Pecan For Stock

[DBox]

I have a chance to get some big pecan logs from some trees that were taken down in February 2008 by a local tornado. Is pecan stable and hard enough for stocks? I don't recall seeing any.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Yes, its fine. You don't see much of it in gunstocks, because its hard to find a piece big enough, and wide enough, without the heartwood( which is soft and crumbles) to make a gunstock. If you get a good piece, be sure to come back here with pictures of it so we can see the before and after colors of the wood. It tends to be a bit yellow in color in its natural state, and I don't recall it has much contrasting grain to see, either. :thumbsup:

 

[cptleo1]

Seems to me Pecan is pretty brittle, not to mention a few years drying time.

How about some Chinese Elm.

I think they look similar check it out:

 

[Birddog6]

I just brought home 3 big logs, 30" dia. x 8'. I sealed the H out of them & the ends still cracked on them, which was disappointing. Used the same log seal I have always used, have 8 big oak logs there beside them & the oaks didn't crack. These pecans were in a creek bank & boy they hold allot of water & were heavy. After cutting them & seeing them, I really have my doubts they will be worth the trouble. In a 30" log, about 12" of heartwood & rest is white & Very wet wood, reminded me of elm.
The guy I got them from said these are fast growing pecan trees & the slow growing ones are the best for lumber. I really don't know anything about pecan wood, other than what he told me. These were free & all I had to do was go get them in the truck, so I did.

:thumbsup:

 

[hotsparks]

Pecan is a hickory, I have 15 acres of them. Like hickory, pecan is "long-grained", fairly easy to work for flat furniture, but betcha it'll be a bear to work for the intricate shapes in a ML. But you'll have one he// of a strong stock.

 

[DBox]

Thanks for the info. These logs are free. I've just got to winch them onto my trailer and haul them home, about 4 miles. I was planning on turning some bowls and trying my hand at a dough tray or two. I really hate to see these old trees go to waste.

 

[Birddog6]

I thought it looked like hickory as well when we cut the logs off. I have 2 huge hickory trees down here now that are 50' logs & about 36" base. Grown in the woods, thay are long & straight. But hickory is too hard to work with for me & too hard on the tool bits. I can plane 10 oak boards to the same wear as 2 hickory boards & the grain of the oak is definitely nicer to look at.. When hickory is dry it is one tough wood. :shake:

 

[gmww]

Seems to me Pecan is pretty brittle, not to mention a few years drying time.

How about some Chinese Elm.

I think they look similar check it out:

I've seen this photo before. Isn't this the one with the eyes?

 

[rich pierce]

I thought it looked like hickory as well when we cut the logs off. I have 2 huge hickory trees down here now that are 50' logs & about 36" base. Grown in the woods, thay are long & straight. But hickory is too hard to work with for me & too hard on the tool bits.

I'd take some hickory blanks off your hands. Special project.

 

[gmww]

I always thought it would be cool to make a rifle, pistol, axe handle, knife handle all from the same wood.

 

[Birddog6]

Well, heck, just drive over here to AL & you can take the whole trees !! I will even load them for you with a forklift ! :grin:

 

[Bubba45]

I found a 1-3/4" x 10"x 10' nice clean plank of Hickory at a local specialty wood shop really cheap . Nice and straight without any bow in it.Figure to get 3 or 4 stocks from it for some skinny Southern style guns :grin:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Way back in the early days of the muzzleloading renaissance, there was a production gun that was briefly available with a pecan stock. Or so it was advertised. Except for the wood, it looked like any of the generic "longrifles" being made at the time.