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Pics of my carbon fiber Cricket stock

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Z

zebra

Member
Sep 29, 2015
1,779
65
New York
I have nearly finished making my carbon fiber stock for my Cricket:

http://postimg.org/image/jeb0z2jnn/

With most of the finishing and bedding complete it weighs around 1/3 of the original synthetic stock. The outer layer is coated with a urethane hard coat so I don't need to worry about scratching it etc. It is easy to repair as I just paint a new layer of coating and put it back in the mold to dry with the same texture as the original Cricket stock. 

Here is a pic of the inletting which is made from carbon fiber sheet molding compound:

http://postimg.org/image/oe8h70pab/?_ga=1.225170202.1417063810.1465263701

CF sheet molding compound is more rigid than woven material so it is great for making lightweight bedding blocks.

As a next step I will probably replace the grip with a custom one like this:

http://postimg.org/image/6y02gq58j/?_ga=1.166846270.1417063810.1465263701

This grip is made from woven carbon fiber and molded to the shape of my hand:

http://postimg.org/image/9glrheqyr/?_ga=1.196326956.1417063810.1465263701

And from the other side:

http://postimg.org/image/g8c6k9fyb/?_ga=1.233961118.1417063810.1465263701

I have been finding the custom grips to be particularly helpful in forcing me to keep a consistent hold. It improved my shooting more than I would have expected...
 
This is one half of my master mold for the Cricket stock. 

http://postimg.org/image/6ywooajur/

This isn't used to create CF stocks directly. I use it to make plugs which are then used to make a rigid mold for carbon fiber.

This is the inletting mold for the Cricket:

http://postimg.org/image/ktuz6re9v/

I found that with a good inletting mold it becomes significantly easier to make synthetic or composite stocks. You can build up the rest of the stock around a bedding block and be confident that you will end up with a good fit for the action. 

This is half way through making a rigid mold for the custom grip. The yellow thing submerged in it is the plug:

http://postimg.org/image/v6uleov0j/?_ga=1.25219645.1417063810.1465263701

This is the plug for the custom grip on it's own:

http://postimg.org/image/8gvglpbsz/?_ga=1.199988782.1417063810.1465263701

And totally unrelated but here is a pic of my cf shoulder stock for a Career 707:

http://postimg.org/image/q38dnlq83/?_ga=1.201367313.1417063810.1465263701

I took this off the rifle recently to work on designing a new receiver cover to attach it to. The stamped / engraved hunting scene isn't my taste. The CF material is a 4x4 twill weave which is growing on me (not literally). If cured in the right way it has a texture that feels like a fine wood grain (or something). 
 
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Zebra
where is my Carbon Fiber stock?
I tried to look at yours and got hot chicks and cartoon chicks,
I had a friend that used to build me one off Carbon Fiber parts for my Motorcycles but he moved on to get rich in the welding oil field .
It would be really sick to build one for a Mutant , As its so light anyway,
It would be feather light with Carbon Fiber,
Back to the Cricket,
Sure would like to see a close up of your stock...
Mike
 
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"iride"Zebra
where is my Carbon Fiber stock?
I tried to look at yours and got hot chicks and cartoon chicks,
I had a friend that used to build me one off Carbon Fiber parts for my Motorcycles but he moved on to get rich in the welding oil field .
It would be really sick to build one for a Mutant , As its so light anyway,
It would be feather light with Carbon Fiber,
Back to the Cricket,
Sure would like to see a close up of your stock...
Mike
Click to expand...
You can't see the pics when you click on the links? I just tried clicking on one and worked for me. I use that postimage.org free online image hosting site thing. It has ads at the right side of the screen but my pic is there in the middle. I don't know how else to post a pic on here other than using a link to an image hosting site. Did you try scrolling the screen?

A carbon fiber stock will only make a noticeable difference on air guns that have a heavy stock to start with. The synthetic Cricket stock is not far off 3lb on it's own so knocking 2/3 off the weight makes a huge differance. My Benjamin Bulldog stock, on the other hand, is made out of cheap flimsy plastic that easily flexes. It's low quality but only weighs around 1lb (excluding the shroud and rails). Making a CF version of the Benjamin Bulldog stock wouldn't save much weight but it could be made more rigid and better quality with the same weight.

How much does the Mutant stock weigh? The design looks similar to the Cricket's (and most other Airgun bullpups) so there is probably some weight savings to be had. I would want to shave off some of those edges and corners on the Mutant stock if I had one. The rounder design of the FX stocks looks better to me and they are definitely easier to replicate in carbon fiber. Small sharp 90 degree angles are very difficult. 

Balance also needs to be considered. The lightest Cricket stock I have been able to make to date weighed just 7oz but it felt heavier than to 14oz one I have on it now because it was poorly balanced. 




 
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Zebra, looks great! I was wondering how your project was proceeding. Been hoping to see more from you. 
I have two synth Bulldog stocks that I am hoping to replace with something else. Looking for someone with a stock duplicator but if you get replicating these CF stocks down to a reasonable process please let me know. 
Congrats again on the stock. 
 
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"brwndg"Zebra, looks great! I was wondering how your project was proceeding. Been hoping to see more from you. 
I have two synth Bulldog stocks that I am hoping to replace with something else. Looking for someone with a stock duplicator but if you get replicating these CF stocks down to a reasonable process please let me know. 
Congrats again on the stock.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I've been slowly solving all the little problems that come with making something like that. It definitely took longer than expected because of the design of the Cricket stock. Just about any other stock would have been easier to replicate in carbon fiber but once I started I couldn't stop... The Cricket benefits the most from a lighter stock and I am really loving how it shoulders now. 

I wouldn't bother going down the duplicator route if your goal is a lightweight stock. The wood Cricket stock is only a little lighter (depending who you ask). You would have to hack off a chunk of it to drop a meaningful amount of weight. I guess you could choose a lighter wood. I hear they call bamboo "nature's carbon fiber". 

There are a number of other material options for lightweight diy stocks if you can make a decent mold. I am writing up a tutorial on how to make cf stocks (there's a lot to write...) but there is tons of stuff online on how to make a mold. Once you have a mold, making a stock is relatively easy with many materials. Carbon fiber just has more steps. 
 
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"Michael"
"zebra"
"Scott_MCT"
Click to expand...
I'm using an IPad as well. odd that the iPad has no trouble but other computers do. Can anyone suggest another free image hosting site that works well with this one? Then I can repost for people....
Click to expand...
Check out the last video, it shows how to use an image hosting site to post pictures. It covers the two most popular Photobucket & Imgur.

http://www.airgunnation.com/topic/video-tutorials-how-to-make-the-forum-work-for-you-2/?view=all
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll check out photobucket and repost the images.
 
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"AZBOBCAT"Zebra that stock looks great, you did an awesome job on it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'm pleased with how it came out. I really want to find a Skeleton stock to make a mold next. I keep picturing it as a cosmetic carbon fiber piece. Just think, since they discontinued it, somewhere in the world is an unused $80,000 aluminum mold that someone is probably going to throw away or sell for scrap. Such a waste.
 
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"AZBOBCAT"Are those Cricket stocks injection molded? Never seen one apart. I figured they built them all on cnc routers
Click to expand...
The synthetic ones are injection molded. Not sure how they make the wood stocks. Kalibrgun buys their stocks in from a third party like many Airgun manufacturers.

I bedded my carbon fiber Steyr AUG Cricket stock this eve. They look awesome together. Check it out:

http://s1206.photobucket.com/user/Zebracf/media/image.jpg1_zpsojbsjio4.jpg.html?filters[user]=145243716&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

I think I screwed up and set the bedding block a little too far forward but I can still tell that it will look awesome when it's finished. Those Steyr boys know how to design a nice looking bullpup. I can see this one becoming my main stock.
 
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"iride"Zebra
Where is my Carbon fiber stock for my Cricket 25,
You need to really start making a few of these stocks so me can check them out....
Remember I am 1st in line,,,,
Mike
Click to expand...
I have to finish mine first. I'm working on replacing the hard carbon fiber recoil pad with a rubber one today. It's the one part that isn't better in cf and definitely not with a line down the middle of the Kalibrgun logo. This is the second to last issue to solve. Don't worry, you are first in line when I'm done.


 
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"damageINC"What kind of time and cost are incurred with undertaking something like that?
Click to expand...
Hard to say exactly because I had to design a process that would work with the pattern and the tools available from scratch. It's one of the few things where no useful info was available online so there was a bunch of trial and error where I wasted a lot of materials that I wouldn't need for stock number 2. 

I would guess about 5 hours of actual work not including the time spent waiting for things to cure (and assuming it works first time). You would most likely spread that 5 hours over a week. I spent a good few months on trial and error before that to design the process. Btw, this also assumes that you are replicating an existing stock. If the design is original then there is also the time it takes to carve the master. I could carve a master in an afternoon using urethane foam but I would most likely spend a little longer.

It can probably be done for around $200 worth of materials depending on what you have to start with and how much finishing work you can be bothered to do.

It can be made a lot more cost effective by doing it for more than one person. The materials you buy will be enough for multiple stocks and the molds can be reused multiple times. It starts to look very cost effective for people who make larger numbers. 

The quality of the molds will have an impact on how much time is needed too. Technically, if your molds were good enough, you could pull finished stocks straight from mold with no additional work required (or very little). My skills aren't quite there so I need a few extra steps. 

My guess is that anyone attempting this for the first time will likely need a few attempts to get it right and produce a stock they would be happy to use on a $1500 air rifle. As far as diy projects go, it's definitely not the cheapest but it is still way less expensive than buying a custom or even an off the shelf cf rifle stock. More importantly, it's a lot of fun and I recommend giving it a go to anyone who enjoys a good diy project. It's definitely a skill you'll use multiple times once you have mastered it.
 
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