Here are three photos of an aftermarket stock blank that unfortunately had two voids in it. I have extra wood from the blank and am considering cutting a circular hole and then a circular plug with the grain in the same direction. The color should be relatively close as it is out of the same blank or inlet in a fill piece. In the worst scenario I could put in West epoxy for a utilitarian stock or paint it.
Any ideas or tutorials would be of help. I may also put an all thread rod in the wrist area to strengthen it. It would not be visible as it would come in from the bottom and have a walnut plug on top. Thanks
In all fairness I got the blank off of ebay. It was larger than normal and there were no visible defects. Only during the rough shaping did the voids appear. It will finish out 95% or more.
I have plenty of time so I can make it serviceable at worst but hope to be able to match the plugs well. We shall see, it will be some months before I will have it done with other things going on.
Wow! that huge hole at the wrist would be a killer for me. That part of the stock is the weakest to start with, and with a knot right in the critical area, I wouldn't put any time into making it functional. Even by reinforcing with a steel rod, there is still not enough good material around it to make for good support. In all honesty, I think you'd be better off finding a better blank and investing your time in it. It's a shame we couldn't x ray blanks to get around little treasures like that.
I just ran into the same problem, although not nearly as bad as yours. I had a board big enough for 2 blanks, but no matter how I laid them out, one would be fairly clear and the other was gonna have a knot. The best one had a small (like the size of a pencil eraser) knot that was centered in the middle of the pistol grip face, which was a snap to fix by inlaying a diamond insert. The other had 2 larger spots,(knots) one on the left side of the forearm, and one close to the toe. The voids were minimal, and filled with one application of epoxy. After finishing they sat for about a month while I debated about a stippling pattern. I went to drop the barreled action in, and it would no longer fit. The stock had warped because of the intensity and location of the knots. So now I have a stock with a few curly burly spots that looks like a snake.
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
I appreciate the feedback.
Pour it colored epoxy, (blue, yellow, red or green perhaps).
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