Curly maple question

[GANGGREEN]

I've been reading this board for a few years and don't think I've seen this addressed. I've made two guns from pre-carves and I'm presently building a third, but I'm getting more and more inclined to cut some logs on my property and have them milled for stock blanks.

I have some hickory and I'm very curious about that. I know that rifles have been made with hickory, but I also know that they're very uncommon and I'm curious if its just about what was done historically or if there's some other logical reason why it's not commonly used.

Secondly, what percentage of hard maple or soft maple trees would have curl? Is it 10%? 1%? 30%? I'm really curious to know. Of the maple that does have some obvious curl, what percentage of that would have a lot of curl (say 50-60% or more for the average milled gun plank)?

 

[dave5]

I am not sure about your hickory wood question,but I can put in my 2 cents about the curley maple question. In my experience,you cant just look at a maple tree and see if its curley. I have a lot of maple trees that I have taken a screwdriver and hammer and peeled back about 4 in of bark .If it is curley you can feel ridges or see horizontal ridges. The more pronounced the ridges ,the better the curl.There is no guarantee it will be good curl until you get it sawed. I have seen huge trees with curl all the way to top. Note-I only take bark off trees on my own property.This is only my experience!!! I usually cut about a tree a year.Some are ok, some end up firewood!

 

[Col. Batguano]

And, the wood that is quarter-sawn has the best chance for curl. From what I've read, only 5-10% of maple trees have curl. In most hard maple trees, the middle 50% of the tree will be the dark heartwood that you don't want for gun stocks. That stuff usually winds up as pallet wood.

Hickory is a really hard and dense wood. Usually it's pretty ugly grain too. Good for hammer handles and the like, but awfully heavy for a gun stock, as it weighs up to 58 pounds per cubic foot. Maple is around 44.

 

[Bruce Bogart]

You all are probably tired of seeing this piece of firewood.

If it's curly it will look like this under the bark.

 

[jdkerstetter]

I'm afraid that the % questions on curl would be impossible to answer. Now, you's likely get local answers from sawyers on wood they cut but since only a small % of maples are ever harvested for gun stocks.... :idunno:

As far as hard and soft, throw that out the window. Try sugar and red as not all maples are suitable for gun stocks.....silver for example.

Sugar and red are both hard woods though sugar consistantly harder than red....but some red is as hard as sugar.

Oh, here's a % for you! A higher % of red maples yield curl compared to sugar. But then some sugar has superior curl.

If you a looking for trees to harvest you can learn how to judge curl with practice. Once you find a tree with curl look nearby for more. Curl is believed to be genetic and the offspring or siblings are likely in the area.

Hickory? Sure. You can make a gunstock out of any wood and there are surviving original guns to prove it....I've even heard of one made form pine...(it's in a book or magazine around here somewhere). Consider this though, there are reasons almost every original gun is maple, walnut or cherry. The builders of these guns were in the business to make guns and they determined which woods work best through trial and error. I know a guy who did one in hickory and he won't again.....super hard and hard to work with.

Hope that helps some anyway. Enjoy, J.D.

 

[GANGGREEN]

All very interesting and I appreciate everyone's input. Especially interesting is the note that curl is genetic and can often be found on the nearby relatives to trees. Cool. Thanks again.

 

[talkingamoeba]

I'm only 20 miles from you and could show you, on a dead tree in my woods, what to look for under the bark if you are interested. Send me a PM if you are.

 

[GANGGREEN]

PM sent.

 

[dyemaker]

At work I found an excellent piece of curly maple in a metal storage cabinet. Fine even curl on a broken broom handle of all things. Impossible to take out however.

 

[Bruce Bogart]

My nephew works in a warehouse type setting and brought me a slat from a pallet the other day. Hard as stone and beautiful curl. I think he's hoping for a knife with curly maple scales. Now if I could find a pallet with 3" thick, 10" wide slats approx 6 feet long that he could reclaim :hmm:

 

[Pete G]

Hickory is tough to work. Not only is it hard, but it also has a high silica content, which dulls cutting edges pretty quickly.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks for the info Pete. I actually think hickory is attractive wood but if it's going to make a project much harder, I think it would be easier to avoid it completely.

 

[Richard J.]

Back in the 60s Had two 1,000 yard target rifles made with osage orange stocks. This wood had an orange color to it with black bars. Real nice, but very heavy. Would not want to carry a stock made from it for hunting.

 

[fleener]

RJ

did you make those rifle out of osage? Do you still shoot 1,000 yards?

snapper

 

[Richard J.]

Both were made out of osage. No I dont do long range anymore. Miss it but back then it was way to much work. Now you can get factory shells that are pretty good if you want to pay the money for them. Five bucks and more each shell. I even played around shooting out to 600 yds with a flintlock. Now that was something. I got into BP when I was young and always found it was more fun than centerfire. Still do massive loadings for my family and do centerfire shooting, but all hunting is Black Powder. So much more fun.