I have found myself retyping information for questions, so I figured it would be better to start a new permanent thread with a lot of the info I seem to keep retyping and some more besides that. So let's start with bedding compounds:
1. ACRAGLAS® from Brownells. I have not used this stuff in decades for bedding purposes because it is thin and runs out a bit too easy. What this IS good for, because it is so thin, is to inject it into cracks in wood stocks, though. It also can be thinned to use as a stock finish, though I have never used it for that.
2. ACRAGLAS GEL® from Brownells. This stuff is thicker and does not run out of the stock. It has a little give to it, so it is somehing I usually recommend to folks who have never done bedding before. IOW, there is a little forgiveness to it that can come in handy when you first bed stocks. The brown dye Brownells sells for it can be used to get a fairly close color match to wood. You only put a teensy weensy bit of dye in and mix thoroughly and then add more until you get the color you want. It WILL harden a little lighter than when you mix it, though. Also, since it better blends when it is a bit darker than the wood, I always go a bit darker than the wood I'm using it in.
The most common reason I use this stuff is when I am bedding really worn G.I. M1 Garand or M14 stocks that are as loose as a goose. The intention is to provide a stock in a wood set that is at least as tight (if not tighter) than any NOS G.I. stock was when it came off the manufacturing line. I have an early round front M1 Garand action that I use to 'refurbish" these stocks by bedding them and so they will fit over 95 % of all Garand receivers. I apply THICK coats of Brownells ACRA-RELEASE™ mold release for this.`
I also use this stuff to fill in the stock voids of G.I. M14 stocks when a customer wants that done for a semi auto commercial M14 receiver.
I also use this stuff for repairing cracked or broken modern and antique gun stocks.
I do not use this stuff for NM rifles, Walter Mitty rifles, or most custom work.
3. Bisonite. This stuff was a HUGE technological leap over the old Fenwall bedding material we used in the early 1970's. We began using it in 1974 on THE Marine Corps Rifle Team guns. It was our bedding of choice until we started using Marine Tex in the 1980's. I believe Ted Brown mentioned they changed it to where the glass floc or steel was premixed in more recent years and that is a good thing. It is still a pretty good bedding compound for NM rifles today, though I personally have not used it in years. It can be a bit hard to find for some folks.
4. Marine Tex. This stuff is hard and tough and does not compact easily so it lasts a LONG time as a bedding material. We found it does not as easily soak up oil or grease as Bisonite and that is one reason we replaced Bisonite with it. Once there are enough rounds fired that the glass does compact, it won't compact further, so it is an excellent base material when you have to skim glass.
I use this stuff for maybe 80-90 percent of the glass bedding I do. It sticks well to both wood and fiberglass stocks. We also used it on M40A1 Sniper Rifles, so it is good stuff. It is a very dark charcoal grey color,but if you file or grind it, the surface becomes a lightrer gray.
The only "bad" thing about this stuff is you MUST mix it carefully by volume in a Ratio of 5 parts resin to 1 part catalyst hardener. You can NOT "eyeball" mix this stuff or it will be soft. I use metal kitchen spoons to measure it out. BTW, a Tablespoon has three Teaspoons in it (not four teaspoons). I messed up some batches when I was first using the kitchen measuring spoons until I looked that up. (I wasn't using enough resin and the bedding was soft by wrongly figuring a tablespoon was four teaspoons.) Finally got it right on the third batch after looking that up.
5. STEEL BED from Brownells. Personally, I like this stuff better than the steel filled Bisonite as I think it is harder and stronger. It is a 1/1 ratio mix by volume of resin to hardener, but I would still defnitely NOT eyeball mix it. I use the metal kitchen spoons to measure it. For the higher end NM and custom rifles, I prefer to use this stuff, though it costs a bit more than other compounds. It makes as good if not slightly better base coat than Marine Tex when compacted from many rounds fired. I was surprised it can also be used as a good skim glass.
6. Devcon Liquid Steel or Liquid Titanium. We used this stuff in the 80's for a while. The problem with using it for a complete glass job is that it is so loose it is hard to work it at just the right moment where it just begins to harden so it will not run out. We also cut into it as we did all bedding materials and we found too many voids with it. It was hard to work with even for those of us who were extremely experienced using bedding compounds - so it is definitely not good for amateurs. We did use it for skim glassing though and it worked OK for that.
7. Devcon Plastic Steel® Putty (A) and Titanium Putty. Now THIS stuff is thick enough to do a complete bedding job with it, though it is VERY expensive. I am not sure if there is enough difference between the Devcon Steel Putty and Brownells Steel Bed to really be noticeable. I think it is a toss up, so use whichever you can lay your hands on. I like to use the Titantium stuff on the really high end NM and custom guns for skim bedding.
8. JB Weld. I have never used this stuff for a complete bedding project and it is not really designed for it. However, I have used it occasionally to bed a Trigger Housing on a G.I. wood or fiberglass stock and it works well for that. It can also be used to fill in the voids of a G.I. M14 stock if you don't mind it won't match the wood color.
OK, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. In the future, I will update this list as I think of something else or try something else.
.
1. ACRAGLAS® from Brownells. I have not used this stuff in decades for bedding purposes because it is thin and runs out a bit too easy. What this IS good for, because it is so thin, is to inject it into cracks in wood stocks, though. It also can be thinned to use as a stock finish, though I have never used it for that.
2. ACRAGLAS GEL® from Brownells. This stuff is thicker and does not run out of the stock. It has a little give to it, so it is somehing I usually recommend to folks who have never done bedding before. IOW, there is a little forgiveness to it that can come in handy when you first bed stocks. The brown dye Brownells sells for it can be used to get a fairly close color match to wood. You only put a teensy weensy bit of dye in and mix thoroughly and then add more until you get the color you want. It WILL harden a little lighter than when you mix it, though. Also, since it better blends when it is a bit darker than the wood, I always go a bit darker than the wood I'm using it in.
The most common reason I use this stuff is when I am bedding really worn G.I. M1 Garand or M14 stocks that are as loose as a goose. The intention is to provide a stock in a wood set that is at least as tight (if not tighter) than any NOS G.I. stock was when it came off the manufacturing line. I have an early round front M1 Garand action that I use to 'refurbish" these stocks by bedding them and so they will fit over 95 % of all Garand receivers. I apply THICK coats of Brownells ACRA-RELEASE™ mold release for this.`
I also use this stuff to fill in the stock voids of G.I. M14 stocks when a customer wants that done for a semi auto commercial M14 receiver.
I also use this stuff for repairing cracked or broken modern and antique gun stocks.
I do not use this stuff for NM rifles, Walter Mitty rifles, or most custom work.
3. Bisonite. This stuff was a HUGE technological leap over the old Fenwall bedding material we used in the early 1970's. We began using it in 1974 on THE Marine Corps Rifle Team guns. It was our bedding of choice until we started using Marine Tex in the 1980's. I believe Ted Brown mentioned they changed it to where the glass floc or steel was premixed in more recent years and that is a good thing. It is still a pretty good bedding compound for NM rifles today, though I personally have not used it in years. It can be a bit hard to find for some folks.
4. Marine Tex. This stuff is hard and tough and does not compact easily so it lasts a LONG time as a bedding material. We found it does not as easily soak up oil or grease as Bisonite and that is one reason we replaced Bisonite with it. Once there are enough rounds fired that the glass does compact, it won't compact further, so it is an excellent base material when you have to skim glass.
I use this stuff for maybe 80-90 percent of the glass bedding I do. It sticks well to both wood and fiberglass stocks. We also used it on M40A1 Sniper Rifles, so it is good stuff. It is a very dark charcoal grey color,but if you file or grind it, the surface becomes a lightrer gray.
The only "bad" thing about this stuff is you MUST mix it carefully by volume in a Ratio of 5 parts resin to 1 part catalyst hardener. You can NOT "eyeball" mix this stuff or it will be soft. I use metal kitchen spoons to measure it out. BTW, a Tablespoon has three Teaspoons in it (not four teaspoons). I messed up some batches when I was first using the kitchen measuring spoons until I looked that up. (I wasn't using enough resin and the bedding was soft by wrongly figuring a tablespoon was four teaspoons.) Finally got it right on the third batch after looking that up.
5. STEEL BED from Brownells. Personally, I like this stuff better than the steel filled Bisonite as I think it is harder and stronger. It is a 1/1 ratio mix by volume of resin to hardener, but I would still defnitely NOT eyeball mix it. I use the metal kitchen spoons to measure it. For the higher end NM and custom rifles, I prefer to use this stuff, though it costs a bit more than other compounds. It makes as good if not slightly better base coat than Marine Tex when compacted from many rounds fired. I was surprised it can also be used as a good skim glass.
6. Devcon Liquid Steel or Liquid Titanium. We used this stuff in the 80's for a while. The problem with using it for a complete glass job is that it is so loose it is hard to work it at just the right moment where it just begins to harden so it will not run out. We also cut into it as we did all bedding materials and we found too many voids with it. It was hard to work with even for those of us who were extremely experienced using bedding compounds - so it is definitely not good for amateurs. We did use it for skim glassing though and it worked OK for that.
7. Devcon Plastic Steel® Putty (A) and Titanium Putty. Now THIS stuff is thick enough to do a complete bedding job with it, though it is VERY expensive. I am not sure if there is enough difference between the Devcon Steel Putty and Brownells Steel Bed to really be noticeable. I think it is a toss up, so use whichever you can lay your hands on. I like to use the Titantium stuff on the really high end NM and custom guns for skim bedding.
8. JB Weld. I have never used this stuff for a complete bedding project and it is not really designed for it. However, I have used it occasionally to bed a Trigger Housing on a G.I. wood or fiberglass stock and it works well for that. It can also be used to fill in the voids of a G.I. M14 stock if you don't mind it won't match the wood color.
OK, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. In the future, I will update this list as I think of something else or try something else.
.