So I find this piece of maple and it says.....turn me into a .308 Winchester.....











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The barreled action is 100% Howa....as is from their factory. I bought it from gunbroker and when I tookit to the range using the original Hogue stock, it was very accurate and I wasn't at all sure I wanted to monkey with it......But monkey I did and when it was done the accuracy had actually improved.

It is now the most accurate rifle I've ever owned.....with 150 grain Barnes TTSX bullets and 51.5 grains CFE 223 powder it will consistently hit dime size targets at 100 yards
Pistol grip cap and for end tip are cocobolo as I like the red color with the maple.

The wood came from Potsdam Minnesota

Stock routing by Dennis Olson of Plains Montana

This will probably be my elk rifle this fall

Spectacular spalted maple!

Beauty eh !

Spalted Maple is beautiful, but you have to stabilize it.

I see spalted wood in the butt stock, straight grain in the action and forearm, which is exactly how I'd want it.

What did you have to do to stabilize the spalted area, or was it already done for you?

Would like more info on Dennis Olson, web site, etc.

Very nice. You done good...

DF

Here's a link back to where the "gluing" discussion began.

I still love the widow's peak forearm cap that you do.

www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/12757265

DF

Dennis does great work. He did the metal work on my 458Lott.

Spalted wood is highly prised for its unusual patterns and colorations, but it's not necessarily easy to work. "Spalting" occurs in an early stage of the decay process, when various colonies of fungi stake their claims to a piece of fallen wood. The characteristic blue-black lines that run through spalted wood actually represent the lines of demarcation between incompatible colonies of micro-organisms and, while beautiful to look at, they mean that the wood is in an early to mid-stage of decomposition.

: "Assuming the spots aren't too mushy, you can pot them with a wood hardener designed to soak in and stabilize rotted wood. They come in two versions — a one package pour on and a two part thin epoxy with names like "Woodrot" (which I use) In my opinion, the epoxy is the better of the two. You can get some from System Three in Seattle — they have ads in most of the woodworking magazines. Once stabilized, you can treat it as any other wood. The epoxy will affect the way it takes stains, but most folks don't stain spalted wood. It will not affect finish adhesion, and rarely affects glue adhesion.

I have used spalted Maple in panels of wood in my house and did not stabilize it.....the stuff has been there for 15 years with no further decay noticible. I'm of the opinion that if the wood is not "punk"....able to be penetrated with the fingernail..... it will stop decaying after the oxygen is cut off by putting a good finish on the wood.

Stunning. Well done.

Spalted wood is very, very dangerous to work with.

Please explain. Dangerous as to one's health or dangerous as to not knowing what you're going to be cutting into, what lies under the surface?

Vapodog,

Did Dennis do the external shaping as well? If so, what pattern did he use?

DF

Damn nice work Forrest, but I think I would have added a little bit of stain to make it a bit darker, Best thing about it is that you sourced the wood In Minnesota!

Dennis did a 95% inlet leaving me rough and finish sanding, recoil pad install, forend tip and pistol grip install, sling swivel stud install, and finally finishing and checkering. However it's far from a drop in....there is a lot of work involved after Dennis gets his work done.

He said they don't stain well after stabilizing with the two part epoxy treatment.

So, it may have been a train wreck had he tried to stain it. Looks pretty good to me as is.

DF

You sent him an uninletted, shaped blank?

Did you do the profile, the outside shape?

DF

I stained a previous maple stock and said "never again"....these things are to ones personal tastes and I'm now of the thinking that if I don't like the wood "as is".....I'll use something else.

I understand your differing here.....but it's just my mean streak coming out against the companies making wood stain.

Yes, I sent him a crudely shaped (via band saw) uninletted blank.....Dennis' routing furnished 95% of the final shape.....he even did the shadowline cheekpiece.....rough but clearly merely needing sanding.

Is that a certain pattern you chose?

Looks great.

DF

I like the shadowline cheekpiece.....so if it's available I ask for it....it almost always is but on occasion I just get a regular cheekpiece.

Dennis seems to be able to make almost anything.....but ask him before sending wood....one can wreck a "C-note" in just shipping costs if you don't.

Spalted wood can be lighter in weight.

Is this the case with this one?

DF

While I do not normally like maple stocks, I do like that a lot.

Yes....kt's a fair amount lighter than walnut.

That would be a plus, IMO. Most of the spalted wood is in the butt stock, looks pretty solid forward.

Dense maple is about as heavy as walnut, IME.

The lighter weight is just a bonus for a beautiful stock.

DF

What finish did you use?

DF

What finish did you use?

DF[/quote]

100% tru oil

I'm the same way about maple, But that stock looks great.

vapodog, did you also do the checkering?

love that rifle super nice wood!

Fantastic job!

Yup...it's quite a process....nice to have something to do when it's not decent weather outside to be somewhere else. I'd rather be fishing but checkering is rewarding too.