calledflyer wrote on Jun 22^nd, 2025 at 9:50am:



I know you are joking but this wood is closer to fire wood than you might think! 

This first picture show a knot I was concerned about, so I stayed behind it, hoping it doesn’t angle back.

This second picture showing a knot that did not concern me at all….!

Third picture, Really surprised me to see this when I removed the wood for inletting the top tang.

In this last picture I took a rasp and cut down into the knot just to see where it was headed and, what it was doing deeper inside.

While it looks to be getting some more open in the fourth picture, it also seems more solid than where it is in the third   More like a bark inclusion now I guess.

My options are limited I think.
1. Keep the head of the stock to the far side and angle it toward the other side, back to the buttplate.  Hoping it will work out as I work the stock profile out of the wood.

2. I think I can flip the pattern and still get this wood to work but, this will change the grain flow and, I think, lose some figure.

3. Toast some marshmallows!

The fun of working with wood!
Bob

Damn! Yes, I was poking fun then. Now, I feel like I've put the hex on that chunk of wood. 
It just shows that imports from all over the world, not just China, are going to pot.

Beautiful wood. Still concerned about the pistol grip, but sure you can make it work.
Knot looks pretty solid. Little or no loss of strength.
Chuck

marlinguy wrote on Jun 24^th, 2025 at 3:27pm:


This is what I’m looking at now, but it will need to go way down.  And the grain flow would be better.  Originally I was trying to balance the wrist grain and capturing the nicer grain behind it and felt the flow through the wrist was acceptable.  This afternoon I stuck a drill bit into the lower larger hole and it’s an inch deep.  I think I’m going lower and to the left side as far as I dare.  This is one of those decisions I sleep on for a few days before making a decision.   
Bob

Don't know much about the who, what, where, of the purchase of the blank but if from a reputable dealer they may replace the blank with one not having such unseen internal flaws.

I would likely fill that 'flaw' with black epoxy and be completely happy! I have learned to not expect perfection in the quest for beauty.

Bob,

If you plan to checker the stock, it might completely hide any fill that may not be under the tang.  I also think I would use some of the scrap pieces to see what fill method works best.  Since the flaw is small you have several options including CA glue, epoxy, and a mix of wood glue and sawdust.  I expect that it will look great whatever method you use!

Thanks for all the comments.

This picture may give you a different perspective on using this wood on this gun. This is the rough size and shape of the wrist at the defect.  The defect get larger, and it does go clear through as shown.  As you can see there isn’t much solid wood on the upper right. 

Since there is, at least in my mind, a question of the integrity of the wood at the point of the defect, I would never take a chance using it.  While not a super recoiling rifle, it is still substantial as a 40-70SS.

I’m not unfamiliar with bad spots in wood and needing to be fixed.  Out of 5 guns I’ve stock using thin shelled walnut, 3 have had defects.  It’s where and the length of this defect that I have a problem with.   The others all had the defect well behind the wrist.  
Bob