Carbon Fiber Axis Stock

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum! I'm starting a new project here to keep me busy this winter with the crummy Indiana weather. My goal by the end of winter is to have a finished AND functional hand laid carbon fiber stock for the rifle build that I will be slowly working on in 2020.
What I'm hoping for is someone, or a few people with broken axis stocks that I could purchase to use for molds/templates for laying carbon fiber. I'm not sure EXACTLY how I want to tackle the carbon fiber project, but I would rather use a few cheap broken stocks than ruin a good stock perfecting the process. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

PM me your address. Run i’ll give you mine. Un broke Axis stock. I would love to have a homemade Carbon fiber. I’m in.

If you have not worked with CF before then suggest you start with some simple shapes first and work out the bugs. It is not easy stuff to work with and not near as simple as fiberglass.

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Originally Posted by Runkelbl

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum! I'm starting a new project here to keep me busy this winter with the crummy Indiana weather. My goal by the end of winter is to have a finished AND functional hand laid carbon fiber stock for the rifle build that I will be slowly working on in 2020.
What I'm hoping for is someone, or a few people with broken axis stocks that I could purchase to use for molds/templates for laying carbon fiber. I'm not sure EXACTLY how I want to tackle the carbon fiber project, but I would rather use a few cheap broken stocks than ruin a good stock perfecting the process. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

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I don't have a stock you are looking for. I have a 116 accustock off a weather warrior and I'm in Indiana (Greenwood). Does this help?

Carbon fiber isn't that hard to work with but you do have to know what you are doing to see any advantage over a similar layup using S-glass or E-glass.

Start by making a foam buck to experiment with the shape. Probably use some inserted aluminum or CF tubes inside the foam to keep it straight. Once the shape is close, wrap it in fiberglass, then use body filler to tweak the shape and get the lines right. Spray it with epoxy primer and wet sand it glass smooth for mold release. Now use that male buck to pull female molds. They should have some structure to keep everything straight when the buck is removed but that structure should be removable so you can unbolt and flex the mold to release a part. Now you have to figure out a way to align your carbon fiber inside the mold during the lay up, fill the core with expanding foam and make it strong enough without adding excess weight.

Or you could cut corners, make crappy molds and use it to just mold a foam core with some built in supports, sand it smooth, wrap that with fiberglass, do some body work and then paint.

The virtue of the crappy method is that you don't risk voids and areas that don't wet out. It's cheaper and faster too.

The downside is that you are not going to get a gelcoat type finish, it will probably weight a few ounces more and it might not be quite as stiff.

Thanks for offering your stock. Again, I would hate to ruin a perfectly good one, since I may end up having to cut and piece together as I am making my molds. I really appreciate the offer though!

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Originally Posted by Orezona

I don't have a stock you are looking for. I have a 116 accustock off a weather warrior and I'm in Indiana (Greenwood). Does this help?

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Thanks for offering your stock. Again, I would hate to ruin a perfectly good one, since I may end up having to cut and piece together as I am making my molds. I really appreciate the offer though!

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Originally Posted by flyer

Carbon fiber isn't that hard to work with but you do have to know what you are doing to see any advantage over a similar layup using S-glass or E-glass.

Start by making a foam buck to experiment with the shape. Probably use some inserted aluminum or CF tubes inside the foam to keep it straight. Once the shape is close, wrap it in fiberglass, then use body filler to tweak the shape and get the lines right. Spray it with epoxy primer and wet sand it glass smooth for mold release. Now use that male buck to pull female molds. They should have some structure to keep everything straight when the buck is removed but that structure should be removable so you can unbolt and flex the mold to release a part. Now you have to figure out a way to align your carbon fiber inside the mold during the lay up, fill the core with expanding foam and make it strong enough without adding excess weight.

Or you could cut corners, make crappy molds and use it to just mold a foam core with some built in supports, sand it smooth, wrap that with fiberglass, do some body work and then paint.

The virtue of the crappy method is that you don't risk voids and areas that don't wet out. It's cheaper and faster too.

The downside is that you are not going to get a gelcoat type finish, it will probably weight a few ounces more and it might not be quite as stiff.

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Thanks for the info. I have done a quite a bit of research, reading, videos, etc., as well some fiberglass work and micarta. I have a 36x50 prepreg sheet on the way, as well as some large diameter carbon fiber sleeve and a sheet of standard pattern coming. I'll be messing around with it finding the best results on some body panels for a a coworker's race car. Will keep everyone posted as the process moves along!

Prepreg means you need a stock sized curing oven to get the resin to go off.

I've had lots of luck wetting out plain carbon on a flat surface covered with a plastic sheet. After your pieces are cut to size, mix your resin then individually lay them down flat on the plastic, pour some resin over the cloth, then work it in with rollers to saturate the fibers. Set up a production line to wet out pieces of cloth, then place them in the mold. Just remember your resin is only going to give you around 45 minutes to get everything wetted out and in the mold (for a 1 hour working time resin).

You can still use techniques like vacuum bagging to remove excess resin from a wet lay up.

I will follow your work with interest. Perhaps 30 years or so I got a Brown Precision graphite stock. Any sanding on it was almost impossible, so hard it seemed. Curious to see how yours comes out etc.

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Originally Posted by charlie b

If you have not worked with CF before then suggest you start with some simple shapes first and work out the bugs. It is not easy stuff to work with and not near as simple as fiberglass.

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charlie b- thank you for the heads up. I'll be taking your suggestion and experimenting with different methods on some other items first. But wont be long until I am working on the stock!

Quick update- Gun is on order, all carbon fiber and items needed have arrived. I have 2 body panels curing for a co-workers racecar, and so far, no major setbacks. Will continue to post progress and pictures as things progress. Thanks to everyone who has given me input and that is following along as the build moves forward

Any new progress on this?

Rifle gets picked up tomorrow. Hoping to bore sight it/then get a few baseline 5 shot group with a few different bullets before I start building. Should have gun apart and stock started this weekend. I can't seem to upload photos of the carbon fiber body panels that I finished, but they turned out great!
Build plans(open to suggestions):
:
-Carbon fiber stock/bedded
-Trigger job or drop in
- Carbon fiber or forged and milled trigger guard
-Bolt sleeve, bolt face, bushing, firing pin, hand forged bolt handle
-Proof Research carbon fiber barrel

I'm sure I'm missing some other things too.
Planning on documenting everything, maybe even posting the progress to YouTube. Will keep everyone updated.

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Originally Posted by Runkelbl

Rifle gets picked up tomorrow. Hoping to bore sight it/then get a few baseline 5 shot group with a few different bullets before I start building. Should have gun apart and stock started this weekend. I can't seem to upload photos of the carbon fiber body panels that I finished, but they turned out great!
Build plans(open to suggestions):
:
-Carbon fiber stock/bedded
-Trigger job or drop in
- Carbon fiber or forged and milled trigger guard
-Bolt sleeve, bolt face, bushing, firing pin, hand forged bolt handle
-Proof Research carbon fiber barrel

I'm sure I'm missing some other things too.
Planning on documenting everything, maybe even posting the progress to YouTube. Will keep everyone updated.

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I would love to see some pictures. Anywho, I would skip the trigger job and go straight to a Rifle Basix trigger. As far as the bolt I would sent it off to Chad at LRI and have him flute it. The price is great and turn around time is very quick.

I agree, a Rifle Basix trigger is probably the best bet, but I'm also holding out hope that Triggertech will eventually release a line of triggers for Savage rifles. As far as the bolt, I will be jeweling it myself. I kicked around the idea of fluting it, but if switch directions and go that route, I'll probably try fluting it myself. I have the luxury of a full machine shop at my disposal, as I am CNC programmer.

Anyways, pictures coming.......As soon as I can figure out how to upload pictures here from my phone

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Originally Posted by Orezona

I don't have a stock you are looking for. I have a 116 accustock off a weather warrior and I'm in Indiana (Greenwood). Does this help?

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Orezona, do you still have your 116 accustock? If you do, how much are you looking to sell it for? As I'm getting into the carbon fiber, Im realizing that I am going to need a donor stock, or an aluminum bed block (accustock would fit that bill)