Working from a log, first attempt

[Eric Krewson]

In a current thread the question is asked if anyone works from a log when obtaining stock blanks. The tornadoes that ripped through my section of Alabama took the top out of a huge cherry tree on my neighbors property a year and a half ago. I got permission to salvage it, lined up a saw mill then my wife was diagnosed with cancer. The project was put on hold.

I am house bound as a caretaker for my wife, the weather is cool, I have cabin fever and thought about that standing snag on the hill, could the wood still be sound?

I grabbed my chainsaw, ax, sledge, wedges and decided to tackle it.

No problem putting it on the ground,27 feet long and 22" in diameter. Some ant damage at the base but a sound log for the most part.

There was a crook at the top caused by a rotten limb. I am thinking; probably a nice grain flow through the wrist of a blank.

Never done this before so I decide to slab off the side to see what I have. I learned a lot about freehand chainsaw slabbing on this section that will make the next section go much smoother

I cut another slab to check my layout.

Nice grain orientation through the wrist.

First pattern cut, I cut my blank at least an inch larger on all the dimensions to give me plenty of room for a proper layout once I get the wood in my shop.

The blank cut free.

I got two blanks out of what was the worst section of this snag. One is 4 1/2" wide the other close to 6". I have a lot of bad wood to avoid and will only cut the best part out of these blanks.

Back at the shop, I have a large band saw, jointer and planer to cut these down to size.

The rest of the log, except for the base is very sound, even has another less radical bend for some more nice grain orientation.

Hopefully I won't have as much waste on the next section as I did on the first cut.

I will update this thread as I progress.

 

[Robby]

NICE!!! :hatsoff: :thumbsup:
Robby

 

[buford87]

Maybe you can cut some pistol blanks as well.............watch yer top knot..................

 

[hoochiepapa]

THis is one of the few times I envy you easterners.
Lookin' good!!

 

[wmaser]

:thumbsup: Way to go. Like Buford said, make sure you get some pistol blanks and you can get a hundred tomahawk handles, powder horn plugs and knife handles.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Now for the rest of the story;

I trued up my rough cut planks, hidden issues started cropping up.

This is the worst. I could have a 51" barrel channel at the present with a 3" wide blank. Looks like a 42" barrel moved to the right will miss this all together.

One shallow knot in the butt of the other blank, pretty sure it will be gone on a carefully planned layout, will need a patch if it doesn't disappear.

One good surprise, a highly figured butt on one of the blanks.

I sealed the ends as well as the top and bottom with several coats of shellac. On my last cherry blank cut from a sawmill slab I sealed it this way, left it in my shop through lots of 100 degree summer days and had zero checking.

About 4 hours work, just playing around, may be usable blanks, maybe not. The rest of the trunk is really good wood, this is why developed my technique on the worst part of the log.

 

[hoochiepapa]

I'm chomping at the bit to see further work.

 

[Bill Hall]

Tell me that's not a butterfly. :wink: Bill

 

[Baxter]

My eye sees a bat. ?

 

[kaintuck]

looks like paris hilton to me.......... :hmm:

but then...everything does....

 

[Birddog6]

Only issue I can see is keeping the stock from twisting as it dries. Really hard to do once the blank is cut out & blank is not dry. (Dry with a moisture meter, not by eye or guessing) I always leave it in the plank so I can weight it all down & let it dry 1 year per inch of thickness. Then take a moisture meter & check for moisture. If it drys too fast it will crack most of the time, as it is pulling moisture too fast from the wood. Last 2 cherry planks I had were 6 1/2' long , 24" wide, & 3" thick. I sealed the H out of them, still only got 1 Good stock blank from each as of checking & cracking & allot of hidden inclusions. When you get it dry & planed, sometimes a whole lot of other issues in the wood come out that you could not see..

Maybe you will have better luck than I did. I hope so, as I know you have allot of work involved in the blanks. I will say check the blanks with a Moisture Meter before ya start working them, or you could end up with cracks you never had before..

Keith Lisle

 

[talkingamoeba]

I'm glad you got some wood from that tree. We had a cherry log laying on the ground with the bark off on the farm where I grew up, laid for at least 6 years before we took it to a band-mill, which were just coming in around here. It was a large diameter and the sapwood was bad, but after all that time we still brought home 6 ten foot 8/4 planks and assorted 4/4 boards. Surprising how sometimes they'll be OK and other times no useable wood. Look forward to seeing a gun from one of yours in a few years.

 

[RFMason]

Keith, did you seal only the ends of the blanks?

 

[Birddog6]

I sealed the ends & all the knots with about 6 coats of oil based exterior paint. Did the same with 9 planks of walnut that were 3" thick, 24" wide & 9' long. All sticked & stacked for 4 years. I knew there was allot of bad spots in the walnut, but was still disappointed with only 1 good blank put of 5 planks. I gave 4 of the planks to a carpenter friend to make some furniture in his house he is building. Looks really nice, and has the inclusions & cracks & knots in it, rustic but beautiful. Just not what I wanted for gunstocks. Oh, I could have gotten 75 pistol blanks out of them, but it is more trouble than worth to me.

But it was not the sealing that was the issue, the logs just had allot of defects in them. Came from a huge walnut tree in a barn yard the storm took down. Had allot of rotten places in it. Had it been in a woods, it would have been much better. Usually lighter in color in the woods, but cleaner looking wood.

The last wood I sealed I use Logseal, the same stuff the timber companies use. But I can't tell any dif in it from 5-6 coats of good oil based house paint. ALL of it is going to crack some, unless you put it in a drying kiln.

Also, bear in mind I am really picky & if the lock/wrist area grain doesn't curve right for a Longrifle, the plank is just wood to me, not gunstock material. I don't want to use one that has grain runout at the lock or wrist.

Keith Lisle

 

[Eric Krewson]

I cut two blanks out of the lightning killed that tree we discussed in an earlier thread, sealed them with shellac and had no warpage or checking. An entire trailer load of slabs ended up as fire wood, looked like a bomb went off in the wood, lots of hairline cracks all the way through.

I have cut more osage trees than I can remember and found shellac to be the best sealer if your wood is in the dry.

There are so many defects in this tree I am cutting around as many bad places as I can find.

Here is what I cut out today.

I started cutting back a foot at a time to see where the rot/ant damage stopped, it didn't so I decided to slab off what looked like the good side. Got one slab that looked clear until I started cutting out blanks. I may attempt one more slab out of what is left but I doubt if there will be a usable blanks. Us wood pack rats can't leave wood to rot if there is the slightest chance it might be rescued.

I kept hitting rotten limbs embedded in the wood. This was a beautiful blank until I saw black sawdust flying out as I was cutting it out. I don't think I can work around this but have a 6" wide plank to dry different layouts on. The knot is in the wrist of the blank and didn't show a hint of being there on my layout.

The good news is the first blank I cut out of the slab ended up as a flawless blank. 3 1/4" wide with the potential for a very long barrel, 52".

 

[Birddog6]

Looks like there is no curve in the grain at the wrist, thus grain runout there. Definitely not good for cherry if this is true, as it splits easy anyway. I had 2 big cherry planks I cut in the last load I did. They were 7' long, 3.5" thick & 27" wide. I ended up with 1 blank from each plank. Just too many cracks & checks & wanted the grain going thru the stock to curve & go thru the wrist correctly, as that is the weakest point.

I guess I am a glutton for punishment, as I can't stand for a log to be wasted. Wife says I am nuts, & she is prob. right. Have over 100 blanks here now, no way I will ever build them all. Yet a BIG walnut a the hunting camp with BIG 24" dia. limb off & nice curve in it..... has me to thinking again..... :redface: I really like those logs with the curves in them, makes the grain in the wrist just right for a ML

Keith Lisle.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Because of the bad spots in the core of the slab I couldn't orient the grain in the wrist like I would have wanted it.

I have found one hinders their ability to get the best out of a slab if it is cut too short like my last attempt. There was a real nice swirl in the grain at the mid point of the slab that would have been perfect for a wrist. With the log cut short, using this swirl would have left no room for a normal length barrel.

The remaining log is 8' long, two embedded rotten limbs and some curve. I don't expect much out of it but I will have to slab it off to see what is inside.

 

[Baxter]

This is fascinating stuff for me; never gave much thought to a 'log' of any kind but I now see them much differently. Very interesting part of stock-building. Thank you, all.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Looks like there is no curve in the grain at the wrist, thus grain runout there. Definitely not good for cherry if this is true, as it splits easy anyway.

My thoughts exactly also.
Hate to throw a negative at your for being so resourceful and industrious. But, better now than having a finished rifle crack in half later.
BTW: I do woodworking and use Anchorseal on the ends of green wood.

 

[Birddog6]

Went out to the shop & looked & that is what I have here, AnchorSeal. Worked good on the Oak but lousy on the Pecan. Put 5-6 heavy coats on all ends & knots & they still cracked like crazy. Trying to decide whether to take them to the mill or make firewood out of them. Hoped to get something out of the Pecan, as I have three 36"+ dia logs 8' long. Thought maybe a Pecan ML stock would come of it, but not so sure now. Lot of sapwood on that Pecan.


Keith Lisle