Red Mapel

[büchsenmacher64]

An expert knows all the answers - if you ask the right questions.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[büchsenmacher64]

There's sugar maple, which we call hard maple; and red maple. There aren't really different classifications for red maple; and both species vary in their density. I've worked with sugar maple that has soft spots, and red maple that's pretty dense. Red maple is a little harder than walnut, in my experience.

Sugar maple is much better if you're going to do some carving. And, for the figured wood, I've found red maple is easier to get a good contrast with the figure. I build from a blank, and don't do relief carving... and I prefer to use red maple.

The first gun is one I made for my brother, using sugar maple. This piece of wood was very dense... and gave me an education. The second is my personal gun, Miss Sally. I built her six years ago, and used a grade 4 red maple blank. The third is one I finished a year ago, and it also has a grade 5 red maple stock. The last is an early plain gun with a grade 3 red maple stock. I'm currently finishing a gun on which I used tanic acid for the first time. It has a grade 7 sugar maple stock, and I'm pleased with the tanic acid's ability to create a better contrast with the figure.

I don't worry about hardness when it comes to scratches and dents. I take care of my guns, mind them in the field, and don't fall down much. So it's not worth fussing over.

Amazing craftsmanship, thanks for sharing.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Red maple has a lot of variation in density. The secret is to handle the blank, if it is heavy, it will probably work out, if light, maybe not. I've used a lot of red maple over the years and it usually doesn't carve that well if you need sharp small details. However, the figure is often more dramatic than sugar or black maple. I would not hesitate to use it for a fairly plain gun but usually not one with a lot of carving details. Here are 2 I did using red maple. I carved both but the first was troublesome.

\

dave

 

[büchsenmacher64]

Hi,
Red maple has a lot of variation in density. The secret is to handle the blank, if it is heavy, it will probably work out, if light, maybe not. I've used a lot of red maple over the years and it usually doesn't carve that well if you need sharp small details. However, the figure is often more dramatic than sugar or black maple. I would not hesitate to use it for a fairly plain gun but usually not one with a lot of carving details. Here are 2 I did using red maple. I carved both but the first was troublesome.

\

dave

I actually saw these two up close at Kempton. Thanks for the information.

 

[Robin101]

I think this is how the hardness scale works out.........Hardest is Chestnut maple , next...Sugar maple, then.....Hard red maple , med. hard red maple , soft red maple. Black maple parallels red maple. , Finally......White maple , it comes from those huge maple trees growing near water , and in damp areas. All can be curly , or plain , or anything in between. The hardest , chestnut maple , can have birds eye , tortoise shell , quilted , and curl , or all in one blank. In a half century , I've seen only a half dozen Chestnut maple stock blanks. Chestnut maple is heavy , dense , beautiful , and miserable to work. I hated buying some , 40 yrs.ago , but I did. Live and learn..

I have never heard of 'chestnut maple', apparently neither has Google. Do you have a reference for this specie? Always looking for a good wood.
Robin

 

[Thagomizer]

This has been a fascinating thread! Thanks to all that contributed.

 

[Urban Coyote]

This has been a fascinating thread! Thanks to all that contributed.

Ditto

 

[James Kibler]

I would bet that 80 percent of all Longrifles past and present are stocked in red maple. Look at Dunlap…. The biggest muzzling stock wood supplier rarely had sugar maple. So many experts…

 

[Pete G]

…and don’t even think about Silver Mable for a stock!

 

[tenngun]

I'm waiting for the red maple in my front yard to mature a bit more to figure all that out. Currently it's about 1" diameter, so it will be a while.

Read an article back in the 70s about kit building. One could get a kit, that all one had to do was sand and finish. To kits that one had to do final fitting. And at last kits for the experienced builder, twenty pounds of pig iron and maple seeds

 

[Killerangel]

I like it.

 

[büchsenmacher64]

I like it.

Lordy that's pretty. Looks like you didn't have any trouble carving red maple. Thanks for sharing

 

[Killerangel]

Lordy that's pretty. Looks like you didn't have any trouble carving red maple. Thanks for sharing

Thanks, but I did not carve it, I'm fortunate to have had it built by am extremely gifted perfectionist.

 

[Snooterpup]

I like it.

Do tell, who built that beautiful rifle?

 

[Killerangel]

Do tell, who built that beautiful rifle?

Chris Laubach