What Size Rough Sawn Wood For A Stock

[yukonal]

I'll be cutting down 3 walnut trees for some upcoming projects. Several of which are stocks for custom rifle builds.


What dimensions do I have the slabs cut to, for rifle blanks? Length, height, and width please. Thank you!

Also, any tips for seasoning the blanks before shaping and turning into stocks?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Most blanks are dried for years

 

[mr45man]

The blanks will have to be "Kiln dried"
John H.

 

[Gundoktr]

The blanks will have to be "Kiln dried"
John H.

No they don't!

Should be at least 2 3/4" thick, and about 36" x 7"

 

[spclark]

Also, any tips for seasoning the blanks before shaping and turning into stocks?

Assuming those trees are still alive & growing, set yourself up with some means to have a bucket or pail of melted paraffin wax handy when you cut those trees down. One of the most important things to do to get best chance for good lumber is to get the cut ends well-sealed as soon as possible to slow moisture loss. Have a sawmill already lined up to cut the boles to size you want to minimize transport issues. Some won't take 'field-cut' wood owing to issues over embedded nails, fence posts & wire, etc. so ask first. If you're using a chainsaw mill, same applies if you don't know the trees' history well.

Seasoning takes time, the thicker your slabs the longer you wait. Slabs of ~ 3" I'd say 3 to 5 years depending on where they're seasoned. Slower is better.

 

[shortgrass]

The blanks will have to be "Kiln dried"
John H.

No they don't!

Should be at least 2 3/4" thick, and about 36" x 7"

+1 , but I'd probably cut 'um 38"+ , just in case...... Hope you're not in a hurry!

 

[yukonal]

I'm going to have (3) trees with at least 16' each to work with...34" in diameter. So, it makes NO difference to me which way I have the sawmill cut them.

I have the sawmill lined up......and I figured on at least 5 years to dry/cure.

Given this information, if I take just ONE WHOLE TREE, and have it cut into slabs to use for future rifle stocks, What rough size should I tell them to cut the slabs?

I know it's kind of a repeat question...and I apologize for that...but I gave you all a little more information than previously.

I can have the mill cut the height and width, and I can chainsaw them to length. Also, when cutting for length, where do you leave the figuring? Anywhere except the grip area?

 

[spencerhenry]

i do not mill wood for gunstocks, but there is more to it than throwing a log in the mill and cutting slabs.
it might be better to cut on quarter, or may be better to cut plainsawn. i would assume that heart in a stock would be really bad.
if the trees are of high quality, as in no embedded metal, and are straight without defect, they are probably worth more to be sold to someone else and then buy blanks that suit your fancy. unless of course there is sentimental value.

i would do more research on how to maximize your quality and your yield. and not just trust the sawmill guy to know what he is doing. if someone brought me logs for gunstock blanks i would let him tell me how he wanted it cut.

 

[joshb]

I'm going to have (3) trees with at least 16' each to work with...34" in diameter. So, it makes NO difference to me which way I have the sawmill cut them.

I have the sawmill lined up......and I figured on at least 5 years to dry/cure.

Given this information, if I take just ONE WHOLE TREE, and have it cut into slabs to use for future rifle stocks, What rough size should I tell them to cut the slabs?

I know it's kind of a repeat question...and I apologize for that...but I gave you all a little more information than previously.

I can have the mill cut the height and width, and I can chainsaw them to length. Also, when cutting for length, where do you leave the figuring? Anywhere except the grip area?



I would cut 2 3/4 or 3 in thick. I would cut as wide as you can, into 10 ft. Boards. It makes stickering them easier. With the long wide boards you have options, as to grain pattern in your stock, by cutting out of the bigger board. The rule is 1 year per in. for air drying. Given that it's a dry atmosphere. You can build a kiln, pretty easily, if you're handy and get em dry quicker.

 

[butchlambert]

Remember the good figure is the rootball. Quarter sawn is definitely what I use.
Roger Vardy in Australia is my wood person. His family has been in the business for many years. My purchased blanks are 20+ years and air dried. Dried does not mean cured.

 

[yukonal]

if the trees are of high quality, as in no embedded metal, and are straight without defect, they are probably worth more to be sold to someone else and then buy blanks that suit your fancy. unless of course there is sentimental value.

I planted them from seedlings in 1984, with the hope that someday I would harvest them.

That day is this fall.

 

[shortgrass]

You need to wait another 30yrs. , or maybe 60yrs. before you cut those trees. As a general statement, the best blanks I've seen/used have come from "old growth" trees.

 

[spencerhenry]

if the trees are of high quality, as in no embedded metal, and are straight without defect, they are probably worth more to be sold to someone else and then buy blanks that suit your fancy. unless of course there is sentimental value.

I planted them from seedlings in 1984, with the hope that someday I would harvest them.

That day is this fall.

if they are that big, planted in 1984, the grain will NOT be tight. I am no expert, but i have milled hundreds of thousands of board feet of lumber. my experience running a mill and using wood shows that fast growing trees (wide growth rings) tend to warp far more than tight grained wood. a tree 34" in diameter that was planted 30 years ago is a VERY fast growing tree, so fast that there is something amiss here. that would make the average growth ring about 1/2", i have never seen growth rings that big. when measuring the tree diameter, it is measured chest height and bark is not included. but even still, a tree that grew that fast will not be of the quality desired by most for gun stocks.

 

[yukonal]

Thank you, Spencer. I planted 30 of them, and 15 are still chugging along. Those are the 3 biggest ones. The rest are all within 4 or 5 inches around. Nothing is amiss...unless my babies are all freaks of nature! ;D

I guess I'll pick out a crappy one, and slab it off to see what it looks like inside.

They definitely are not the giant, old growth walnuts that are desired for most projects...but they are nice, straight, tall black walnuts nonetheless. And I'd like to do something with them before I croak.

Also, I apologize for the confusion...I said 34" in diameter. They are 34" around. Does that change anything? You obviously are an expert in the field, and I am curious to hear your reply. Thanks again!

 

[JRS]

Thank you, Spencer. I planted 30 of them, and 15 are still chugging along. Those are the 3 biggest ones. The rest are all within 4 or 5 inches around. Nothing is amiss...unless my babies are all freaks of nature! ;D

I guess I'll pick out a crappy one, and slab it off to see what it looks like inside.

They definitely are not the giant, old growth walnuts that are desired for most projects...but they are nice, straight, tall black walnuts nonetheless. And I'd like to do something with them before I croak.

Also, I apologize for the confusion...I said 34" in diameter. They are 34" around. Does that change anything? You obviously are an expert in the field, and I am curious to hear your reply. Thanks again!

Big difference! 34" in diameter would be roughly 8.9' in circumference.

 

[spencerhenry]

no expert by any means. been around wood all my life, and know some. but mostly cut softwoods and not for high end or craft type projects.
i wondered if you did not mean 34" circumference, that makes a lot more sense. at that circumference you are looking at under 11" in diameter. after removing the bark most likely you will lose another inch to 1.5". if that is the small end of the log, you can still get some lumber out of it. BUT, with a tree that small there is not all that much heartwood, sapwood is the outer part of the tree and and if i remember correctly on walnut is not the same color. i think walnut sapwood might be whitish?
assume the whole log is nice rich dark wood, the biggest square you will get out of it is about 7.5". but, i am pretty sure you want to not use anything within about 1.5" of the center.
if you don't my killing one, cut it up and see what you get. it might be pretty cool.

if you were nearby, i would throw it on the mill just to see what it looks like.

i cut up some rocky mountain juniper a few years back. really a bush more than a tree and the biggest piece of wood would never be big enough for a rifle stock without laminating up several pieces. But, it is extremely tight grained with some cool reddish hues, and hard. I have one piece still sitting on my kitchen counter, as a bachelor i can leave a piece of wood on the counter for nearly 10 years! that piece is 9" wide, about 2 feet long. i use a magnifying glass to count the rings, the rings are so tight that it is very difficult to count, but i am pretty sure that it is around 700 years old!

 

[Bert]

Another way to dry lumber is a home built wood kiln. I built one using a dehumidifier from my basement. Took about 45 days to dry about 500 board feet of highly figured material. Was easy to build just took some time on my part. I had no choice I couldn't find anyone local that would dry a batch that small for me. This would be a good option for your stock blanks. I had slabs in there that were over 2" thick that turned out great. I had a few pieces that twisted bad, but I think they would of even air drying.

 

[yukonal]

Spencer, thanks again for the great information. So you say I don't want to use the CENTER for a stock? What is the reason for that?

Bert, I'll send you a few to dry out when I cut them.

Maybe, for now, I'll cut the biggest, straightest one I have chosen...and take it to the sawmill and see what it looks like. I talked to him today and he said to bring them over anytime.

 

[Bert]

The kiln isn't setup currently. And it isn't something that is worth setting up for a few blanks. Now if you have several trees worth then its worth building one yourself. If I have a batch of wood that I end up doing I will let you know and then for sure I can put them in for you.

 

[spencerhenry]

lumber cut with the heart of the tree tends to have more problems with checking and warping than without the heart center.

i live in the west, i can pull 1x off the mill cut from standing dead trees and it will be at 6% or so within a day or two.

when i stack lumber for drying (air dried), i support 2x every few feet and space the layers about 1" and then weight the stack as much as possible. when talking about a gunstock, i think air dried is probably just fine. the wood should probably allowed to sit for a year or two, if it has not dried in that amount of time, you need to take it out of the pond!
kiln drying has one advantage over air dried, in pitchy species like pine, the high heat of the kiln will "set" the pitch.