Heanel Mod 1, Cleaning the Stock and Metal Work

A semi restoration.

While resealing and lubing the action I thought why not treat the stock?

When I first acquire a new (to me) rusty old air rifle, I always rub the metalwork down with some gun oil or 3 in 1 and some very fine wire wool and wipe clean with a kitchen towel - this removes the rust and shows me the condition of the metal. 

A quick rub with some oil and wire wool helped matters no end.

I can see either how much bluing or enamel is left and whether any of the rust has left any pitting, giving me the choice of leaving it as it is or completely rubbing down and cold bluing or painting with enamel spray paint.

State of the rifle when I first got it.

I did this to the Heanel Mod I when I first picked it up and found the barrel to still be in really good condition, and even though the compression tube wasn't so hot, the metal still looked dark where the bluing was worn. 

Lots of rubbing with 3 in 1 and 0000  wire wool and the metal is looking quite respectable.

So recently, when the stock was off and the rifle was apart, I thoroughly rubbed down every part until all the dirt and rust were removed. It took about an hour of rubbing which did reveal a little pitting along the compression tube just below where it sits in the stock. 

Pitting below fore stock line.

Having already spent a half hour doing this when I first got the rifle, most of this session involved the removal of accumulated grime, and seeing as it was over 75 years old, some of the grime was a little tough to remove. Once cleaned, the metal looked pretty decent, so I decided to leave it with it's protective coating of oil; besides, the rear sight and front sight hood are missing and I wouldn't really consider rebluing until they were replaced with original parts.

Rear sight in need of a competent bodge.

Front sight still useable.

The stock is made of walnut and has a lovely little oval brass Heanel badge on the side of the butt. The brass got a clean when I first picked it up but now that the rifle was apart, I decided to rub down and oil the stock whilst it was removed. 

Nice badge and a very old stock.

I had recently picked up a small pack of three grades of wire wool from my local discount shop, so taking a pinch of the coarsest grade, I rubbed down a test patch on the butt. 

Test patch with ingrained dirt from over 75 years.

It looked good, so using most of the rest of that grade, I cleaned the rest of the stock, first rubbing in a circular motion then finishing off by rubbing along the grain.

Four hours of solid rubbing with rough grade wire wool ... looks good but could be better.

Four hours of solid rubbing revealed a nicely grained piece of walnut. More effort was put into the end grains and the many dings and dents the stock had accumulated. 

The Butt needed extra attention, note the cracks that even steaming couldn't shift.

The wood is old and dry, and although the Danish oil is giving the outside a bit of a rejuve, the inside where the action sits is bone dry, so here I filled any light cracks with superglue and glued on some bits which had chipped off.

Loctite superglue fills those small cracks and rejoins any bits chipped off.

The accumulated years of sweat and dirt were still noticable, so one evening I used the remaining wire wool to get the stock as clean as I possibly could.

Hours more rubbing with wire wool and i'm a lot happier.

This was followed up with a rub down with the medium grade wire wool for about an hour, then about half hour with the fine grade just to get it really smooth. 

Look at the dust and crap on this, you can't beat a good damp cloth to show you what you've actually achieved.

With a fine cleaning of the brass badge, the stock was ready for oiling with Danish oil, which happens to be the only oil I have at the moment.

The first five or so thin layers of Danish oil tend to soak in to the wood before forming a laquer.

I have been told the best way to oil a stock is to rub on a light coat of oil every hour for the first day, one coat every day for the first week, one coat every week for a month, then once every six months to keep it topped up. During this process, the stock should be rubbed down with very fine wire wool after every third coat, and cleaned with a damp cloth. You don't have to follow the instructions to the letter but it gives you a rough idea. I have used this as a guide before and found it to produce very satisfying results. A couple of coats over a year with a light rub down now and again helps stop the sweat and dirt on your hands staining the wood, apparently.

Starting to look as good as I hoped it would.

So this stock got a coat of oil every few hours on the first day. Over the next seven days, it might've had two coats in a day, though I did miss a day due to being just too busy. But I did give it a rub down with wire wool after every third application without fail, just a light rubbing and a wipe with a damp cloth to bring back the silky smooth texture of the wood.

Baby wipes are very good for removing any wire wool bits.

It is important that each layer is as thin as possible, because after the oil has soaked into the grain it starts to build up like a lacquer and if it is applied too thickly it will feel bitty and take ages to dry. If there was the slightest tacky feel to the wood before rubbing with wire wool, I left it another hour and just gave it a wipe with a cloth in the mean time; the worst thing to do is rub down while it hasn't completely dried. Once a good lacquer base had been built up I left it to dry for 15 hours, then, using very fine wire wool I rubbed along the grain in single light strokes to remove any bittiness. A cloth was used to remove all the bits of dust that came off the wire wool, leaving a shiny smooth stock. I could if I wanted apply another thin coat of danish oil but will leave it for now as i'm happy with how it looks.

Ready for a good rub down with wire wool finally.

After the third day, I put the trigger guard and action back on the stock; any further applications will be made with the trigger guard left on but the action removed. 

After three days all bits and blemishes were rubbed out of the stock, I was left with a very smooth base to apply more very thin layers of Danish oil.

I was very pleased with the results as there are some lovely grain features in this walnut stock, and even though I couldn't remove all the dings and scratches it's still a damned sight better than it was originally.

Stock with many layers of oil, rubbing and wiping after a week.

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe.




And the Lord said "Let there be Weasels", and there was.        

Making a Custom Stock for the SMK B45-3

This is my first attempt at making a custom stock for an air rifle, but it would show me how easy or hard the process is. With this in mind i decided not to use a whole blank of quality wood, and use instead a plank of beech which could be made in two halves then glued together.

Lots of loud Ian Dury to work along to

Instead of a CAD design drawing that i don't have the first idea about, i sketched some designs in a note pad that i liked then using the existing stock drew an outline on a piece of brown heavy duty packing paper. I used a mix of Air Arms and Daystate PCP air rifles stock designs i quite liked as my insperation, doodling into a sketch book along with other projects till i was happy with it.  Now i could intergrate and extend the pump arm and move the barrel and compression tube support band forward, by bringing a length of wood out from the main stock that the pump arm would fit around.

God alone only knows what bit i was cutting here.

Once the design was down on wood it was time to cut the shapes out with a jigsaw, as i was having a high comb i needed to add some wood to the bottom of the butt stock.

Bits of wood stuck on to make the stock.

The stock was glued together and secured with 6 mm dowel for extra strength, the pump arm stayed in two halves as it had to be built around the rest and fitted neatly to the pump lever connecting pins.

All glued before the holes were drilled for the support dowel.

With the glued together blank in a vice supported with wood either side, i marked out and using a chisel slowly removed the wood for the action and trigger to fit into.

Very carefully chiseling out for the action to fit in.

 The wood at each side is to stop the stock from splitting when using the chisel, at first i didn't support the stock and lost a splinter of wood which had to be glued back on again.

Where the wood chipped off and glued back on.

I was pretty sloppy with my measurements and most of it was done by eye, but it seemed to work fine and i could always use filler to secure any loose fittings around the action. I tried many methods to remove excess wood, such as using a milling bit in a drill but it didn't prove effective enough.

The milling bit wasn't a great success.

However 40 grade sand disks just ripped through the wood with a lot more control for what i was looking for, then sanding by hand removed any ripples or flat surfaces.

This did the trick, and you can see where the white dowel was glued in as well.

I buy a lot of battery powered drills with the battery missing from carboot sales, then i just wire them up to one or two 12volt batteries depending on their voltage.

At a Quid a shot you can't go wrong.

After about four disks, some chiseling, and some rasping, i ended up with a shape i was happy with and a bucket full of sawdust, not to mention what ended up in my lungs and on my clothes.

Just some of the sawdust and chippings.

The next step was to chisel out the wood on the two halves of the pump arm, to fit around the compression tube and the bar from the stock.

Carefully removing wood so the pump arm will fit nice and snug to the bar that comes forward from the stock.

They need to be separate until i can line then up with the pin holes in the pump arm lever, and also so i could get them as flush as possible with the stock.

Yep, that fits nicely.

 Fits flush enough for a first attempt.

 This also involved a bit of sanding with the power drill, just so both sides fit snugly.

Evening off the other half.

The other little chiseling jobs was to fit the trigger guard off the old stock, this had to be done carefully as it had to line up to screw into the action at just the right place.

Removing wood for trigger guard.

But alas i think a little metal putty filler might be needed to sit the action in and for the trigger guard stock screw, or better still now i know where i went wrong maybe a brass collar would do the trick. I found a good use for some of the the saw dust, and that was too mixed it with glue and i could make a filler for any nicks or gaps in the wood.

Saw dust and wood glue filling small hole.

or where the wood didn't quite join and left a tiny gap.

Just see the once wide gap at the top of the picture.

But the odd tiny mishap aside i am quite chuffed with how it has come along so far, the fitting of the pins in the pump arm lever is some thing you got to get right first time if you want it to look good.

Looking good so far.

This is why i kept the pump arm in two parts so i could line up the holes in the lever on each half, and have the arm resting against the stock while the action was connected.

Two halves of pump arm ready to go

 The action was connected through the front screw in the trigger guard and the extension bar that holds the compression tube and barrel support, i used metal putty to sit the action in tight to the stock and hold the trigger return spring in the correct place (mostly).

Action fitting snugly despite the odd minor cock up.

I gouged out the rubber around the pin holes to release the pins on the pump arm which turned out to be a bit short,

The old tacky looking pump arm.

with the rubber pump arm removed i could carve the pump arm halves to fit.

More carving.

Old pins are a bit short

 It was at this point i decided to drill a third hole in the lever and holding one half of a arm against the lever i drilled where the pins would fit,

Another pin hole for a bit of extra strength.

Making sure pump arm fits the stock evenly.

 i repeated the proccess with the other half and made some new pins about three times as long to hold them in place.

Much longer pins than the originals.

With the pins in one half of the arm and through the lever i added metal putty around the lever and glued the other half of the arm once the pins had slipped into place,

Try to cover the holes for the pins.

i then clamped it till it set then secured it further with some six inch dowel and some super glue to set it solid.

Hole for the dowel.

Dowel glued in place before sawing and power sanding.

By using 60 grit paper on the disk sander i got the lines on the stock and pump arm to flow and line up, then it worked down through finer grades of sand paper till it felt smooth and was looking rather splendid.

Lots of sanding, Christ on a stick! there was lots of sanding.

I wanted a rubber butt plate so i decided to remove an inch from the rear of the stock, it would do fine for now until i found some rubber that looked the part. Also it is a doddle to pump up with the pump arm extended, and it now feels natural to hold it by the back of the pistol grip while doing this.

An inch needs to come of the butt.

With the stock sanded smooth as a babies bum i decided to apply some danish oil, in fact i must have applied about ten coats of the stuff because its looking just amazing and feels well silky to the touch.The wood looks a lot darker with a satin finish and you can really see some lovely grain.

Inch of wood removed and Danish oil applied.

This being my first ever attempt i must say i have surprised myself with how well it has turned out, i'll think i shall leave it as it is and not bother with any crosshatching or stippling. 

Lots more Danish oil applied.

I think i got an old Relum Telly i could try that with, i could even have a go at doing a target stock with that one.

Some easy leverage there.

Though all said and done i have learned a lot on this little excercise, next time using a complete blank would be a good start and actually measuring correctly instead of sizing things by eye. But i got to say it looks good and feels good as well, i'm going to enjoy using this not so little multi pump.

Not too bad, if i say so myself.

TTFN  

Fondest regards, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe.