Project Appleseed

My first Appleseed several years back I started off with one of the velcro strap on cheek pads on my 10/22.  I found out after using the pad that it tended to push my face away from the center of the stock so I would need to tilt my head more to the side to get my eye lined up with the sights.  I looked for better solutions and liked the Kydex risers but after seeing the $40 price tag for a piece of plastic and some bolts I decided I could do it myself much cheaper.  My first one was made from some scrap Kydex I had laying around but I've eventually made others and documented the process in case others wanted to go this route.  You can make a riser for as little as $4 each.  It takes about 20 minutes to fabricate one and another 20 minutes fitting it to the stock.

Tools you need:
-Pencil
-Ruler
-Razor Knife
-Sand Paper
-Heat gun (or boiling water)
-Drill
-Belt Sander or sanding drum.  I have a bench top belt sander I used to do my final shaping but I've also used those cheap sanding drums you stick in the end of a drill.  A kit is about $8 at Harbor Freight. Link

Supplies:
-I use a 8"x12" Kydex sheet and cut it in half to 6"x8".  A pack of 4 8"x12" sheets is around $15 on Amazon.  That's enough to make 8 cheek rests. Link
-I use Automotive Panel trim screws to secure the kydex to the stock.  I've used the same screw in both plastic and wooden stocks (laminate and birch) with success.  Nice fancy hardwood stock?  Probably wouldn't be using a $4 plastic cheek riser on something nice so YMMV on more exotic woods.  Link to Screws I use. 


What you see here is a 6"x8" piece I cut from the larger 8x12 sheet.  I like to match the angle of the bottom of the stock as I think it looks better.  I use the stock I'm making the riser for as a gauge to mark the angle.  I make a mark and measure the distance from the mark to the edge of the sheet.  In this example my mark was exactly 2" from the edge of the piece.  I mirror the mark on the other side.



Kydex is very simple to cut as you just score it and snap it.  I use a ruler to make a score line from the corner to my 2" mark and snap the excess material off.  After scoring and snapping you will have a trapezoid shape.



I use my ruler to draw a center line which will be used as a bend guide.  The radii in this picture were marked using a shot glass as a guide.  Here I use my belt sander to grind and radius the corners.  I also grind in a relief for my palm as I tend to put my riser close to my sights so it will hit my palm without it.  Shaping doesn't need to be done on a belt sander, though a belt sander makes this a 90 second operation.  I've also used a drill mounted drum sander before and it works equally as well.   After shaping I take some 220 and 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edges.



Before I shape it I drill pilot holes where I plan to put my fasteners.  In this instance I drew a line 5/8" from the edge and added two holes on each side of the riser in the size hole I needed for the pilot hole in my stock  I forgot to take a picture but you can see the guide line I drew in this picture.  After I have the pilot holes I shape the riser to my stock.  Using my heat gun I try to heat up only the portion of the stock along the center line where I want to bend it.  A glove to protect your hand from the heat is useful here.  You want to heat up both sides of the kydex evenly.  I tend to hold the part horizontally while I heat up the center line.  Eventually the part will start drooping under it's own weight.  When it does I  quickly wrap it around the stock of my rifle forming it to the rifle stock.  I use the center line as a guide and try to line up up with the center of the top of the stock.  You will want to hold it in place until it cools off or else you will lose your shape when you take your hands off the part.  If you aren't 100% happy with your symmetry or your shape it's as simple at reheating it and trying again.  You can heat it in an oven at around 190 degrees or use water that's just short of boiling and pour the hot water over kydex to heat it up for shaping as well.  Both methods work but when the whole part is soft it can be harder to deal with.  Using a heat gun helps control where the heat goes and makes the process a little easier.


The hardest and most nerve wracking part of the process.  The alignment and drilling. I like to put something between the stock and the riser I can use as a spacer so I can test fit the height of the riser.  I've used pieces of styrofoam.  Cardboard.  You name it.  In this case you can see a bit of grocery bag sticking out of the end where I rolled up some grocery bags to use as my spacer.  I test the fit in various positions with the riser clamped in place.  The spacer helps keep the riser from slipping when I press my cheek into the riser.  Once I find the position I like, I use my drill and drill bit to mark the location of the holes.  I don't drill the pilot holes all the way I only drill into the stock a millimeter or two just to mark the location.  I do the final pilot hole drilling with the riser off the stock.    If you are screwing into a plastic stock I tend to make my pilot hole a little smaller than the pilot hole for a wood stock.  For a wood stock you don't want to make them too small so that they crack your stock once you screw it in.  You also want to take care not to over tighten the screws in a plastic stock.  Once the pilot holes are in the stock I will drill out the holes in the riser to a larger sized hole for clearance on the trim screws.




Now you can screw in the riser and take a step back and enjoy your handy work and test out your new solid durable cheek riser you make with about $4 in material.

Thanks for the write up with pictures.

Sure, you tube has plenty of vids on the subject. Never watched one myself.

Would rather rather read clear instruction than be subjected to poor audio and political ads.

Looks awesome!  I made a few of these a while back for use on Marlin 795 loaner rifles. Like OP said, material cost is only a few bucks. I used shims made from firm Styrofoam (like the kind used to make beverage coolers) and customized the height to fit the shooter. Locked in place with some vet wrap. Because the width of the riser is fixed and only as wide as the original stock, this solution generally works better than pool noodles (which I also use in many cases). Not as solid as drilling and screwing it in place, but pretty field-expedient.

Thank you very much for this write up. AAAAaaaaaaand now I ordered some kydex... not that I don't already have enough to do, lol.