ICS Ak74M Custom Wood Kit *UPDATED*

So, After going OD on the plastic parts ( http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=25507 ), I decided that I wanted a wood set that i could swap out when I saw fit.

But I had seen some other wood kits and I wasnt impressed and really didnt trust the kits to take the punnishment that a scrim gun should. Not to mention I dont know the compatibility of TM to ICS ak wood kits.

The plywood, although authentic, really isnt that strong for a hallow stock. Maple? naw, takes stain poorly and cracks easily. I considered oak, but it swells and shrinks with moisture. So, cherry or ash? Well, cherry is nice, and vry elegant, but ash is strong as hell. If its good enough for axe handles, its good enough for a hallow stock.

So ash it is. Though i went for some with a more relaxed grain that i could stain to look like a deep red cherry.

DAY 1


The stock is close to completion. All that remains in fine tuning the connection to the reciever(didnt have the reciever at the shop to work off of), and the buttplate.
Im keeping the profile more plain. I was going to make it more curved( such as the M79 stock i made http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=16561 ), but for durabilty purposes, Im trying to keep it as flat as I can.
The stock is actually 1/16 inch wider then the reciever on each side. I wasnt overy concered with the thickness, but I tapered reduced it where it meets the reciever and tapered it wider near the battery compartment.
To help accomidate a large 8.4v or even a large 9.6v battery and retain strong sidewalls, I added 1/4 inch to the length and the buttplate will be another 1/2 inch. Overall length will only be 3/4 inch longer then the AK74M stock, but thats fine for me.
The inside was routed out to a final depth allowing a full 1 inch wide battery compartment, more then enough for my 8.4v 3000mah.
A small channel for the wiring. not much, but it doesnt need anything more then that.
Location dowel pins for glueup.
The stock is extremely strong. Im so confident, that I took the battery out, and stood, 1 foot, over the hallow without any problems.
the buttstock is going to be ash also, hallowed slightly to allow for a bit more room for the battery connectors. with 2 locating dowels and 2 screws to hold it in place. but thats going to wait till next project day.







The gas block cover, easily done. Solid ash, cut out to fit, routed, sanded and...well, perfect. When the lower section is done, I will add in the vent slots. Again, very solid.






So, next week, I can finnish the fine tuning on the stock attachments since I will have the reciever there to match the parts togher. Buttplate will be done and the lower foregrip will be done.

UPDATED SECTION

Ok, well, camera working today. Its 99% done. All that is missing is the buttplate, but Im undecided on that as of yet.


The forgrip, like everything else is solid wood glued on a center line. I hallowed it out just enough to allow for the insides not to interfear. As before, I kept everything as thick as possible. General shaping, I kept the forgrip very oversized and abandoned the regular profile. It may have looked good, but felt terrible. Im no fan of this oversized grip, but it feels good and I didnt want to waste to much time on it since I am planning to make a romanian style foregip eventually.

Routed a channel to inlay my grips. I decided on real african ebony. Why? because its black, hard as a mofo, and very, very expensive.
Added dimples...because i was board.


I filed away the front to allow the little sliding locking thing to slip over and notched the back so it would fit onto the guides.



Test fit and used a profile sander to make my vent holes. A little off in these pics, but its fixed in the end.

A little off in this pic, but its fixed in the next one.



When the stock was 2 sections, I cut out spaces for the stock to attach to the reciever. a pain in the arse since I had to allow fir wiring. Glued and clamped with surgical rope(good for unclampable surfaces).

Since I plan on swamping the stock from time to time, simple screws wouldnt do, so i picked up some anchors and modified them to fit. Predrilled and taped in, they worked great.




Sanded to 150. Stanined mahogany red(250ml mahogany red, 50ml varasol, 7cc orange pigment). Color change is apparent after drying.



Sealed. 2 coats chemseal(chemseal with 15% slow reducer and 3% catalyst). Sprayed, never brushed)
Sanded to 350, then 400 and testfit.

Topcoat. 2 coats Dancryl 45(Dancryl 45 with 15% slowreducer and 8% catalyst). Dancryl 45 is my topcoat of choice, it has a much nicer finnish then Dancryl 35 and holds up much better then any store baught topcoat/laquer.







Ebony is olied, pollished and soliconed into position.

Volia!

im not sure im sold on the foregip style. It feels better then the regular style, but it looks odd. I dont know, function over looks this time.

[Lotech]

Hello Droc,

That AK is going to be great. You are very good with wood. I just purchased my own AK 74M and would love to get the wood instead of plastic. You should make up a few of these replacement pieces and sell them, one to me of course. :-D I can't say enough about how great your gun will look when you are done. Please keep the pics comming.

Thanks for sharing

Lotech :cheers:

[[Avtomat]]

Oh cool, old style AK74's. Ya i must see the end result.

[Kokanee]

Nice stuff!

On the subject of plywood, the "russian pine plywood" sold @ home depot is rotated 90 degrees every layer, and is very strong. If you do decided to turn out more of these, two 3/4" sheets together are just about the perfect thickness for a buttstock.

keep it up!

I used that stuff for the pattern. But its just to much flex and doesnt fare out aswell for moisture. And Im no big fan of the grain from plywood when you coutour it.
Dont get me wrong, I like plywood, and we substitute it for hardwood as much as we can.
In the pics below(latest project), everything except for the molding is pine plywood.

[-Rubix-]

Impressive, Droc. I really look foreward to some final pictures!

should be done monday. I wont be going out to the shop till then, but its quick work. So long as I have materials, its a 1 day job + sealing, staining and topcoating. I was hoping to have it done today, but I had other work to attend to so this was a spare time thing during the day.

[Kokanee]

Ah - the two sides of the coin - laminate "striping" or solid wood.

Were you planning on a wood buttplate or metal?

wood prolly. easier for me. i wont have access to a mill for a week.

[Psycho]

nice.. exactly what i was asking about.. cant wait to see the final results
good work

[attack-beaver]

thats some nice shit droc. my friend would kill for a wook kit like that.

Well than, don't let your friend know Droc's address.

I really like the workmansip of that piece, it looks amazing.

didnt finnish today. the foregrip was a challange and the one I made felt to small. So Im making a much beefier one. Looks odd, but it feels like teh sex.
my camera died today, so no pics. should have some for tommorow.

updated

[Zanzibarbarian]

Wow, that is some awesome work! Really, I'm impressed!