barrel channel (and span our kitchen stove).   It was open on the bottom for the steam with holes at each end for the stock.  I used bicycle inner tube over the end holes, slit to provide somewhat of a seal.  Underneath, I used a long gardening tray to hold the boiling water (the ends of the box were tall enough to allow for the gardening tray to just fit underneath).  Rather than steam the stock with the barrel in, I made a wood "half" barrel, profiled like my actual barrel, that came up only to the top of the barrel channel.  When wrapped with bicycle inner tube, this helped pull the stock tight to the sides of the "half" barrel.  I let it dry for several days.

One important tip: Make sure you overlap the inner tube wrapping. Wrapping with spaces, like a barber pole or candy cane, will result in a wavy forestock, closing the gaps only where wrapped. Guess how I know that........

Bill

[Acer Saccharum]

barber pole gun. I like that analogy.

[Bill-52]

It wasn't pretty, Tom.  Unique maybe, but not pretty.......

[redheart]

Magyar,

The guys have some excellent solutions for your problem but I have to agree with Dave. You shouldn't have to go through all that trouble of fixing the stock. TOW should step up and send you a better stock and I believe they will if you tell them the problem.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

It's possible you got a stock Profiled for a different barrel profile than you wanted.

[magyar]

Thanks everyone for your assistance with this problem. I soaked the forearm in hot water about 3 hours then stuck in the barrel, wrapped in saran wrap, ran a couple of 2x2s down the sides and squeezed her tight with c clamps about every 4-5 inches or so. I had some travel for work so it sat about 2 weeks until yesterday. When I took off the clamps, presto! Fit like a glove!

Yes there is some staining to the wood even with the saran wrap being used. Not sure why. But given where it is it is not a problem.

Got to say thank you greatly for all of the help a newbie like me gets here on the forum.

[Old Ford2]

Don't you just love this site!
The fellows are right there to lend advice and help to overcome a problem.
And I might ad, with many years of experience.
Fred

[flehto]

It's much better to receive a precarve fresh off the profiler...chances are that your stock sat for awhile w/o a bbl.  A few years back, I rec'd a precarve that had a twisted forestock and an oversize bbl inlet in certain areas and the remaining inlet was undersize. Didn't even attempt to use it.....had previous frustrations w/ another, similar precarve. I sent mine back...in fact the whole "kit and kaboodle" was sent back and rec'd a full refund w/o difficulty.   Mainly build now using blanks. I agree w/ wetting and surgical tubing and letting it sit for a month.......Fred

[jerrywh]

 For the future of others try this.
Acer gives good advise. The heat gun will work. Wrap the forestock with a 100% cotton rag.  
 [NO SYTHETIC RAGS]  Synthetic rags will melt from the heat.  Wet the rags through with clean water. USE a spray bottle to keep the rags wet while you heat them with the heat gun. If the rags start to scorch then you are too hot. after about 10 minutes of heating tightly wrap over the rags with plastic electrical tape or cotton sting wrapped very tightly. wait about two or three hours before unwrapping.
  After a week or so the stock will dry out at this spot and there will be some gap but not much. If you want to and have the patience just re wrap the stock with clean dry cotton rags and tape as before but don't wet and just let it dry for a week or so in a warm place.

[Mark Elliott]

I would strongly suggest that before you go to the more aggressive solutions, your try this idea.    Take the barrel out and thoroughly web the INSIDE of the barrel channel only and replace the barrel.   This will cause the barrel channel to swell on the inside and open up even more that it already has.   However,  when the inside drys,  it should close up tighter than it was originally.     I got this procedure from Wallace Gusler and have used it a few times to good effect.   Also,   I have found that as you cut away the wood on the outside of the forearm toward it's final thickness,  the wood curls into the barrel channel.   This is why you should always put up the gun with the barrel in the barrel channel once you start to inlet it.    I have seen stocks where the barrel channel was inlet and then set aside for some time without the barrel in place that closed up by 1/32" or more so that the barrel would not go back in the inlet.   In order words,  it might be too soon to worry about this problem.   

[Jim Kibler]

The idea that the stock will shrink slightly after wetting, expanding and then drying is accurate, but it's a very small amount.  For closing up any kind of a gap this would require many cycles. 

[Jerry V Lape]

All the guys above are a lot more knowledgeable and I would follow their advice.  But lacking that  I solved the problem in my own way so if none of the above works you might considers this.  I took a longer  cut off from the stock and on a table saw cut long pieces approx 1/2" wide and 3/32" thick by 20" long.  Then with a scraper, thinned that even more to match the gap.  Used  stainable wood glue, thinned to prevent a wide glue line, to attach the strip. I still had excess forearm thickness  so I didn't need a bracing wood on the outside. Clamped the inside with 1/4" square steel rod   (cut into short lengths to accommodate the swamped barrel inlet shape.)  After it was dry a small scraper was used to thin the wood until the inlet was once again correct.  Since I had the same wood the grain match is about invisible and a little darker staining along the edges made it disappear completely.  Good hard maple is amazing stuff.  Some places that wood is thinner than writing paper and still has integrity.