Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Judging walnut stock blanks?

I'm having a black walnut log milled for some stock blanks and wondered how can you tell which ones will have figure without it being finished?

I guess what I'm asking, is how can they be graded?

thx!
Chris

sand it, or run it through a well tuned planer and wet it, alcohol won't raise the grain but water will work too. My VERY limited experience with walnut is that all the figure is in the crotch areas, the larger the limb and the more perpendicular it is to the trunk, the more figure. the exception would be fiddleback, but I think the best figure in the log would be in the stump. if you're planning on checkering the stocks, see how porous the wood is, I understand some black walnut can be very porous, and that can ruin checkering. good luck, I hope you find something good in your log.

Tim

Your logs are a bit small for really highly figured stuff. The crotches have "feather" and that is the best you can hope for in a small log. The cut must be through the centers of both limbs to maximize it. If you have to plane a blank to see the figure it doesn't really have any... Good stuff lets you know it is there.

I second the stump as the place to look. Should get it out of the ground before it checks much more though.

Assuming no run-out in the grain and dry, clean, straight blanks you are looking at what typical factory stocks are made of.
art

art,

Do you think there's enough stump left above ground to make it worthwhile to dig them out?

Thx,
Chris

I'm told that a guy has to know how to cut the tree with a chain saw to get the best out of it. If you've sent it to a mill they are not usually experienced WRT what you want. There's slab cut, quarter sawn, and a whole bunch of angles to use when you make lumber. Look at oak and see the many types that are in furniture.

Was the tree alive or dead when it was removed from the ground? I wouldn't mess with it at all. I've seen this done before and looked at the results....for the most part it's a lot of work for what you get in return. How you going to get the wood dry that's not to be used for a stock blank? Unless you have a very unusual highly figured black walnut tree it'd be a lot less hassel to just buy a blank.

I've explained to the guy at the mill exactly what I'm looking for and he's familiar with milling finish lumber. He's going to quarter saw it for me.

I don't remember if the walnut was alive or dead when it was cut down about a year ago (by someone else). I'm just getting what they left laying on the ground and potentially going to dig out the stumps.

One of the reasons I'm doing this as the 87 year old man that owns the farm is a close friend and thinks it would be really cool for me to make a gun stock out of a black walnut that is from his farm. I don't neccessarily need an exhibition piece, but would like something with some figure in it to dress up my Howa 1500 that is currently wearing a plastic stock.

Looking at the size of the stump and the fact they cut it pretty close to the ground it is a good question. I have zero doubt there is at least one really good two-piece blank in the stump. It will not come out easily though.

If you can get a pressure washer to the stump and clean the bark and dirt from the biggest lobe of the root mass you should be able to sneak a blank out of it. That will give you an idea what you have.
art

I was able to procure a nice piece of stump. I believe it's claro. Not quite as nice as some other thin shell walnuts, but lots of figure. This will be a two piece (Ruger #1)

walnut blank

prostrate8
The color in your picture is a bit wierd and I cannot get a feel for the true color, but claro or bastogne would both be reasonable guesses from the information. Bastogne tends to have more greens in it where claro runs to red and pink.

Mild point of correction though, claro is not a thinshelled walnut. Neither is bastogne as it is a mule.
art

Prostate8: That is claro, and a fine peice at that, I can tell where the flow for the buttstock will be, and that will make for a nice #1 stock.
Clattin: let us know how it ends up. I know of a hugh blk. walnut close by and thought about trying it myself. Seems like it would be a lot of work, and then there is the long time to dry process.If you could end up with some nice blanks,and learn somethings in the process, thats what it is all about, good luck!

Steve? Is that you?

Yes, so we meet again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!

srtrax
Welcome to the fire! Would be curious how you know that is claro. I grant it looks a lot like it and it even looks like there is some burl there commonly associated with a grafted orchard claro. But I hesitate to pronounce it claro without a bit more.

I have two blanks that look identical and both are marked exhibition grade claro from the old Fajen mill. There is a pronounced difference in density. The light one is actually bastogne and it is lighter then standard claro. The microscope makes it hard to hide its roots...
art

OT UMETUM

another pict of wood

one more

Camera and lighting leaves something to be desired.

Tiny bit of burl there on the lower end huh, bout softball sized. I'm still thinking of claro ATM though, not seeing alot of greens.

Savage, as a bowl turner you might like this other one I purchased. The dimensions were misstated when I purchased it. I was given the above one as a replacement.

dry blank (bowl sized)
wet

Holy crapola

That'd make a nice one there.

Sorry for jumping in here but I've been reading with interest your project. When you make a stock from beautiful walnut how do you dry the wood before the stock is made or after. What is the ideal mosture content. Do you make a block from the donor stump and then dry it or is it dryed at room temperature or oven temp?