Hi All
Had the day off and decided to get my shoulder stock going. Tried a few weeks ago and it didnt go so well. Bending 16 gauge steel proved to be difficult at best. First attempt was unsuccesfull. bent the metal but broke the handles on my bender and stock came out way too wide. So I hit on another idea. I made new measurements then used a dremel tool with two cutting wheels attached and scored the lines where I wanted to bend the metal. Worked fantastic. Metal bent where I wanted and got clean sharp lines. Here are some work in progress pics. Going to cut smaller peices out to reeinforce the corners on the buttstock to give it strength. drags a little on the side rails but im going to add black felt under the top of the stock or washers when its time to install. Any and all opinions welcome!

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

Really? What kind of tools are you using to try to bend this metal?
I have a 20 ton press for doing work like this.

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BANNED USER

Couldn't make me one could you? Cheers

Looking good so far buddy.

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AKA: Simon

Im using a bending brake that i bought from Harbor Freight a couple of years ago. It mounts to the workbench and is hand operated. 18inches long i belive. I think I found the key to making it easier by grinding a line where i want to fold it. Also just added two L-shaped peices in the corners on the inside for reinforcement. Dont have a working weilder at the moment so i drilled two holeson either side of the corner and screwed the L shaped peices in. once they were tight i cut and ground the heads off. Ill probably fill the gaps in with jb weild and body filler. Or might try my hand at brazing.

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

I'm going to have to make one of these to fit on my real semi-auto thompson, so I'm interested in how yours turns out. How are you going to have the slots done? Are you going to use a drill press, or have a machineshop do it?

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BANNED USER

Hi Arron
Im gonna do the slots myself and probably use a drill press. I have a shopsmith machine that has a drill press attachment. I figure Ill drill and make the holes and then use a rotary tool for cutting the slots. Also i have a air file i may use also. Im using plans that bugstomper posted here a while back. Im going to make it adjustable as well.

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

i just got my pulse rifle in the mail on this past Wensday from Evike.com, yeah its airsoft but it still fires, be it the plastic BB's but its still a projectile. keep up the good work on the stock. Oh, to finish out my uniform and gear, i bought a working version of the portable welder, screen acurite.

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CWO2-Marine Weapons Officer - Williams. Bryan, Michael- current weapon- M41A Pulse Rifle

Hi Windu
I looked at the Evike Pulse Rifle and did some serious thinking about ordering one , but Im so far into this build now its become my mission to finish this. My Thompson is Airsoft as well but has good weight. Im keeping it intact so It fires.

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

Hello again
Had a little time today to work on the stock. Storms knocked out power here for a day. Had to run around locating a generator for myself and mu father in law but I got power back so I decided to do some work. I reinforced the corners with metal. I then used solder and filled the gap on both sides. I filed the solder down and I will fill any remaning imperfections with a thin coat of automotive body filler. Here are more progress pics!

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

Looking good. It's going to be a ***** to drill the oblong holes in there though. How will you tackle that aspect?

Yours already looks better than mine did. I, too, used 16 guage steel. I tried to cut the shape as one piece and bend it using a 'sheet metal' vice grip tool. DISASTER. I ended up scrapping the mangled mess and just cutting out two 'L' shapes, then welding in the top.

of course...the problem with that version, is im not a good stick welder! so it was pretty hacked up too. The body filler is a good idea. Somehow it never occured to me.


(my raw one)

Hi dosent look like a bad welding job to me. I used to work in an auto body shop years ago. I have an arc welder but it has some issues and im not that good with it yet. The solder was a lets see if this works kind of thing. I plan to use a drill press to make the inital holes and then cut the rough shapes with a dremel tool. Then to smooth out the shapes I have an air file. I used the same method on my steel barrel vent. I went through a lot of dremel discs wen making that. This time i used a jig saw with a metal cutting blade to get the stocks rough shape.

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

Hi All
Havent done much this week. Been very hot here and Im not spending much time in the shop but I have managed to make some progress. I cut the buttplate shape, added the brace (i guess thats what you call it allthough its just for looks the stock is very strong!) and added the sling ring. This peice came from the thompson foregrip. I cut it in half. The other half is on my barrel vent. Heres more pics Enjoy!

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.

That looks amazing! Someday I'm going to have to move past resin and start getting the parts for a metal PR too.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thanks! This is the first PR Ive ever built so Im trying to do it right. The only problem I have is im using a airsoft SPAS cage. Its the larger one but still one or two cm short but Ill make it work. Its attached to the thompson and racks back and fourth. When I get the money hopefully I can get a real SPAS . I wouldve used plastic for the stock but I wanted it to be as strong and as close to the screen used ones as possible. Working with metal has its advantages and disadvantages. Once I start the slots im going to burn through a LOT of dremel discs!
Joe

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I may be synthetic, but im not stupid.