Blackjack Oak ?

[smokepolehall]

Is there any reasons why it would not work for stock's ?

 

[Eric Krewson]

It the specific gravity can be soft , .56 or as hard as hickory, .71 according to the spec sheet. Not many oak stocks around, that should tell you something.

https://www.wood-database.com/black-oak/
While I was on the oaks page I looked at live oak, that stuff is at the least is as hard as osage, .81 and could be so dense that it won't float, .100.

 

[tenngun]

I asked a similar question once on this forum. It was pointed out the high tannic acid content of the oak would dust metalwork.
I don’t know if that’s true, but even if a long standing myth it would be a reason why it wasn’t done.
Old oak ships had metal fittings, but also a lot of trenals

 

[IanH]

I asked a similar question once on this forum. It was pointed out the high tannic acid content of the oak would dust metalwork.
I don’t know if that’s true, but even if a long standing myth it would be a reason why it wasn’t done.
Old oak ships had metal fittings, but also a lot of trenals

Trunnels were cheap, flexible, and salt-water resistant. Iron was none of those things.

Live oak will definitely react with iron but the wood takes the brunt of the reaction, not the metal. I don't know if Blackjack oak has as high of a tannin level or not. I thought it was actually kind of rare.

I would think that dimensional stability is even more important than the wood chemistry. Some have made stocks from bodark but found them very unstable, so slot your barrel tenons!

Saw a guy recently made a longrifle out of hackberry, not something I would have tried because that stuff is like a sponge. Lots of furniture been made with white oak, but not many if any gunstocks, not sure about why but it isn't the tannic acid content.

Weight, dimensional stability, shock resistance, crack resistance, surface porosity, grain size, and looks all contribute to the popularity of certain woods for gunstocks. English, European, and Claro walnut is just about ideal.

 

[SOLANCO]

I wonder about sycamore. Flat sawn it is a boring wood. But gorgeous quarter sawn. Used it for a kitchen counter and it has held up well.

 

[Kevin]

I have an old double barrel with a live oak replacement stock, Its pretty but, heavy, very heavy.

 

[Mulebrain]

Don't know about stocks, but man can it turn out good Q

 

[Secesh]

Black Jack Oak trees grow extremely slow, about the same rate as Dogwood, and has a high tannin content very similar to the level in Red Oak. You would be hard pressed to find a Black Jack with enough girth to make a gunstock.

 

[deerstalkert]

have never used Oak for a stock. mainly because i have never found a piece that wanted to be a stock.
i have used Mesquite, one Ironwood (don't ask!), Spalted Birch, quilted Maple, Flame Maple, Myrtle wood, Madrone, (same problems as Ironwood).
Teak, Tulip wood, all the Walnuts, and one Purple Heart. (Ghastly, but the client wanted it with Tulip wood Inlays)
even restocked a Daisy Red Rider with Cedar. that was my first stock ever.
the reaction of Oak Tannins with the metal parts will be nasty black. have worked on enough old wagons to know that.

 

[The Appalachian]

Oak makes great furniture and firewood, but not very good handles. A rifle stock is just a fancy handle.

Oak also makes great things like barns where oak is a dominant species. I gotta wonder, how did all these old barns around here last a couple hundred years, siding nailed up and floors nailed down with iron cut nails.

I've pulled apart my fair share of old sheds and barns and the only thing the "tannic acid" did was lock those cut nails in and make them extremely hard to pull if not impossible. Course, that might have just been the mositure in the green lumber when it was first built.

Contempory kiln dried oak lumber doesn't bother the modern steel nails and screws our furniture and house trim is held together with. So there's that as I sit here and look around at all the oak in my house.

I just used oak on a new pig shed floor this spring. Oak I milled from green logs, screwed down with galvanized decking screws. I wager very heavy odds that floor will be there long after I'm pushing up daisies.

I wouldn't use oak for a gunstock, but not for reasons associated with metal contact with it. That's just silly.

 

[Secesh]

Wild Persimmon (in the Ebony family) makes great handles; hoe handles, plow handles, hammers, etc. don’t know whether or not if it would make a good gunstock. Don’t know if there is anything to it but with the widespread availability of Oaks, Ashe, Walnut, Maple why did the old timers only utilize the last three on that list.

 

[Pete G]

It’s heavy and hard to work.

 

[The Appalachian]

Wild Persimmon (in the Ebony family) makes great handles; hoe handles, plow handles, hammers, etc. don’t know whether or not if it would make a good gunstock. Don’t know if there is anything to it but with the widespread availability of Oaks, Ashe, Walnut, Maple why did the old timers only utilize the last three on that list.

Try carving oak as efficiently as Ash, Maple, and Walnut, even Cherry. Gunstocks are purely an intricate carving from muzzle to butt plate.

There's your answer.

 

[Sean E Bug]

I like ash. Dunlap wood crafts list oak stock as a special order.

 

[SOLANCO]

Oak built good warships. Have read of cannon balls bouncing off of British men of war. "Hearts of Oak" is the hymn of the British navy.

 

[moonlori83]

There are much better choices for gunstocks. Both for workability, shock resistance as well as stability and other desirable qualities needed for gunstocks.
For furniture, floors and similar construction needs it's fine. Fine detail work with hand tools not so much.
And if you pick up splinters they will turn a fine dark color until you pick them out.

 

[COTNTOP]

Black Jack was put here for cooking pigs.

 

[smokepolehall]

I just was wondering as i have a nice B-jack that died this past Fall in a rough 12-14" in diameter & about 35-38' tall.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I just was wondering as i have a nice B-jack that died this past Fall in a rough 12-14" in diameter & about 35-38' tall.

Fire wood.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Is there any reasons why it would not work for stock's ?

I almost fell off my chair laughing when I first saw your question. I once lived on a property that had a lot of blackjack oak. I cut it for firewood and to make room for other trees. IMHO, lousy choice for any kind of gunstock. The grain is twisty and difficult to split. It has a lot of branches making selection of a piece difficult for a gunstock. A strange characteristic is the branch knots go all the way through the tree and are extremely hard and often purple in color. I hate these trees. In the winter, without leaves the branches are crooked and remind me of witches hands reaching out for victims. But, if you have unlimited time and patience try it for a stock. Let us know what happens.