Stock shaping

[R Whittington]

Has anyone tried one of those wood carving blades for an angle grinder to shape from a blank?

[T*O*F]

I know some who have, but they are pretty rough and need some clean-up.  A 1" Makita belt sander with 40 or 80 grit belts work much better and are capable of great accuracy in trained hands.  Plus they make quick work removing casting sprues and other metal protuberances.

[Daryl]

Long time back, I watched a video or movie of a guy using a hatchet to rough shape a stock. I tried it,
didn't work for me.

[Hank01]

Not tried one on a gun stock but use the $#@* out of one to shape self bow bellies. Super fast way to remove lots of wood. Just don't have the nerve to try it on a $600 gun stock blank. Call me chicken i guess.

Hank

[45-110]

I seem to remember a picture of Hacker Martin going after a blank with a hatchet.
kw

[mgbruch]

No.  I use a bandsaw.

[Jim Kibler]

Certainly could, but you better know where you’re going.

[sdilts]

I've been using an angle grinder with a carving disc for a long time. These are really good for rough shaping the cheekpiece side. I just changed to a disc that is less aggressive and I like it better. Got it at Woodcraft.

[Robin Henderson]

I've used a Kutzall disc on a side grinder. Really removes wood fast but a warning...be very careful.

[Goo]

A big rough rasp and then a finer one.   If you try to hack it with a hatchet or even sharp chisels on figured wood chunks can split off going  deep into the wood into the sections you need to as part of the stock.   Band saw off the thick pieces get it close to what you need and then rasp down the rest, make some long sanding blocks with 40 & 80 grit.  You need patience! a stock is all about feel, how i feels when you hold and how the curves and angles flow into each other.    If you start grinding and hacking then you are going to make mistakes .

[Bill in Md]

With nothing but a hand rip saw, a hand crosscut saw, a farriers rasp and a pattern makers rasp, one can shape just about any stock they wish to near finish proportions.

[Scota4570]

No.  That might be good for figure carving but no so much for stocks.  Most stocks are flat  surfaces.  A tool like that will not make flat surfaces.  I'd probably make a mess. 

I have used a power plane.  I wired the guard back.  It goes fast.   It also make flat surfaces, that is good. 

Not being careful enough and cutting my hand was not so good.

I have a drawer full of rasps.  The largest are hoof rasps.  I no longer see a need to remove material faster than that. 

[T*O*F]

Has anyone tried one of those wood carving blades for an angle grinder to shape from a blank?

Ric,
They are essentially a small chain saw so many of the "how I do it" answers are irrelavant to your question.

[Wingshot]

I might be out of my lane seeing that I’m just building my first rifle from a blank but I have experience with power and hand tools. I built (carved) many self wood bows back in the day and I live by the adage that, “you can ruin 80 hours of work in .8 seconds with a power tool”.

[Bill Raby]

   If you have enough experience and skill with one of those tools to do the job with it, then you would not bother asking. If you feel the need to ask, it is probably best to keep away from it. Goes like that for most power tools.

[R Whittington]

I’ve build many guns from blanks. I was just curious if anyone had tried the carving discs, not the chain saw ones.

[Wingshot]

I dare someone to make a video. Lol.

[Bob Roller]

I used to make wisecracks and jokes about cutting something out with a shingle hatchet such as a lock inlet but now it has a life of its own.
I used a Stanley Surform rasp and have one that is preproduction from 1956 given to me by a Stanley tool salesman and I still have it.
Termites and shingle hatchets have been replaced by advancing progress in woodworking and I grieve the loss .
Bob Roller

[mikeyfirelock]

I also use Surform tools for shaping.   I’ve found them to work better and be more “ user friendly”  than the other methods I’ve tried.  They are not as fast as some other methods, but you are less liable to make one of those “oops” maneuvers that require time, odd scraps, and super glue to fix.

[Eric Krewson]

Bow maker here; I shaped the two stocks on the guns I built from a plank with a US made #49 cabinet maker's rasp, I use the same for shaping osage bows. I started trimming the corners with my band saw and saw how quickly I could screw up (first gun) and went back to my rasp.

Hobbyists like me never get in a hurry, I don't remember exactly but it probably took me 2 hours to go from a wide, square blank to a mostly shaped buttstock, the forearm went much quicker.

 

[Old Time Hunter]

Yes you can use them. I have been using an angle grinder with both sanding and shaping discs for years. As well as , using a Makita 1 inch sander. As long as you have confidence in your ability to hold it steady and maintain your lines etc. I did shape the first 20 or so rifles I built by hand with rasps and such. That is a good way to learn the shapes! After wearing out my elbows with "traditional" shaping methods I found the power tools and have never looked back. Getting close to 300 builds and I can take one from square blank to a pretty close rough finish , ready for final shaping in about 30 to 45 minutes ! There is nothing "romantic" to me about taking forever to shape the stock, there is  WAY too much other work to get bogged down with that. I saw a Facebook post where a guy hand inlet a swamped barrel by hand with chisels and it took him 18 hours! I enjoy carving and engraving too much to spend forever shaping a stock!

[GrizG]

After removing a lot of the bulk with saws (band and hand) I've used scrub planes and jack/fore planes to do the rough shaping of stocks. Then I used smoothing planes (3 or 4) before moving on the tools like spoke shaves, rasps, card scrapers, etc. to work the areas around the wrist. The planes help keep the stock lines straight. With the radiused irons on the scrub and jack planes they can remove wood fast if set to take a deep cut or slow if set to take a shallow cut... the closer I get to the desired shape the shallower the cut I take. Sharp irons are very necessary and when combined with a tight mouth and York pitch you can avoid tear out with the smoothers.  Of course every stick is different so judgement is needed!

I've never been brave enough to use a hatchet the way Wallace Gusler did in The Gunsmith of Williamsburg. 😉

[P.W.Berkuta]

After removing a lot of the bulk with saws (band and hand) I've used scrub planes and jack/fore planes to do the rough shaping of stocks. Then I used smoothing planes (3 or 4) before moving on the tools like spoke shaves, rasps, card scrapers, etc. to work the areas around the wrist. The planes help keep the stock lines straight. With the radiused irons on the scrub and jack planes they can remove wood fast if set to take a deep cut or slow if set to take a shallow cut... the closer I get to the desired shape the shallower the cut I take. Sharp irons are very necessary and when combined with a tight mouth and York pitch you can avoid tear out with the smoothers.  Of course every stick is different so judgement is needed!

I've never been brave enough to use a hatchet the way Wallace Gusler did in The Gunsmith of Williamsburg. 😉

I also like using planes, spoke shaves, draw knives, chisels, a micro plane, files, and card scrapers. I tried the band saw on a 1903 stock ONCE -  . I prefer the hand tools - much safer to control .

[delivered]

Saw John Shippers do a demo at Conner Prairie with one of them power beavers
I have one and used it one time but was afraid of it getting away and destroying the stock or me !!!!!

[oldtravler61]

    Like any other tool.  You have to have  confidence in your tools and your ability to use them.  Get careless or in a hurry. That's when things go
 south....!
   Oldtravler