LAMINATING
I have heard arguments favoring building gun stocks from a single piece of wood selected for it's straightness and cutting/aging/planing it repetitively to minimize it's tendency to warp. While I agree this is a reasonable manner to build a gun, I prefer to laminate for the following reasons
1. Laminations increase the rigidity of the stock. Multiple thin laminates resist flexing more than a solid stock because the individual laminates are unable to slide past each other due to the adherence of a good epoxy. This can be demonstrated by laminating several playing cards and then attempting to flex them.
2. In general, a high quality epoxy bonds to wood stronger than the bonds of the wood grains to each other. I’ve demonstrated this repeatedly by slicing a thin wafer off of my gun stock blanks and attempting to break them at the glue line. The wood always breaks in the weakest grain line and never at the glue lamination. This is also a good way of testing your lamination/glue thickness. (see photos 10 and 11).
3. Boards of lumber are not readily available that are thick enough to allow for the shaping that my gun designs require.
Laminates Under Stress Fracture Pattern
My Lamination process is as follows:
1.I'm very selective of the wood I choose paying close attention to straightness and grain pattern while avoiding knots/wormholes or other defects.
2. I pre-cut the laminates oversized ~1/2 inch wide and allow them to age while standing vertically to discover their inherent desire to warp.
3. I then prepare the laminates for gluing by aggressively scrubbing and removing the natural oils/dust with ethyl alcohol.
4. I then oppose the directions of warp and grain patterns in alternating laminates (see Photo 12) and brush a high quality marine epoxy (West System) on both sides of all laminates.
5. The laminates are then clamped to a perfectly straight laminating table using ~ 5-10 lbs. of pressure every 6-8 inches over the length of the blank.
6. After 24 hours, the blank is removed from the clamps and allowed to sit vertically and age until any residual warp forms.
7. Any residual warp is removed by shaving the "fat" edge on a table saw using a heavy steel straight edge.
8. The blank is then planed precisely to the desired dimensions in preparation for gun stock shaping.
Opposing Grains
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