Well I decided to make a wooden rifle carry case. I am approximatly 1/3rd of the way there now, having made the top and bottom but have not attached them nor did the wood fitting for the gun and accessories.

Anyways attached is a picture of a similar case for the L42A1 Sniper rifles which this case is similar in to in a way.

Dimitri

So I went from this basic idea in my head:



To this:













Going to add one more compartment I think below the magazine of the rifle but the rifle is a good "tight" fit so it does not shake when the lid is closed.

Dimitri

Nice job D.

I'm impressed.

Eric

She's alittle heavy though I'll admit that! But thats what happens when you use 1" thick wood (well 3/4" thanks to the mill allowances but close enough).

Dimitri

You had better install some felt etc cause there will be wear marks on your rifle!!!! What about when that case warps? Otherwise it looks good.

Looks good 'Mitri....I knew you had another "project" in ya mate.

Take heed of what 1895ss says mate...protect your rifle. When I made the two boxes...one for my .243 and one for my O/U 12g, I lined them with "eggshell" acoustic foam. Cheap, easy to work with and moulds beautifully to your rifle.

Cheers, Vince

I will be lining it with felt.

As for the warp in the top of the case. I didn't notice it was that warped till I got home and started to assemble it. By then I decided to just go with it and make it work.

I guess this is the perfect time to buy a planner and finish my wood myself instead of buying the nice "furniture" grade wood from the lumber yard.

Dimitri

Doin a fine job D looks great.
Joe

D.

Anything that I have ever done in Pine, and that is quite a bit, I knew that I would have warpage somewhere.
This is the characteristic of this type of wood.

Putting a couple of cross pieces on the underside of your top will help a tad, but you will find that when the top is closed and latched for a while, the humidity will help the straighten up the top on it's own.

Eric

Interesting Eric, well I have it latched closed now and will be leaving it like this for a while at my parents place before I finish the surface so maybe it will give it enough time to warp closed nicely.

Dimitri

IF you use plywood, you will have stronger case with almost zero wrap.
I know plywood are uglier than solids but they are really great for jobs like these.
You could even use thinner materials.

Dimitri;
You might try buying your lumber well in advance, and letting it finish drying in a stable environment. (6 to 12 months) The lumber mills dont dry their standard grade lumber dry enough for cabinetry. Or try 1/2" 9 ply "Baltic" plywood. Its used for cabinet drawers and is very stable. Its finished on both sides. Just a thought. PS, Very nice job on what you did. RM

Medic,

I purposely bought the "pre-dried, cabinet/furniture" wood cause I find it to be much more dry then standard lumber and it was at one point planned giving it a nice starting smooth surface. However from the planning to the store I find they do get a warp to them at times but generally I just clamp everything down with screws to bend things back straight. Nothing is too bad, and no where near as bad as "utility" wood sold for construction purposes.

I made my desk out of plywood to be straight and solid, but did not want to buy a sheet just to not use most of it.

As for your 6 to 12 months in advance buying its a very good tip however I am more of the impulsive wood worker who makes things because he wants to "now" not "later".

It does get aggravating however buying wood just to find its warped or more warped then you first noticed such as my cases top which I didn't notice at the store it was that bad. Maybe I should start buying over sized wood and letting it dry, would need a healthy supply of wood to keep my impulsive wood working habit fed and would require me to buy a planner.

Dimitri

Dimitri, if it's the same there as here............ it's hard to get straight lumber in the first place. It seems that Canada exports the best lumber and keeps the crap for us to try to make something of! That being said, ya it's hard to get good dry lumber but I have been lucky on some of my projects. Good luck.

The reason that we get lower quality wood these days, is that the loggers can't cut old growth timber. The environmentalists make sure of that.

Younger trees warp much more that older trees, because of the closer grain.
People who bring up sunken logs from the old log rafts, get premium prices, because many of these logs were virgin timber.

I would suggest Dimitri, to try to coat your case as soon as possible.
This will protect it from the coming humidity of summer.

In some of the cabinet shops that I worked in we had humidifiers to keep wood from drying out.
Oak panels will crack when too dry, and in summer warp.
We had meters to check the wood for this problem.

With pine, there is no winning.
It will move on you, and you can't predict were.
I have seen pine cut from 100 year old barn beams shrink like crazy.
If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it.


Eric