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Angiosperms (broadleaves mostly) have a different idea about supporting branches. They build wood under the limb to prop it up. Gymnosperms (pines, etc for lack of a better term) support branches from above generally and build strength through tension wood.

Each has its advantages but obviously you see few really long limbs on pines... And nothing spreads like a mango tree...

Anyway, the wood layers directly under a limb will usually show a series of oblong wrinkles arranged in a Vee pattern from the sides of the limb tapering down the trunk. Enough of them and you have a pretty neat pattern and they usually build rows of these to the inside. When the tops are sliced off them they produce a series much like a bunch of small oyster patterns.

The grain changes are what create chatoyancy, or cats-eye effect. For some reason Browning seems to really like this particular pattern for Gran Lightnin Citoris. I have two with exactly the same pattern and have seen many more.

I agree you got quite lucky though a fully curly tree would have made you considerably luckier!

Stacking the wood even higher would be better and would give you back some shed space. The extra weight will help control the warping.
art

Please post a few photos in this thread when you eventually cut them to blanks. I would like to see how they turn out. You have a lot of figure and a lot of contrast so there is a lot of potential for sure. I have some walnut (black) on my property, but nothing that will make a figured stock unfortunately. It has great red colors but not much figure and only moderate contrasts in the tress I have cut so far.

Brent

Remind me again in 5 or so years, and I'll be happy to oblige

Good luck with your black walnuts. It sounds like nice timber.

Yup, I know it will be along time, but I am a patient person.

My walnut will never be the equal of what you have there. But I still like it.

His tree grew in the open. It had full light and the auxins (growth hormones) were inhibited by that light. It led to a shorter tree with lots of limbs.

Undoubtedly your walnuts are growing in a woodlot and the shelter allows them to grow straight, tall, and limbless for a good long first log. That long straight first log will never produce good stock wood. It will produce a great veneer log though...

Paul, you may wish to consider a dinning room table or kitchen bench/meat block with some of the non stockwood.

You're probably all getting sick of looking at pictures of walnut wood by now , but this will be the last batch for a while.

The last few pieces of the tree were milled 2 weeks ago. I wasn't able to be there myself, but had a few photos sent through. It looks like we got some more straight timber out of the upper log, a smaller feather from the section we cut off the main headlog and some very interesting grain from a lump of rootwood. The latter is the lump of buttress that was cut off the main log while squaring up the top (see earlier photos). I'm told that it's big enough for two-piece stocks, but I haven't seen it in person.

Here we go:









It's interesting, now that I understand the milling process a bit better, to go back to my rifles/shotguns and work out where the stock figure came from. Here's the buttstock of my shotgun, with what appears to be feather figure.



And yes, the length of pull is a bit longer than factory.

So that's it for all the wood. The shed is really full now...

The only thing that's concerning me a bit is how slow the initial drying is. I'd like to get the cut surfaces to dry off a bit quicker, but the last few weeks have been very wet and very high humidity. We're keeping an eye on the timber, but I'll feel better when the weather is a bit drier.

I've also dried out a test block in the oven (heartwood from the headlog), and the bone-dry density is 683kg/m3 or 42.6lb/ft3. That means that 49% of all those heavy slabs we carried into the shed was water (or 96% of the dry weight was water, if you prefer to look at it that way).

The final word in this should really go to the sawmiller. He was good to work with and did an excellent job. I think he's getting keen on turning some of other walnut logs he has on the yard into stock blanks too - as well as some of the dry walnut he already has.

If anyones interested, his name is Mike Esson and his website (well worth a look around) is Rarefind Timbers NZ Ltd. If anyone wants further contact details, shoot me a PM.

Cheers, Paul

Thank you very much for posting, Paul.

It was an extremely enjoyable, and instructive, thread.

BBerg.

It's been a little over 3 years since I last posted to this thread, and nothing much has happened in the meantime except to keep half an eye on the walnut as it dried and do an annual spray for borer.

But I'm back on the farm for the Christmas holidays, so Dad and I broke down one of the slabs (similar to the one in the last picture in the above post dated 08/30/10 08:25 PM) and ran it through the planer along with a couple of other smaller odds and ends:


Block #1


Block #1 with possible layout


Block #2. I think the 'muddy' appearance is just because this didn't get planed to the same extent as some of the other blocks


Block #2 with possible layout.


Block #3


Block #3 with unconventional layout. I'm aware it's more usual to have the grain angle down through the pistol grip, but that puts the end of the pistol grip into sapwood (see photo below)

[img]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i235/pjb20/Blank4-4_zps580b143d.jpg[/img]
Block #3

[img]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i235/pjb20/Blank5-1_zpseca8f3aa.jpg[/img]
Block #4. This is interesting. It's a flat-sawn piece, and one I wouldn't think would lend itself to a hard-kicking rifle. But the pattern is interesting...

[img]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i235/pjb20/Blank5-2_zps636a3ee4.jpg[/img]
Block #4

The template is a rough outline of the Anschutz Monte Carlo stock. This will probably be the first stock to try my hand at - my 1717 could do with an upgrade. Feel free to make comment on the various layouts.

But for now, the cut ends have been re-sealed and the blocks returned to the wood-shed for another few years of seasoning. But things are looking good.

Several things... One could get the idea you are a bit larger than average, based on LOP in the posted photo... I do not think you would like the very closed grip shape on your pattern.

I know I would not be able to use it that way... and I am a bit larger than average.

Open the grip up and for the same length it will be much closer to the butt stock bottom line... and it will help work around sapwood.

One key layout item you seem to have missed is the importance of rising grain in the fore end.

Your unconventional #3 layout is the best of the batch. And not unconventional, IMO.

#4 is the worst, IMO.

Actually, I admit my biggest issue is with the basic template...

Oh, gorgeous wood!

Hi Art, thanks for your input. I'm 5'-11" and 160lbs - not all that large. The template I used probably does give that impression, but that's because when I roughly traced around the stock onto the lino, the outline ended up rather larger than the stock itself in some areas (by half the diameter of the marker pen). Knowing that I wasn't actually going to be cutting out shapes, I didn't take as much care with the template as I could of.

Here's the stock itself, and another shot with a 12" ruler for scale. Not nearly as thick in the pistol grip as I made it look. Even then, it's not really the style I prefer on a general hunting rifle - I like straight combs, more open pistol grips and rounded fore-ends of the American Classic style. But for this particular rifle, the stock fits me very well. One of the issues I have with the Anschutz classic stock is actually that the more open pistol grip makes it difficult to reach the trigger.





Also, for the first stock to try my hand at I thought it would be easier to do a direct copy of a stock I already had. In that way I can easily check dimensions and profiles as the stock is shaped. I'm tempted to eliminate the schnabel tip on the fore-end though.

Can you tell me why rising grain in the fore-end is important? I've read it before, but can't say that I understood the reason. I thought having the grain flow down through the pistol grip into the butt was a key point, which often seems contrary to rising grain in the fore-end.

If you thought that the 2nd #3 layout was the best (interested in your reasoning), then the template on blank #2 could also be inverted quite easily. What do you think?

Paul,
Thank you for taking the time to follow up on this post, I have really enjoyed it!

Beautiful wood, and the best part is that it came from your farm. Congratulations.

Merry Christmas,
405wcf

Thanks for the kind words. I probably get a lot more out of this forum than I contribute (I read more than I post), so it's nice to share something interesting when I get the chance.

Hopefully in another few years I'll be able to complete the post with pictures of a completed stock!

Paul
Afraid I may get long-winded in this post... You've been warned!

Rather than trying to copy another stock with a stylus of some kind realize that stock shaping is fairly simple... And can be drawn out on each stock based on the measurements you want in the stock.

The top line of the stock is the baseline I use each time. Bury the barreled action halfway and the trigger determines the depth at the action.

The bolt needs to clear the nose of the comb, barely.

The LOP is measured from the trigger straight back, parallel to the bore axis.

A straight line from the comb nose to the cheek weld point on the stock you wish to duplicate carried through to the butt gives you the heel measurements you need.

The butt plate/pad size determines the starting point of the bottom stock line. Carry it to a point somewhere between the trigger as it leaves the stock to the middle of the trigger, based on what you like (very unimportant line compared to all the rest, aside from looks).

Grip shape is easy then as it gets laid over the other lines.

Decide whether to continue the bottom line of the action straight ahead, or take a turn in front of the action and run that line straight.

Your stock is now outlined in very classic fashion.

Rather than confusing things I will end this here and go back and answer the other questions in a separate post.

Rising grain in the fore end is important because of the way wood responds to changes in relative humidity. Because the wood around the action is supporting the fore end wood any "bending moment" applied close to the action has more effect than the same pressure applied farther away.

The reciprocal function as force is reduced is equally reduced the farther way from the action it is applied.

I have had a couple sips so I may have made this incredibly muddy... But it looks good from here!

In simpler terms, with rising grain the bending forces are placed farther down the barrel and cause fewer problems...

Paul
The third blank is the easiest to layout because you almost cannot make a mistake!

I would raise the butt a bit in your unconventional layout to force the rising grain in the fore end.

The #3 conventional layout needs a slight raise at the rear but that puts more grip into sap and takes a little away from the wild wood in the toe... Not bad, but just almost there.

I would never hesitate to use #4 for a hard kicker based on the photos. Specific gravity would mean FAR more to me. Board sawn is not a major issue with good wood.

You should figure out which direction the grain actually runs before starting to cut... It might be quite straight or quite crooked.

#1 might be interesting with the template flipped over.

#2 because of the hard bend screams two-piece! I can layout a couple different 2-piecers and really like them... I would hesitate to make this a one-piece stock.

Long winded is fine - better too much information than too little!

Re. your first post - I followed about 90% of that, and I'll have to try sketching that layout on a piece of cardboard or similar. One question though - what do you define as the single cheek weld point within the area that your cheek contacts the stock?

Re. your second post - you lost me on some of the detail. If your bending moment (rather than force) is occurring at different distances from the action, then you are proposing that the centre of rotation (around which the wood is warping) is in a different position dependent on whether the grain is tending up or down?

Looking around, I found written that downward sloping grain will result in the forend pulling away from the barrel over time. It makes sense to me that with grain dead straight through the forend, dry conditions encouraging the wood to shrink would result in the forend curving down - due to there being less wood in the top of the forend (the walls of the barrel channel) vs. the bottom of the forend (underneath the barrel). Upward sloping grain would tend to counteract this tendency , while downward sloping grain would exacerbate it. I don't know if this is correct, but it makes an approximate kind of sense in my head.

Putting aside the reasons, if I accept that upward grain in the forend = good, how effective would it be to counteract imperfect, downwards grain in the forend by stiffening the forend with carbon fibre rods and epoxy? I could mill a sizeable channel while having the stock set up for rough inletting, giving room for substantial reinforcement. Just trying to give myself options.

Re. your third post:

#1 loses a lot of figure from the butt if flipped - hence my question about carbon fibre.

#2 - definitely see what you are saying about 2-piece stocks. However, if the butt is raised to put rising grain into the forend, it also looks like it could be good. The hard bend is actually much less pronounced on the other side of the block. So it might be made to work either way. I think there will be no shortage of 2-piece stocks in this tree.

#3 - agree on both layouts. I can see the practicality in having the grain flow upwards in the butt, but it still looks slightly unusual to me compared to flowing down. The look might grow on me.

#4 - I planed and had a look at the top of the block after your post. Not good IMO - the grain is angled about 30 degrees rather than running down the length. I actually think this is one of the blocks shown in the 3rd photo of my 08/23/10 12:47 PM post, where we had to cut the buttress off just to get into the log proper. All a learning experience, anyway.

In any case, I think the wood needs at least a couple more years before seriously considering stocks. And in that time, no doubt we'll drag out another block or two, plane them, and go through this exercise again before selecting a couple to actually start shaping.

Paul,
If you have a chance, pick up a couple books on stock making to help you see the layout in pictures and explanations. It is hard to describe some of the processes and decisions Art is describing without a reference of some sort. Even with the books, you will need to make some decisions for youself before cutting into the wood- dimensions at heel and toe, rollover or other cheekpiece, length of grip, cast off or cast on, etc...

The best books I've found for this are "Professional Stockmaking" by David Westbrook and "Restocking a Rifle" by Alvin Linden. Completely different styles of narration, but the books complement each other fairly well and will explain some of the details of stockmaking that will help you make the above decisions before cutting wood. Measure twice, etc....

Bob