Chestnut stocks

[queen_stick]

I have Chestnut trees next to my house. The "early nor'easter" brought down some fairly large branches. Luckily, the trees are still standing, and should be good to go for many more years.

Anyway, I have a few questions about making gun stocks out of this stuff. Please keep in mind, that I have no idea how any of this works...

What's the smallest branch that can be used to make a rifle stock?
Is there a way to preserve/dry/cure any pieces that could potentially be used to make a stock?
Is it ok to have a 'knot' in the middle of a piece that's large enough to make a stock?

From what I understand, it's pretty rare to have Chestnut trees growing anywhere in North America... Am I sitting on a gold mine?

 

[Yellow11]

Chestnut is suitable for veneers but it has little following in the UK other than as untreated fence posts or rails.

 

[rocketron]

not sure how chestnut would be for a stock but branch wood is not very stable. you really should use the trunk. size would depend on the stock you want. i would cut green wood at least 1/2 inch big to allow for shrinkage and make sure there is no heart(very center) in it

 

[MrMajestic]

i would cut green wood at least 1/2 inch big to allow for shrinkage and make sure there is no heart(very center) in it

We are talkin' 'bout rifle stocks now right? Just made me shudder when I read this! ;D

 

[Nomad47]

IIRC, Richards Microfit will make a stock from YOUR wood. You might give them a call and ask how large a blank you would need AND what they think of Chestnut.

 

[rocketron]

i would cut green wood at least 1/2 inch big to allow for shrinkage and make sure there is no heart(very center) in it

We are talkin' 'bout rifle stocks now right? Just made me shudder when I read this! ;D

could you explain.

if i wanted a 3 inch wide finished stock i would cut the green blank big. it will shrink, cup and bow till it's dry enough to make a stock

 

[clowdis]

I'd cut the board 3" thick and 8" wide if I could. That will allow enough to tilt the pattern a bit to get the grain straight through the wrist section.

 

[queen_stick]

Appreciate the comments guys. I don't have anything big enough to cut a plank that doesn't include the 'heart.'

Looks like my dad will have plenty of chips for the smoke house

If when of these things comes down (the trees are pretty big), I'm going to haul it to the mill, and get some blanks cut. Hopefully they'll cure/dry in a way they won't split or warp really bad.

Walt

 

[lelongcarabine]

Heres an idea! Dry the wood, have it veneered and glue the veneers into a laminated blank.
Native American Chestnut is indeed rare. A blight brought onshore in the late 1800's from "Chinese Chestnut", wiped out most stands of Native chestnut within a few decades.
Most very old wooden structures and Rail Fences that have survived since the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras were built with Native Chestnut. It was the very source of mast for wildlife that allowed animals to thrive even in the worst winters. As I understand, there were only a few isolated stands Native American Chestnuts that survived. Some of those were found in Michigan.
My Uncle, in West Virginia, bought sprouts and planted them in his yard 30 years ago. A couple of them survived and are doing well, today. Greg

 

[jonbearman]

In new york state they are doing some selective replanting efforts. I had a bunch of chesnut planks long ago and it is a nice wood,but it splinters easily.Like a brittle piece of plastic.Not good for gun stocks.

 

[tnhunter]

Blanks can't just be cut anywhere they need to be cut so the grain runs straight though the grip area.

How big is this tree at the base?
The odds are it's a waste of time

 

[Nomo4me]

As to future use of the trunk wood: far better to slab it out at 1" thick for use by furniture makers. They don't have access to chestnut and would pay a good price if advertised correctly.

Chestnut grain is very similar to red oak and would make into plain looking stocks with very large pores.

It is a very nice wood to craft reproductions of antique furniture though. It was very popular back in the day before the blight wiped out the species here in the US.

 

[spclark]

Chestnut's great for fenceposts & flooring, maybe not well suited for stocks. Your best price would probably come from an outfit that supplies "recycled" wood products made into custom flooring, furniture lumber or interior trim stock. Nice looking stuff when finished properly but maybe not best used for gun stocks.

 

[queen_stick]

Blanks can't just be cut anywhere they need to be cut so the grain runs straight though the grip area.

How big is this tree at the base?
The odds are it's a waste of time

didn't actually measure, but they're approximately 2-foot diameters (that's estimating on the small side). That's counting the bark.

Thanks to all that posted... I think I'll scrap the idea of making a stock out of it. Although, I like the idea of making a laminate stock with it. A couple of layers of black walnut, mixed in with a a few layers of chestnut would look interesting. But, that might not work too well either, based on the comments above about the characteristics of the chestnut wood.

There are a few Amish furniture makers in my area... I'm pretty sure they'd be interested in it. That's probably what I'll look in to if one of these things decides to come down. They're beautiful trees, so I'm not going to cut them down just for some pocket change.

 

[pdhntr]

Walt,

If you just gotta' have a chestnut stock, you could laminate to a center layer of walnut. As long as the walnut was just slightly wider than the inlet, there shouldn't be any problems.

There is one thing however that would concern me about using the branches for anything other than firewood.

If these were brought down by snow, they were stressed to the point of breaking. It has been my experience that this often creates shake that only shows up after drying. I have salvaged walnut trees that have gone through tornadoes or brought down by wind, and have been burned by any part of the tree other than the lower stem of the tree.

If in the future you decide to laminate, let me know, I can give you a crash course in laminating.

Jim

 

[queen_stick]

Walt,

If you just gotta' have a chestnut stock, you could laminate to a center layer of walnut. As long as the walnut was just slightly wider than the inlet, there shouldn't be any problems.

There is one thing however that would concern me about using the branches for anything other than firewood.

If these were brought down by snow, they were stressed to the point of breaking. It has been my experience that this often creates shake that only shows up after drying. I have salvaged walnut trees that have gone through tornadoes or brought down by wind, and have been burned by any part of the tree other than the lower stem of the tree.

If in the future you decide to laminate, let me know, I can give you a crash course in laminating.

Jim

Appreciate it Jim!

I don't know if it will happen any time soon (not likely). I'll be in touch if it happens.