stock blank storage

[dlocke]

What's the best way to store an uncut blank (or for that matter, a precut blank) prior to using it? Laying flat on a smooth surface or standing on end, or does it matter? I have two coming soon and plan on painting the ends with some latex paint or titebond glue to prevent checking, but I'm not sure how best to store them. I left some pine boards standing on end once and they warped.
DJL

 

[guncobbler]

If you were real picky about it you could sandwich the blanks between two dried 2 x 6s or 8s. Use a couple of C clamps to hold them together and the blanks straight. Painting the ends is good to prevent checking. Store in a location that doesn't have wide swings in humidity. Standing on end or leaning in the corner does not support the stock and allows them to twist. Laying the blanks on the floor is one way of supporting them. GC

 

[dlocke]

Thanks guncobbler. I'll paint the ends and store them flat under the bed. Humidity won't be an issue until next July, and there is AC in the bedroom that time of year. Nice stable room. Here in Maine there are only 2 seasons. . . winter and the 4th of July. Actually, there are 4 seasons. .. winter, mud season, road construction season, and hunting season.
DJL

 

[Mike Brooks]

I lean mine along the wall in the loft of my corn crib. These blanks are alrready dry.

 

[dlocke]

The ones I have coming are dry too. The curly maple blank is over 20 yrs old and is going to be stored a year or 2, and the not-very-curly maple is about 12 years old and was kiln-dried. That one is likely destined for a full-stock hakwken and work will probably proceed in Feb or March, after I finish the 8000 projects I have going now.
DJL

 

[ffffg]

there are several things i would do..store it with your other guns, the way you do your guns unless the wood is not dry.. that way it will shift its moisture to where your going keep it and stay there.. never allow wood to touch concrete or have one side open and one side coverd.. laying lumber on the flat with the humdidity dryer than the wood will make it cup ends up as the top of the board shrinks.. laying lumber flat with the humidity damper than the wood will make it cup ends down as the top grain elongates..that is unless the surfacr you have it on is wetter or dryer than the blank than it will wick from it in the same way it will the air.. if you dont want it picking up or loosing moisture paint the ends and wrap it well with saran wrap.. you can jput a scew in an end and hang it .. that way it will take up or let off moisture evenly all over the blank and equalize to your climate. if it warps so be it. you want it to warp before you build the gun.. thats why blanks are bigger than the finished product.. modern electric steam kilns are really fantastic and the only way to dry 8/4 or larger planks well.. what really matters is the climat its comming from and what climate its going to.. it should stablilize to your climate with air being equally surrounded the piece, and set for a while.. 8/4 is not going to move alot becouse the moisture is trapped inside or cant get in or out easily.. as you cut the wood away you want it to be taken evenly from the sides and top and bottom of the piece, as the moisture in the center will vary from the outside of the wood sometimes.. if you take more off one side than the other you can caouse uneven stability making it warp.. years ago with the old wood kilns id have to cut boards larger.. then after they move from sawing , id have to rejoint them and resaw to have them strait.. this was was from whats called case hardening if i remember right.. honeycomb was a serious promlem where the center of the lumber would collaps and leave holes following the grain.. the new modern kilns dont have any where near the many problems that the wood kilns had..... :v dave

 

[Gary]

If your planks are dried, then what you're doing by holding onto them is acclimitizing them to your area. Good idea. If you didn't and built your gun, it could distort afterwards.

 

[ffffg]

heres another tip.. if you live in florida dont buy wood from arizona.. if you live in arizona dont buy lumber from seattle.. i dont think this pertains to stocks that much be course of thier shere size and impermiablilaty to moisture becouse of that..but they will stablize in the climat theve sat for awhile.. i have heard of guys going to alaska with fancy maple stock and missing his mark becouse he did not seal the inside of his finished stock.. the butt will soak up water like crazy and can transport it .. id guess it came from the forearem barrel channel or lug area.. finish the entire stock after your gun is done.. thats tripple on end grain..dave.

 

[dlocke]

Well, let's see. I'm in Maine. . .the 61" curly blank is coming from Michigan, and the 51" plain blank is coming from Maryland, so that's pretty close. Of course, I have no idea how they have ben stored over the past several years, so they probably won't get any worse.
Thanks for the tutorial, FFFFg, lots of info there.
DJL

 

[wszumera]

Those pine boards were going to warp most likely whatever you did.

As to the blank, I'd paint the ends or coat with parafin and keep the blank in the same humidity and temperature that you will be storing the completed rifle.

If problems show up while it is stored, better then than after you put a lot of work into it.

Clutch

 

[Mike Brooks]

keep the blank in the same humidity and temperature that you will be storing the completed rifle.

So, you're going to store your blanks in the livingroom? :haha:

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

Mike has a point, a blank is a hefty chunk of wood and if it moves I don't think it will be much, even so after you inlet the barrel, as long as you don't let it set around without the barrel in place, the barrel will keep the stock in true. Mike am I right?
Jeff

 

[dlocke]

That raises an interesting issue. I know to keep the barrel in the groove, but what about the time before and during the inletting process. I tend to work slowly and periodically and it is not out of the question that it could take me weeks or even a month to get the barrel fully inletted. Took me 3 weeks to inlet a buttplate on my current project (but man does it fit nice). What about during that time? Perhaps tape the barrel to the forestock anyway?
DJL

 

[blacksmithshoppe]

You got me there, I would just send it to someone like Fred Miller and pay him to inlet the barrel for me. You could say i'm lazy but for the price I would just as soon pay him as mess with it my self and I know he can do a better job than I can. I'm not a full time or even part time builder and my time is limited.
Jeff

 

[Mike Brooks]

Properly Dried blanks don't move much. I leave them out in the corn crib loft untill I need one then send it to Fred Miller for the barrel to be inlet. I then get it back and build the gun down the basement. During the evenings when I'm not working I bring it upstairs in the dinning room and lean it in the corner. This is important here in the midwest as we have very little humidity in the house in the winter. I want the wood to aclimate to the low humidity as I shape the stock down over a period of a couple weeks. I find I get less shrinkage taking place after I've assembled it that way. Learned that lesson tthe hard way years ago. I built a gun in the fall in my old dirt floor shop then applied finish to the stock inside of the heated house. The stock shrank a little better that 1/16" or a bit more just about every where . I had to reinlet everything and shape the buttplate to fit the smaller stock.

 

[dlocke]

I've been known to be a glutton for punishment. . . Actually, I have a 3" x 3" stick of oak to use as a practice block. I'll go thru the process of inletting an old barrel in the thing and see how far I get. I'll either be able to do it, or I'll wind up throwing it aginst the wall. When you send your blanks out the be inlet, do you get the ramrod groove and hole done too?
DJL

 

[Mike Brooks]

When you send your blanks out the be inlet, do you get the ramrod groove and hole done too?
DJL

Yep.

 

[ffffg]

"So, you're going to store your blanks in the livingroom? :haha: " ............ ok mike, you can put yours in the dinning room. ........ "when I'm not working I bring it upstairs in the dinning room and lean it in the corner. ..dave :grin:

 

[Roy]

I store all of my blanks up in the rafters in the basement/ workshop. Its heated a bit when it gets cold and the AC works when its not. If I stored them in the corners, I'd run out of corners and room. :v

 

[Mike Brooks]

"So, you're going to store your blanks in the livingroom? :haha: " ............ ok mike, you can put yours in the dinning room. ........ "when I'm not working I bring it upstairs in the dinning room and lean it in the corner. ..dave :grin:

Just to clarify as I confused my self as well as others!
I place the gun I'm currently working on in the same environment that it will be in while the finish is drying. You know like over night or while I'm off goofing off some where.
Outside is fine for blank storage as long as it's not being rained on and is up off the floor.