Choosing a blank for my Woodsrunner kit

[Frontstuffer070]

I think it would be cool if I could have my stock made out of a tree harvested around where I live. Being in the Piedmont region of SC, the options are not all that great. The local stone mill right down the road from my place also has a small saw mill. He has a couple pieces of wood I could choose from. One is a maple tree harvested from a local Golf Course. I think it may be sugar maple but I don't know. The maple looks pretty to me. Its not a fancy figured maple like the Northern trees I guess. But that's not all that important to me anyway. The maple does have little insect bore holes in it. I don't know how deep they run. The other is Walnut. What do you guys think of these two pieces?

 

[SDSmlf]

What do you guys think of these two pieces?

You may want to get the opinion from who will making the stock from the wood. I suggest contacting Kibler and then listen to what they have to say.

 

[wiscoaster]

You may want to get the opinion from who will making the stock from the wood. I suggest contacting Kibler and then listen to what they have to say.

I second that. Better to get the opinion from the guy who's going to have to work with your blank.

 

[Phil Coffins]

They don’t look good at all to me. Kibler would where my trust would be.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

I plan to call them Monday morning. I just wanted to see what you guys thought. That chunk of walnut is about 10 feet long. I could only see a portion of it. If I decide I want a walnut stock I'll go down there an pull it out and look it over.

 

[Rob M.]

Can't really tell by the pics but ... Figure out what kind of gun or rifle you want and get dimensions and or a pattern and see which one might work for you . Stay away from sap wood and heart wood . Great to have a pattern so you can lay it on the plank and kinda move it around to avoid and cracks or bad spots , then measure and mark the barrel length and draw it all in , cut out on band saw then . If your gonna have someone else make the firearm then they should do all that though . Best of luck

 

[Frontstuffer070]

I found another small sawmill locally, gonna go check out what he has also.

 

[deerstalkert]

those shake splits would scare me. i just started cutting out a blank from a plank i have carried around for 40 years.
thought i could get past a split like that and it fell into three pieces . the shake didn't appear to go through.
sometimes you win sometimes you lose.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

those shake splits would scare me. i just started cutting out a blank from a plank i have carried around for 40 years.
thought i could get past a split like that and it fell into three pieces . the shake didn't appear to go through.
sometimes you win sometimes you lose.

I thought I could cut a blank around them splits. I'll keep looking. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

You may want to get the opinion from who will making the stock from the wood. I suggest contacting Kibler and then listen to what they have to say.

Excellent suggestion. Semper Fi.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

I personally think there is too much stress in this wood. Semper Fi.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I wanted to do the same and asked Jim about my wood, he gave me an honest answer, my wood would be a poor choice of a gunstock.

My wood looked much better than the wood you have pictured. I have spent weeks cutting stock blanks out of the trees that fell around my house with a chainsaw, there wasn't a good blank in the lot, this is cherry.

Walnut crotch wood;

I didn't see the knot in the wrist when I cut out the blank until I thinned the blank, firewood, the knot got bigger and deeper as I went down with the planner. Not knowing better, I cut with the crotch instead of across it like I should have for the best figure.

I finally decided that paying for a blank that was professionally cut for a gun stock was my best option and have never regretted that decision.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

I wanted to do the same and asked Jim about my wood, he gave me an honest answer, my wood would be a poor choice of a gunstock.

My wood looked much better than the wood you have pictured. I have spent weeks cutting stock blanks out of the trees that fell around my house with a chainsaw, there wasn't a good blank in the lot, this is cherry.

View attachment 293648

Walnut crotch wood;

View attachment 293649

I didn't see the knot in the wrist when I cut out the blank until I thinned the blank, firewood, the knot got bigger and deeper as I went down with the planner. Not knowing better, I cut with the crotch instead of across it like I should have for the best figure.

View attachment 293652







I finally decided that paying for a blank that was professionally cut for a gun stock was my best option and have never regretted that decision.

Eric, too bad, that last pic shows a real nice piece of wood!

 

[longcruise]

The other question, which you may or may not have considered, is the moisture content of the wood. You can probably get a pretty good idea by asking the sawmill owner. If he got the logs freshly cut and milled them recently the moisture content will be high and the wood is not done shrinking. Stockwood needs to be dry.

 

[Carteret Kid]

Have you considered a local Cherry tree? A smaller tree you could cut yourself.

 

[user 34300]

Burn the beetle infested wood ASAP.

 

[LonestarShootR]

Yup, several things to consider in a piece of wood for stock blank.
Moisture content is important, grain structure especially through the wrist portion is another. The blank should be clear of any pith or sap wood along with any checking or knots.
It's your wood and your choice. It's hard to tell what you have without making a true pattern and placing it on the piece and adjust and see what's useful.
I would definitely check the MC first and go from there. If it's above 10% the other factors are a moot point and the wood needs more drying before it's considered stable.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

Thank you guys for all the replies. That was very informative.. I will check out this other saw mill and call Jim's shop tomorrow. This local guy mills and builds all sorts of furniture and holds wood working classes, etc. So he may know a thing or two about what he has. In the end I may put in alot of leg work and come up empty handed and just order the kit that the professionals have selected a proper blank for haha.

 

[Northwoodstrapper]

This is the bug that lays the borer worm here in Mich. I had the same problem. It didn’t look bad until I started removing wood. It just went everywhere.

 

[Eric Krewson]

If you have any tiny pin sized worm holes these are from powder post beetles.

Here is what they do below the surface, the wood is a piece of infested firewood that I split.