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Cutting Gun Stock Material

Started by DR_Buck, November 02, 2008, 10:03:23 PM

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DR_Buck

I dragged home a large Walnut stump last month and would like to mill it into gun stock blanks.    Problem is I've never milled gun stock blanks.  ;D    What are some good rough sawn sizes to make?   
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

Tom

I cut a lot of them for Historical Trees Inc. at 3 1/2"-4" X 6"-8" and lenths in 4' increments.  Those were measurements suggested by the people who were to make the stocks.

I found these measurements on a website on the Internet.

Rifle Dimensions   Shotgun/2-Piece Rifle Dimensions
28 - 41" length
5-1/2 - 7-3/4" height at butt end
3" height at muzzle end
2 - 3" thick
   
Shotgun/1piece Rifle Dimensions
16 - 21" length
6 - 7-3/4" height at butt end
3" height at muzzle end
2 - 3" thick
forend piece measures 14" x 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" 

Minimum thickness is 2 inch and thicker than 3 if cheek rests are to be carved.
It's best to talk to the fellow that is to do the carving.
It's also a good Idea to make sure that you are talking of green wood or dried wood.


backwoods sawyer

The size I have had request for is 4x8x32 and all surfaces sprayed with end seal.
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

DR_Buck

Quote from: backwoods sawyer on November 03, 2008, 01:36:59 AM
The size I have had request for is 4x8x32 and all surfaces sprayed with end seal.

So,   if sealing is a requirement, I guess I shouldnt kiln dry it?   ???
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

beenthere

Walnut gun stock blanks are used to be kiln dried, but the schedule is over a 7 month period. Right...it's a looonng time.
Vacuum drying is likely less, and don't know if dehumidification drying is less.  ::) ::)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Dan_Shade

is the long schedule due to the figure, or a lot of it being from stumps/rootballs?

or is this just old wives tale stuff?  to me, dry is dry.... but i'm no expert...
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

beenthere

I would expect the long drying schedule is to limit internal checks and drying stresses as much as possible. Gun-stock walnut is usually figured, or at least hopefully is figured for the high end sales.  :)  The figure in stumps and rootballs would add to the difficulty as well.

Thick wood will take patience to dry, otherwise the honeycomb and collapse will happen, and completely ruin the blank.  I remember all the walnut blanks in a large walnut gun stock company had their kilns operating for 7 months. Likely some conditioning as well as just drying was happening as well, during that time.

Didn't get it from an old wife... :D :D :D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Reddog

Quote from: beenthere on November 03, 2008, 12:25:05 PM
I would expect the long drying schedule is to limit internal checks and drying stresses as much as possible.

That is the exact reason.
The old makers would only take air dried blanks. They would then store them for a long time to make sure the wood was stable.

Larry

You should be aware of the difference between a gunstock plank and a gunstock blank.  A plank can have the proper dimensions and be dried most anyway but is worth little as a gunstock.  A blank should have great figure in the butt, grain that follows the pistol grip, and straight grain that slopes very slightly upward in the forend.  A quality stock begins with the sawyer.  The blank will be priced high...as quality stocks are rare.

When I saw blanks I saw slabs of chosen thickness.  Straight grain will get two rifle stocks...butts at the opposite ends to conserve wood.  Figured grain will get a combination...maybe a rifle stock, shotgun stock, pistol and knife scales, along with anything else I can think up.  I let the wood tell me what it wants to be.  I keep a few hardboard patterns to lay out the stock ready for the bandsaw.

Tradition says a blank should be air dried for years...I put a screw eye in the end and hang the best up in my closet.  Dip the ends in heated paraffin.  I'm not really sure if there is much difference between a blank that is air dried and one that has been dried slowly in a DH or solar kiln.  Blanks dried in a conventional steam kiln seem harder and don't take checkering near as well...IMO.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Dan_Shade

Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

francismilker

Interesting find from the archives out at google!  I was contacted by a friend today that's in his late 60's saying he had a walnut that was standing dead when he was a kid 50 years ago.  He wanted it sawed into gun blanks.  He brought it to me and man was I in for a surprise.  It was prettiest wood I've ever seen.  He was very specific about the position for each cut we spent quite a lot of time positioning the log before and after every cut. 

That's some beautiful grain in those blanks I cut for him today.

By the way, I figured the stuff would be so hard it couldn't be cut.  On the contrary, it wasn't any different from green RedOak or other hardwoods.
"whatsoever thy hands finds to do; do it with thy might" Ecc. 9:10

WM LT-10supergo, MF-271 w/FEL, Honda 500 Foreman, Husq 550, Stihl 026, and lots of baling wire!

drobertson

I know of a place that cuts green walnut for strickly gun stocks,  8/4 thick, wax coat the ends strip, stack load the kiln, steam and dry, around 30 days, and finished.
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

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