Black Walnut Rifle Blank

[bashaw]

I had some Black Walnut trees die, I gave the logs to a guy that has a portable saw mill told him I wanted a slab to make a rifle stock, Now my dilemma how do I find a guy to make the Stock. Do I use it for one of the guns I already have or start completely from scratch.

 

[mdwest]

you know theres really no wrong answer here right?

I'd vote for a total build from the ground up... make it something special.. and do as much of the work as you can yourself (since the wood came from your property it would become something of an heirloom)..

 

[Hogpatrol]

Pros & cons on this company but I had good luck with a blank.

Richards Microfit.

About - Richards Microfit Stocks

About Richard's Microfit stocks Carl Richard, a Swedish Immigrant residing in Southern California, always maintained a passion for wood carving and finish carpentry. After his service with the Navy at Camp Pendleton during WWII, he took up employment in Research and Development / Pattern Making...

richardsmicrofitgunstocks.com

 

[Aaron N]

I think you’ll want to wait many, many years, and then another couple before using it for a blank.

 

[pilar]

Did you dig the stump out of the ground? The stump should have some beautiful stock wood

 

[bashaw]

Did you dig the stump out of the ground? The stump should have some beautiful stock wood

No I did nor, but I know your right

 

[bashaw]

Pros & cons on this company but I had good luck with a blank.

Richards Microfit.

About - Richards Microfit Stocks

About Richard's Microfit stocks Carl Richard, a Swedish Immigrant residing in Southern California, always maintained a passion for wood carving and finish carpentry. After his service with the Navy at Camp Pendleton during WWII, he took up employment in Research and Development / Pattern Making...

richardsmicrofitgunstocks.com

WW2 is he still alive?

 

[deewayne2003]

I believe the proper procedure for curing the blank is to paint the end grain of the black and then let it cure one year for every inch of thickness.

 

[TnKen]

I believe the proper procedure for curing the blank is to paint the end grain of the black and then let it cure one year for every inch of thickness.

Air drying that is the rule of thumb 1 year per inch.
I would want any rifle stock kiln dried to reduce the chance of wood movement and to prevent checking/cracking.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I had some Black Walnut trees die, I gave the logs to a guy that has a portable saw mill told him I wanted a slab to make a rifle stock, Now my dilemma how do I find a guy to make the Stock. Do I use it for one of the guns I already have or start completely from scratch.

you might want to ping @jswitzer about where to have the stock made. I'd say do something completely custom from scratch but you're going to have a multi year project on your hands while you wait for that blank to cure/dry

 

[steve white]

I had some Black Walnut trees die, I gave the logs to a guy that has a portable saw mill told him I wanted a slab to make a rifle stock, Now my dilemma how do I find a guy to make the Stock. Do I use it for one of the guns I already have or start completely from scratch.

Surely you saved more than one for yourself...do both projects and squirrel away more for later projects. I hope you had him save you the crotch wood--should result in a match pair. Stump wood is highly figured. Air dried is best with the ends sealed. I use paraffin wax for that. Kiln drying can crack it all to Hades and will turn all natural colors to a uniform orange. Don't be in a hurry is my advice when it comes to curing wood. After you cut the profile from a dried blank, give it another three months to do any movement it is going to do, then get busy. There are some mighty good stock duplicating machine operators that can save you a lot of time IF you have a perfect stock to copy. Make any changes to the stock to be copied with wood filler and when you know it fits, looks right, etc. then send it to a duplicator who can get it within 5 thou. Really helps with the inletting. Good luck.

 

[HankBuck]

I had some Black Walnut trees die, I gave the logs to a guy that has a portable saw mill told him I wanted a slab to make a rifle stock, Now my dilemma how do I find a guy to make the Stock. Do I use it for one of the guns I already have or start completely from scratch.

@bashaw - I think you have a great idea and having a gun stock made from a tree on your property adds a special value to that gun - unique. Once you cut the Blank - can you have it X-rayed for ‘internal flaws’? (Before starting any work).
I mention this because it minimizes the chance of having many hours of expensive stock work done - only to find a flaw or structural internal check/crack that can affect the final product…either strength wise or aesthetics. It happened to me, purchased a very nice blank from Calico Hardwoods in CA, as the stock maker got close to the final product he called me to report a very minor check “tiny hole” inside the wood near where the action would be bedded. He recommended I call and ask for a replacement Blank but after that was denied - he was able to fill the “tiny hole” with epoxy and complete the stock. It was indiscernible unless you knew exactly where to look but the concern was an eventual crack could form in the stock. He was confident the repair was near perfect and the stock would be as strong or stronger with the epoxy filled tiny crack….20 years & 100s of rounds later it remains perfect. If I do another custom stock from a sourced blank - I will take some precautions to make sure the blank has no internal flaws. Others on AH may have better suggestions to reduce this type of risk? Good luck with your project - you’ll have a very Special gun soon!!

 

[steve white]

Not only tiny holes, but sunken areas for no external reason sometimes happen, almost like an internal collapse of some kind, and much more common on kiln dried. Embedded objects like nails usually cross the annular rings and are identifiable, and therefore avoidable. Another reason not to cut a blank too thin. Leave yourself some room for flaws, for the application of cast-off, etc. Some blanks force you to have no cast off because they are so skimpy. It is always a crapshoot whether the figure you see on the outside of a blank will be what you end up with once it's carved. Fear not, these are extreme examples.