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Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks (Read 9547 times)

marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 16009 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #30 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 10:17am	Print Post
	Bill Lawrence wrote on Oct 20^th, 2018 at 6:29pm: I'm surprised Vall mentioned rosewood for rifle stocks. In my experience working with the real stuff - now largely classed as "endangered" - while it takes a high polish and almost always has at least a nicely contrasting grain, it's also a brittle wood. In other words, I've often seen it used for pistol grips, forearm and grip caps, and other small and/or accent pieces; but I'd be very wary of using it for a whole rifle stock, especially if the chambering had a literal "kick" to it. Bill Lawrence Bill, Marlin used the straightest grain wood for guns with a fair amount of recoil. Even those guns like the #7 A-1 with engraving and deluxe features often got fairly straight grain wood to remain strong and stable with the .45-100 Ballard chambering. Rosewood being quite decorative, but not that stable, seemed to be used in presentation type guns, and not in bigger calibers. I'd assume it was also tough to work with, and more labor consuming to build a stock.

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Bill Lawrence Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1037 Joined: Mar 17^th, 2014	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #31 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 10:57am	Print Post
	Probably the best - and worst - characteristic of true rosewood is its natural oiliness. To the good, that's why all by itself it takes such a high polish, and once properly dried is usually dimensionally stable. To the bad, you must flush that oil out of the surface pores and apply a sealer before you top coat. And because it's brittle rather than just tough or hard, your cutters. chisels, checkering heads, etc. always have to be razor sharp to minimize chipping. In short, many woodworkers would say that the work, discipline, and stress involved in working rosewood large-scale just isn't worth it. I hope Marlin paid the stockers who made those presentation rosewood stocks extra. Bill Lawrence


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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 16009 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #32 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 11:47am	Print Post
	I'm sure Marlin's stock department was much like other makers. Probably had a small group doing stocks, and some key people who did the highest grade stocks. I once saw a picture of Marlin's stock department and like other gun makers shops it looked like it would be hard for anyone to build good stocks there! Dark, and poorly lit, with dust covering the windows. I can't imagine how the workers put out such wonderful fit and finish in the conditions the pictures showed. But an interesting part was their duplicator! It held 8 or 10 blanks at a time! I never thought much about that before, but imagined a huge amount of hand work shaping stocks. So seeing a duplicator of that size surprised me a little.

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.22Hepburn Oldtimer Offline Posts: 803 Location: Pennsylvania Joined: Feb 18^th, 2008	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #33 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 12:07pm	Print Post
	I have bought stocks from CPA and the quality of their wood is very good and the prices are very reasonable. I expect that you could get wood that you'd like and not have to spend the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ that some of the wood dealers are charging.


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Rebel Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 4292 Location: Rockets and Race Cars Joined: Mar 9^th, 2015	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #34 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 12:39pm	Print Post
	But an interesting part was their duplicator! It held 8 or 10 blanks at a time! The Winchester stock duplicator was similar. Belt driven from an overhead shaft, mounted in the ceiling. Probably steam powered at one time. The form to be duplicated was about 2X the normal size. The guys on the line would pick out the best wood and keep it under the bench for employee's guns. Some of it rated extra fancy, though they were few and far between. Aaron

	WARNING: This post may contain material offensive to those who lack wit, humor, common sense and supporting factual or anecdotal evidence. Let's Go Sonny!
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SmallBoreBuyer Junior Member Offline Posts: 57 Joined: Apr 24^th, 2012	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #35 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 1:32pm	Print Post
	Here are some examples of wood from Cecil Fredi, with prices.
	« Last Edit: Oct 21^st, 2018 at 1:37pm by SmallBoreBuyer »

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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 16009 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #36 - Oct 21^st, 2018 at 3:22pm	Print Post
	That's some very good looking lumber, and priced very fairly!

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JLouis Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 10625 Joined: Apr 8^th, 2009	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #37 - Oct 22^nd, 2018 at 11:47am	Print Post
	Very nice wood indeed and I wish the OP the very best and hope he ends up with exactly the Rifle he has been working so hard to achieve.

	" It Is Better To Now Have Been A Has Been Than A Never Was Or A Wanna Be "
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Gunfunpow Full Member Offline Posts: 239 Joined: Jun 20^th, 2018	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #38 - Oct 30^th, 2018 at 2:08pm	Print Post
	Beautiful wood!! Makes you want to go and get another project gun!


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RBKenn Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 257 Location: fallon Joined: Apr 8^th, 2011	Re: Selecting a Stock - Shapes and Blanks Reply #39 - Nov 3^rd, 2018 at 4:52pm	Print Post
	The most critical part of wood selections for single shot rifles is the layout. Grain structure needs to run through the wrist in parallel lines to the shape both from the top and the sides. This is more important for actions with tangs vs through bolts and critically important for side locks. Save all the fancy for the rear 2/3 of the stock blank. The heavier the recoil the tighter the grain and denser the wood should be. You will see a lot of knock out gorgeous wood that has lousy wrist structure. If you go there don't be surprised if your stock cracks or shatters.


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