7mm-08 Project #8

Ebony Tip

I wanted to install an ebony tip on this rifle. The ebony tip is mostly aesthetic but it does protect the end grain of the stock. So it has some function. But in reality I wanted for aesthetic purposes.  

 First the stock was measured and marked for the location of the tip. 

 Then the stock was mounted into the miter saw. A small wedge was made and taped in place to insure that the miter saw cut would be perpendicular to the line of the barrel. 

 Holes were drilled to accept the reinforcing dowels that would be glued in to hold the ebony tip in place. You can see that I got a little indecisive and marked it several times before I figured out where I wanted the holes. 

 Dowel transfer punches were inserted into the dowel holes and the position was transferred to the ebony block. 

 The ebony block was drilled to accept the dowels. Here you can see blue masking tape on the drill, that is used to identify where to stop the drill when drilling the holes. 

 The block was cleaned with acetone prior to bonding it in place. I have read that Ebony is very oily and you need to remove all the oil with acetone before bonding. 

Here the tip is bonded and clamped in place to cure.