Stock blank location on tree

[garandsrus]

Hi,

I have a large Black Walnut tree that was felled by a wind storm. It was uprooted. I am probably going to have the trunk cut into boards. At the top of the trunk, it splits into two or three main branches, each of which is over a foot in diameter.

Is is the best figure at the root ball or where the trunk transitions to three limbs? I would like to cut a couple pieces that I could make a stock out of. Is 2.5 inches in width about right for the thickness?

thanks,
John

[waksupi]

Your best will be down towards the roots, but all of it can be used. I would cut it at 3", to allow for shrink and warp as it dries. Rule of thumb, let dry one year per inch of thickness before making a stock.

[Wayne Smith]

Talk to your sawyer about what you want. He will probably have some suggestions as well.

[DeanWinchester]

The most awesome stocks are made from areas with the highest chance of failure.
Ive seen some GORGEOUS burls and wild figures and they usually come from the root area.
If not cut and dried properly, you're pretty much guaranteed a crack.

[JWT]

When drying the wood seperate the slabs with 1/2" to 1" stickers every 12" to 18". The stickers must be of uniform thickness and in line from layer to layer or you will encourage warping. The entire stack must be set on a level surface off of the ground so air can circulate. Seal the ends of the wood with a few coats of latex paint to prevent checking (cracking). Make sure your blanks are at least 6" longer and 1" thicker than your final dimensions. Add weights on the top of the stack in line with the stickers to help prevent warping of the top boards. I would recommend drying the slabs in your garage if possible. Drying in the house will encourage too fast of a moisture transfer causing surface and end checks.

I have dried around 10,000 board feet of ash, hickory, and cherry in my garage.

The slab can come from anywhere in the tree, but closer to the roots is usually more interesting grain in my experience. Cutting the slab from a thicker section of the tree will also make the growth rings more parallel (helps with stability).

[pworley1]

There is not much of a mature walnut tree that can not be used. I have gotten the fanciest stocks from the crotch areas and the stump root transition. I saw the blanks about 3 inches thick and as wide as the cant. They can be kiln dried, but they seem to make better stocks if allowed to air dry. I usually let them air dry at least 5 years before trying to use them for stocks.

[labradigger1]

Good advice by all, bottom of trunk near roots. crotch sections usually have the most figuring but also can be so figured that the grain is weak.

[MtGun44]

paint the ends of the boards with melted paraffin to keep the moisture
more even in the blank. Prevents cracking on the ends.

Bill

[pietro]

http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/crotch02.jpg http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/crotch06b.jpg


Lots of good pics, in addition to the exlpainations for the above drawings, here: http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=66491.0


.

[oldred]

http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/crotch02.jpg http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/crotch06b.jpg


Lots of good pics, in addition to the exlpainations for the above drawings, here: http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=66491.0


.


You got it!!!! I don't know where folks get the idea the root ball is the place for gunstocks, unless the tree is really large and VERY old there's not going to be much near the roots except for some good dark colors, most of the grain will look pretty much like the rest of the trunk. A big fork, or crotch, such as in the drawing, is the place to get the largest feathered areas but anywhere a large limb attaches to the trunk can yield some gorgeous feather and often the limb base attached to a straight trunk will have better orientation of the feather figure.

These rifles are stocked from a VERY large walnut that was about to be cut up for firewood (That should have been grounds for justifiable homicide!!!!) when I happened upon it and it was given to me just to cut it up and haul it off which I gleefully did!

The smaller rifle and the forearm on the larger one I cut directly from the feathered grain of the crotch, it was so large I got the full butt stock out of the feather area with enough wood left over to make several forearms. The buttstock on the larger one was chosen from the straight trunk where a limb attached which allowed me to have some feather oriented in a backward sweep but still had straight grain in the wrist area for strength to safely absorb recoil, can't see the feather in that pic however.

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BTW, I too had a large walnut tree fall during a storm recently, a tornado actually that totally destroyed several homes in the community, but unfortunately in my case when the twister uprooted this large walnut tree it dropped it onto the roof of my house doing significant damage. The insurance will repair the roof and pay for the other damages but I fully intend to cut that tree into lumber and gunstock blanks, I have in fact been looking at that big tree fork in my front yard for a long time and now that sucker is mine!

[oldred]

One more thing, when the log is cut make sure and leave enough of a "stub" on all three ends of the "Y"! I have seen several otherwise beautiful crotch sections nearly ruined because the logger tried to get every inch of the straight log he could, they were still usable but not nearly as nice as they could have been had they only been six or eight inches longer.

[flounderman]

The crotch area has the best wood. You only want the figured wood in the butt stock and the grain from the comb area, foreward, should be straight and run upwards slightly as it progresses towards the tip. As you look down the barrel channel, the grain should run straight down it. You definitely have to seal the ends of the blanks or they will check and split. You can paint them, wax them, coat them with tar, but seal them as soon as they are sawed. I would cut the pieces I wanted for blanks 3 inches thick, and leave them wider than you need them to be. The wider the plank, the more room you have to lay the stock out correctly. I don't particularly care for stump walnut. You get some color and maybe marbling, but the good stuff comes from the crotch and you only want the highly figured wood behind the wrist.

[ol skool]

Wax the ends and sticker as above!

May I suggest something?

See if you can find a fellow with a portable mill. They usually cut for 50-50 shares here in OR and will cut for gun stocks if you let 'em know that's what you're after. If you don't need half the wood let the sawyer know you only want say 1/4 of it and he'll probably let you keep all but one or two of the best cuts.

[oldred]

Whatever you do don't cut them green and leave them lying in hot sunlight for even a short time or they can (will!) crack wide open and can do so in just a few minutes!

[johnson1942]

the most beautiful will be low in the tree. the strongest stock you could ever build would be where a limb curves as the same as your stock would. it would never break.