Pretty wood

[waksupi]

I thought you guys might like to see this nice chunk of wood. This is on a .458 Lott I've been working on.

[SharpsShooter]

Now that is purty wood.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Beautiful wood! May you have the bedding perfect to preserve it.

[shooter575]

Ric, darn nice. Could get a guy all excited it could.

[Blackwater]

Looking at a well finished piece of figured walnut is a lot like looking into the flames of a good campfire on a cold, crisp night, ain't it? A man can get lost in his own mind just looking at it.

.458 Lott! Whacha' huntin' with that thing? Goin' to Africa???

[waksupi]

This is going to a customer who hunts Africa frequently. 0bviously on a different income scale than I am! The bedding tested out alright in test firing, but there are a few rifles come back for repair, as some are pretty serious calibers that are built.
It is good to look deep into a good piece of wood. You can see at least a quarter inch into the grain on this one.

[Ricochet]

Might want to spray some of that truck bed liner stuff on it, so it'll stay purty.

[swheeler]

Waksupi;butifal, something about any type of high figured wood, kinda gives me a woody!

[swheeler]

I like this maple too- can't get a decent picture, but it is loaded with figure and with the satin finish looks an 1/2 inch deep

[swheeler]

one more try of some grain- I think we need some pointers on photograhy posted here! I do anyway-use your imagination-it really is quite stunning

[felix]

To show grain, you have to have strong natural SIDE light. Also, your lens has to be of the close focus type, or one that can turn into a close focus, either of which is not typically found on the consumer digital cameras. ... felix

[grumble]

First suggestion for doing close-up photography is to make sure the camera's steady, especially in low light when the shutter is open for a long time. A tripod helps a lot.

Next, if possible with your camera, plug into your TV set to view the pic you are about to take. It is much easier to see a TV screen than the little viewfinder on your camera.

Third, is lighting. Lights at a 30-45 degree angle to the subject of the pic will produce less glare or "redeye" in people. On my camera, I tape a single layer of 2-layer TP over the strobe. This diffuses the light and helps a huge amount to reduce glare.

If you have a macro or close-up setting on your camera, it will allow much closer focussing.

[Scrounger]

Good suggestions from Grumble, but I have trouble snapping the picture without moving the camera a little even on a tripod. What I've learned to do is to use the shutter delay on my digital camera, I think most of them have that feature. I just line the shot up, press the shutter, and back off. About 5 or 10 seconds later the camera takes the picture without me wiggling it around...

[swheeler]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will have to dig the book out that came with it, not a high end camera tho-Vivitar 4.0mp. I have plugged it into the TV before to view pics after taking them, and it does have zoom and panaramic features. I'm guessing part of the problem is I set it to econ 640X480 pixels instead of the 2200X? it was set on, it was just so frustrating resizing everthing so they could be emailed or posted. Electronics, hum, for me that was about 75 when Chev started putting those HEI ignitions in!My daughters seam to do better with it- but they don't want to take pictures of guns, or boolits, and such things.

[grumble]

640x480 resolution should be fine for posting on the net. When you resize the pic, you change the resolution anyway.

Try using the TV plug-in BEFORE you take the pic. Just use the TV as if it were the viewfinder. Another thing that might help is to get as much light on the subject as possible. That will do two good things: it will speed up the shutter so slight movements while taking the pic won't be as noticable, and will also close down the aperature, increasing the depth of field and making slightly out of focus things appear to be in focus.

[swheeler]

let me get a little more motivated and I will try dome more.

[waksupi]

Swheeler - What did you use for the finish? I like the color.

[Blackwater]

I like the finish too, and am interested because I have a piece of maple I want to finish at some point in the hopefully not too distant future. Any tips on getting a rich red/brown finish on maple would be appreciated.

[swheeler]

Waksupi & BW: I did that in 97 or 98, believe it was min-wax yellow pine stain, and it is finished with satin wipe on poly by the same company. I have also used "strong black tea" and household ammonia in a sweet cabinet before. Brew up a cup of extra strong tea, like a five bagger, let it cool and stain as usual, set the stock in any kind of cabinet you can seal airtight, in the bottom of the cabinet put a cup of household ammonia, let set a week.Old steamer trunk works fine.If you don't like the accents, do it again. In claro it will really bring out the gold and browns. My 458 stock had a graf line thu the butt that looked like gold leaf. I like carrying the plastic stocks, and the built ups even more(have BrownsP on 7RM)but nothing feels as good in your hands as a piece of hardwood! Made by the ultimate creator of all things beautiful, don't ya know!

[fourarmed]

A useful trick for closeup photos is to place a plain old magnifying glass in front of the lens.