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What is the best way to cut a black walnut for gun stock blanks? What equipment will be needed? Is it better to have someone else do it? We have some trees on our farm that I would like to have gunstocks made from.
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It's better to have someone else do it.
It will need to be sawed to 3" thick slabs, and then processed in to stock blank sizes
the ends will need to be sealed with Anchorseal or similar parrafin based alternative to keep the end grain from cracking.
They will need to be stacked out of direct sunlight, out of direct wind, but not in a cold damp area
They will need to be stacked on spacers or "stickers" so that air can flow freely around all sides.
They will need to be rotated from the inside out every 3 months or so to be sure that the ones in the middle don't stay too damp.
Next you'll need to figure 1 year per inch of thickness to dry + 6months each if you're in a relatively humid climate.
Most stock-makers hate touching a blank that is less than 10 years seasoned. Yes, it'll be dry in 3-4.5, but the wood then needs to be left for a few seasons to go through all the temperature and humidity changes. This relieves the internal stresses and prevents the stock from twisting or cracking when it is machined.
Yeah, you could have someone slab it, then kiln dry it, but you still have to season it, and Kiln drying kills all the colors in Walnut. It goes from purpled, browns, greens and reds to just a flat dull brown.
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Who does this in the midwest?
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Check your local woodworking outlets Rockler Woodcraft they'll usually have bulletin boards filled to the brim with business cards and local services. you might also try posting on www.woodnet.net/forums with where you are and what you want done. There is a pretty big network there too. If you do have them sawn, just be sure to seal and stack correctly or they'll ruin quickly.
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My understanding is that the gunstock blanks come right out of the very bottom of the tree--cut it off at standard logging height and all you have is shotgun blanks with the buttstocks still in the ground.
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Campfire Kahuna
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To start with the trees need to be bigger than most folks realize... Small trees do not make decent blanks. Further, trees grown in production-style "groves" tend to be tall and straight... and totally lacking in figure. It is what the furniture makers want for consistent color and grain to minimize matching while running large groups of identical furniture parts.
Savage gave lots of good advice, but there are a couple points to refine. Walnut is not made bland by kiln-drying, but rather by the steaming most mills run it through to relax tensions in the wood and make the colors uniform, again for production furniture making.
The whole concept of kiln-drying is not to speed up the drying process, but rather to slow it. Wood left in the open will lose too much surface water, too fast and the wet, full-size inner wood will prevent the outer wood from shrinking, setting up intense stresses.
Understanding where the good figure comes from help you assess what you actually have on your stumps. It is not always easy to visiualize... art
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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utah708 That is mostly correct, but there is lots of highly figured stuff up in the tree. Almost all crotches are well above grade... Browning Gran Lightning Clitoris have wood boardsawn directly under a branch with "Vee" ripples of curl... a consistent, reliable pattern and source...
When you get into English walnut groves the marbling is often well up the tree where spalting started in on branches damaged during nut production and traveled to the bole.
A side note as a result of thinking about the branch comment... DO NOT cut stock wood from branches! It is juvenile reaction wood and will not produce stable wood. art
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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It can be done though. A relative cut some blanks out of 'Birdseye' sugar maple in the U.P. of MI over 15 yrs ago. Just this last spring we got the matching rifles & stocks completed. We started with Remington 700s & went with a Shilen 24" barrel in 22-250. The smith/rifle maker sure did ask a lot of questions as to the age of the wood & how it was dried/cured. I had to assure him a few times that we would take responsibility for any cracking after the stocks were made. It turned out very well.
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Do some looking around on simply marketing the trees. Part of the deal could be some stock blanks. Those in the wood business can realize a tree's full potential and possibly generate more dollars for you. A friend back east (WVa) sold about 25 large standing trees. Had that money been mine, I would have retired about 5 years earlier.
If it's truly fine wood, look at 6 to 9 years of air drying time before getting out the chisels.
Edited: I reinforce that one should seek out others with experience. Unless one has a wealth of trees, his first efforts are going to be research into the unknown, and it will be hit or miss on potentially generating good products. Given the potential value of fine walnut, mistakes can leave one with nothing but pile of nice smelling kindling.
Last edited by 1minute; 10/02/09.
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I worked with a guy one time that sweared that they soaked hardwood in a pond for years, but he also used to speak of turning a house around on a bowling ball. I did stack hay up in a barn loft one time that had a big supply of walnut stored in it. The owner said that it was the best place to store it for years. I would think that the center would be important to prevent warpage in the finished stock. Fajen and Bishop stocks were made in Warsaw, MO. I think that Fajen is still in business somewhere. Good luck.
Last edited by croldfort; 10/01/09.
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Wood does not rot if the moisture content is below about 20% or above about 35% (very rough range with lots of variation) and it is common practice to store logs underwater, long-term and it improves the wood.
I am sorry to report Fajen is defunct...
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Look at the cost of the rock maple they're pulling out of shipwrecks in lake superior. Wood can be stored in water COLD water. Warm does nothing but speed the process
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Not sure where that info comes from, but temperature is not an issue... pH and oxygen are issues. Much wood in log form is currently stored in very warm water.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Either way, it's best to call around.
Woodmeizer is a manufacturer of portable sawmills and they keep a list somewhere of registered owners. That and woodnet.net is a good start.
Post what you are looking for. You'll also need the dimensions of the trees. When sawn, I believe stock blanks are 3" thick x 32-34" long, 7" wide at the butt, tapering to 2" wide at the forearm tip.
I have a Mesquite Log 22" in Diameter, and 6' long, and may get 2-3 usable blanks out of it.
The pith must be avoided as it is the most unstable, and there can be some sapwood on the outside, as long as you're sure it will be machined away.
Listen to sitka about branch wood. It's barely suitable for pens, pencils, and bottle stoppers.
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It is common to let the tree soak in a lake of a long period of time before you cut and dry it.. But IMO, when your finished what have you got? Black Walnut!!!, not a wood I would normally use except for collector Win. rifles perhaps..I have seen some pretty nice black walnut over the years but 98% of it was mostly Mo. cork wood raised under too mild of conditions... IMO European walnut from Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, is presently todays best wood and inasmuch as its a lot of work making a stock, might as well use the best of wood. Same thing with a gun barrel, use the best, that ain't the place to go cheap.. BTW, you can buy cured Black walnut cheaper than you can raise it! ![smile smile](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/default/smile.gif) You would be better off selling the tree.
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Sitka, didn't know Browning made 'Clitoris'! is that a non-catalog item?
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Best gunstock walnut comes from large, old trees, of English or French genetics, felled before they begin to die, lose production of nuts, and rot inside.
They usually are growing in the middle of a field, with thick trunks and spreading branches. Instead of cutting such a tree at the stump, it would be excavated, the limbs removed one by one (maybe by small crane), then pulled over with a chain and bulldozer, in order preserve the crotch at the limbs, and the burl figure at the roots.
A tree like that, bought by Dakota, Beretta or Purdey, would cost $20,000 or more, standing. It would yield $100,000 or more of blanks and pistol grip wood. Today, the cutting would be planned by computer after x-raying the log, and replanned as it was cut into, using saws with as narrow a kerf as possible.
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Sitka, didn't know Browning made 'Clitoris'! is that a non-catalog item? Sorry, just a slip of the tongue.... er.... typing finger...
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Lee And I bet you learned all this on your family walnut farm with exquisite trees of new-to-the-World walnut species...
A clue... you haven't one... art
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Sitka, didn't know Browning made 'Clitoris'! is that a non-catalog item? Sorry, just a slip of the tongue.... er.... typing finger... Just have to bump this post to the top! TFF! ![smile smile](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/default/smile.gif) John
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