black walnut and hard maple stock blanks?????

[twmule]

does anyoneout there ever cut there own blanks . my question is how do you do it thing is that i have several big black walnut stumps on my place and even some hard maple stumps and they equipment to get them out with even access to a sawmill. but how and where do you cut them do you take a chain saw and try and slab them up and then try to get them cut just right or do u even get them from the stump i have been told that is where the burl comes from and alot of the tiger stripe and some curly looking stuff it would bee nice to have a slick stock from the home place

 

[Bob3700]

Let me first say that I know NOTHING about cutting wood.

Years ago the local lumber yard did cut me some rough cut cedar for a handrail on a deck. They said that they would cut the boards to whatever dimensions I needed. They had a huge circular saw that cut the boards off a pretty huge chunk of wood. The saw blade was three or four feet in dia. and handled blanks the size of tree trunks.

I would only imagine that a lumber yard of that type could cut your stumps into usable pieces for stock making.

Bob

 

[jonbearman]

After you get it cut then it will have to be kiln dried to make the lumber come down to the correct humidity to stabilize the wood blank.If it isnt done right you will do all the work and finish it and have it warp and most likely crack and split.You would save alot of money buying processed high quality furniture grade lumber. I use a place up here in new york called britol valley hardwoods and they have gorgeous wood cut down 20 miles from my house.There is a company out there that reclaims old growth logs off the bottom of lake superior and drys the wood out and processes it into the finest exzotic indigenous wood that is found on the planet.Just a tidbit to think about.

 

[Travelor]

Do not do anything just yet. The stumps and root boles at right under the ground may be the best gunstock wood and EXPENSIVE.

Wait until some knowlegeable on these things answers.

 

[twmule]

btt

 

[clowdis]

Just finished sawing up 8 walnut stumps. My advise to you is leave them in the ground! Ruined 4 chain saw blades cutting off the roots and two band saw blades cutting the stumps into slabs and then threw a lot of it away. Too many rocks, nails, and pieces of barbed wire fence inside the wood to make it worthwhile and all I got was shotgun stock blanks. Not one single decent piece of wood to make a rifle stock with.

 

[treeman]

I've been getting walnut wood for gunstocks for about 15 years the wood in the stumps is the prettiest and best grain flow but any thing below 8-10" below origonal soil level is too pourous. I used to get backhoe to dig up stumps but unless the soil has built up over time there is no use. nowa days I stump grind around the stimp to about 12" below the ground level and clean out and cut about 8" below the ground. cutting much lower than that and you'll hit dirt pockets between roots and dull your chain. the best way to cut the blanks from stumps or logs is with a band mill. you get more blanks that way. the wood needs to dry for 1 year per inch of thickness i.e. 3" thick plank/3 years. if it is kiln dried make sure kiln tempurature is kept 140 deg. or less or the wood will become very brittle and be unsuitable for gunstocks. I have tons of walnut already air dried in 2-1/4" blanks any where from $20-$150 plain straight grain to real pretty crotch cutts. stumps can be cut with a chain saw if you aren't cutting very many. also if a stump isn't at least 18" at it's smallest dia. you'll have a hard time getting a big enough blank for a stock. last time I cut wood I cut it 3" thick so it would be thick enough for bench guns but it shrank down to 2-3/4" sooo cut blanks about 3/8" thicker than what you are after. hope this helps. Treeman

 

[twmule]

thanks treeman this really helps any body else done this