Type 99 Saved From Bubba- Tokyo Juki Kogyo

[Salt Flat]

Midmich, Excellent work. That is really coming along. The mill sure makes it a lot easier. I am following your progress closely. The wood color is very close and should finish up nicely. Salt Flat

[jmoore]

A bit late to the thread, but I think the rough textured tang was due to not cleaning up the raw material and any scale left from when it was formed. Fairly common, actually.

Regardless, it looks like a good project!

[Aragorn243]

I may possibly be doing that for my Swede disaster. You make it look so easy. I wish I had the shop you have.

[Midmichigun]

Aragorn,
Thanks for the props! One day I will repost my 1871 Beaumont restoration. I started with a burned out receiver, and 3 rot/ termite eaten stocks. I still have 2 more rifles to restore... but it shows you what hard work gets you!!

Gents,
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I work slow... but will follow up shortly with my experimentation on the wood/ shellac. As I mentioned, the wood was not labeled... but it smelled like African Padauk during the machining process.... but what drew me to it was the red/ orange tinge, which should help with coloring/ coating the stock repair section.

[jmoore]

Here's another rough tang that was apparently made that way:

I don't know if the IJA "peened" the metal around the hole to get a better fit, or of this was Yank. ingenuity. Due to the "rough" feel, would this be original, or a swapped out tang?

As for the multiple peen marks on the threaded end: that's odd!

[Midmichigun]

Jmoore,
Great photo! And thanks for posting.

Ya, it isn't the rough finish that turned me off, it was the stripped out hole, so the rifle was loose. What I will do, is "bag and tag" the original part to stay with the rifle (along with my research on it). That way a future historian can correct my mistakes!!! LOL!

I figure that if the rifle was rushed into production, perhaps the hole or threading was a little "off", but assembled anyway, with somebody correcting it.

However, I could also see "bubba" crossthreading and ruining the threads. So as an attempt to hold it together, gave it multiple wacks from a punch.

I did debate on rewelding the hole and then rethreading, so as to keep the rifle intact with original parts....

[Salt Flat]

Here are two Arisaka 99 forearms and handguards I made. What is interesting to me is how close Midmichigun's process matched the way I made mine. I am going to start a new thread showing more pictures of the second rifle. Salt Flat

[Midmichigun]

Gents,
Thanks for the info and kind words!
Here is where I started tonight:

I got out my bastard file, and a hacksaw blade (needing a straight edge of some sort).
Next set of photos, watch the edge of the hacksaw blade as a "level" the surface between the two "known" points (barrel band and nose cap).



Ya... it sorta is that easy. But remember to take your time, and remove wood slow. What you take off, you can't put back on. This is the reason why I am down to a file. If I was hogging out more aggressive, I would be using a rasp. Anywho... onto the next steps..

This photo probably doesn't show it well, but I have a "flat" spot where the nose cone meets the more finely contoured barrel band. This must transition smoothly. Using my file, I gave it equal licks on both sides until I was happy with the contour.


Some end results...



I wanted to experiment with some finishes, while the wood is still proud. A single application of BLO gets me this color...


Not perfect, but close. I will also need to "destress" the surface. This means that I will probably give it random dents and scratches. This isn't to fool an experienced or novice collector into thinking the forearm is "real", but to match up the wear on the rifle somewhat so it isn't obvious from 500ft.

I have a repop sling, muzzle cover, and cleaning rod inbound from World War Supply. I also snagged one of their Type 30 bayonet frogs. I will be sourcing a repop scabbard for one of my $10.00 Type 30 bayonets without a scabbard found 12years ago at a gunshow..... from Atlantic Armory or such place. Original items of the above are hard to find... and expensive when found.

[Salt Flat]

Midmich, Good work. The color match is excellent. I know that shaping that forearm is not as easy as it looks. It has that transition from squarish at the bayonet band to round at the monopod band. Good job shaping! What really cracks me up is that your work area looks just like mine! Salt Flat

[seabot2]

Looks great. Is the new fore stock piece glued on or loose? I did a similar job too, and I used a dowel inside the cleaning rod hole to hold the new piece on. I used the wood of a bean pod tree that grows locally in my parts that had a similar grain and color as the original wood.