Any one know how to cut a curly maple log?

[Goo]

I answered a Craigslist ad for wood slabs today,  the sawyer had a curly maple log just right to get one full stock out of it.  I am wondering if you will lose the curl if it's isn't cut properly.   The surface of the log shows curl all the way along the length of the log and completely  around the circumference of the log.   If any one can offer experience or helpful hints it would be appreciated as decent wood is not easy to find.

[Clint]

Most of the curl is liable to be closer to the out side of the log. The more luck you have, the deeper into the log it will go. Depending on the size of the log, I would flitch cut it and keep a close eye on the grain as the log opens. You will need about nine inches wide by two and a half inches thick to get a stock and you don't want the center of the log in the stock. If you cut to within 2 1/2'inches of the center and have 9 - 10 wide, you might get two stock plank stocks When you lay the stock pattern on a plank, try to find a spot that gives you long grain through the wrist and a slight diagonal grain on the fore stock. You won't really know much about lay out until the wood dries a bit. Stack all of the planks at least a foot off the ground and sticker them every 16  - 20 inches. Be sure to put plenty of weight on top of the stack and cover everything with some ply wood or tin roofing. It is good to take the stack apart in the spring and in the fall to inspect for bugs, mold etc.You can re-stack upside down if you think the ground is damp. Have fun with the log, you will learn a lot from it.

[mtlonghunter]

More info would help us guide you on your log adventure. How large is the log, how low to the ground was it cut? Where does the first limb come in, or does it have limbs. What kind of gunstocks are you interested in ? Full stocks or half stocks? What kind of maple is it? Red , sugar or silver Maple? Does it have any twist to the trunk? How much did you have to pay for it? Do you have your own sawmill? A picture would help. How long since it was felled?  More the better.

[Mike Brooks]

It takes a much larger log than most think to get gun stocks from.

[Goo]

It takes a much larger log than most think to get gun stocks from.

When you say much larger log than one thinks, how large is large?   Being realistic how many ways are ther to saw up a log?  It is round and the blade has to cut though the middle of it at which point you can then quarter saw or cut slabs.    That being said, what I have been doing over the past few years is checking in on Craigslist ads for guys cutting for live edge slabs. Ive been using a few rules like center cut, grain fow through the wrist changing to straight through the fore stock.     When I go to talk to them most guys are cutting slab wood with those Alaska chain saw  jigs.    It would be nice to find people cutting lumber that includes the root ball but that's a unicorn hunt.   The demand for live edge furniture is growing and the prices are increasing.  In retrospect I may be better off buying from Tiger Hunt and or Dunlaps

[Sawfiler]

There are alot more ways to saw up a log than most people realize. Faltsawn, riftsaw, true quatersawn, and variations on all of those. The skill of the sawyer means alot into what you can get out of a log. I have seen my dad tease lumber out of logs that most would make firewood from. And as for live edge slabs those are going to be flatsawn, the process of quartersawing eliminates at least one of the live edges.

Finding someone to cut a root ball on a mill any more substantial than a chainsaw mill or a small woodmizer is going to be almost impossible. There is so much dirt/grit/rocks in a root ball that you are almost guaranteed to dull or ruin the saw. Even the small amount of grit on the outside of a log where they have been skidded out of the woods will dull a saw.

As for the size of the log - to get a slab 9" wide while quartersawing for example, you must at least double that to 18" and then take into account any sapwood, bark, and uneven-ness of the outside of the log to get to your size. So you are looking at easily a 20"+  log. Not that maple for a stock would have to be quartersaw, but even then avoiding the center of the log you would be on the outside edges, but still deep enough to get away from the sapwood. It takes a pretty substantial log to make a gun stock.

I think its usually Jim Kibler who comments on these types of posts saying how much wood they turn away for stocks as unsuitable. Unless you have a tree you really want to make a gun out of, probably easier to buy a blank.

[Jim Kibler]

Just a note...  The sapwood is what you want for maple.  Heartwood is not generally usable.  The amount of heartwood in a tree will vary.  This has a big impact on the size of tree needed for stockblanks and the yield.

JIm

[Mr. Bubbles]

The heart wood is usually between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total diameter, and of course, right in the middle.  In order to get the root ball you're probably going to need to dig the tree out yourself.  So for a true quarter-sawn 10" blank you're going to need a 27"-30" diameter tree.  I'm not entirely sure those even exist.  Much easier to get curved wood pistol blanks out of wood around limbs.  Those will chain saw out of there pretty easy for you, but you're probably going to have to do it yourself.

[Nordnecker]

I got a stock one time out of a slab from the side of a 14" maple tree. This piece would have almost certainly ended up in the chipper or as firewood. This slab was probably 14" wide x 3" thick at the bottom, and just a bark edge point at the top. I figured I had nothing to loose so I tried it and it made a pretty good stock.

Actually, both of these rifles came from that same tree. The one on the left was from the slab. I could have gotten several more blanks from that tree if it hadn't been for powder post beetles.

[Acer Saccharum]

I've used maple with heartwood in it, and after staining, the difference between the sap and heart disappeared. But I suppose if you were after a light color, you'd see the contrast.

Quarter sawed is nice, but over rated, and plank sawed is just fine. You need a big log for quarter sawed stocks without any heart wood.

If you're making a high grade very specific gun, and it needs a certain grain pattern, then this log may not be for you. I bet you'll be able to get some good stock wood of it. Just avoid the heart in any stock(the very center of the tree). Wood on either side of center is good to use. Cut your planks, and immediately cut stock blanks from them. Paint the ends with any kind of paint, old latex is great or Titebond glue, keeps the ends from splitting.

Stack the blanks out of the sun and wind, with stickers between blanks and lots of weight on top. Cover lightly with a tarp for the first few months of drying, then uncover.

[J Henry]

  Ask the Sawyer the best way to saw it to get what you want,if the sawyer is experienced they will know.

[P.W.Berkuta]

It's a $#@* shoot -- If you are not paying much for the wood and labor to cut it go for it as it will be an "experience" for you! If this will cost you dearly then I'd pass and buy what you need/want from a dealer of quality wood. I bought a ten foot log from a saw mill many years ago (1972). I paid $52.00 for the log and labor to cut it into 3" thick boards. It was a BIG log and I got 7 - 10' boards out of it and average width of the boards were 22" wide - all had good to very good curl. I lost some of the ends to check and some cracked down the center but I got a LOT of good wood out of it and I still have 2 boards left  .

[David R. Pennington]

I found a red maple on the old family farm. It had grown with a crook off the stump and I could see curl through the bark. It was a good thirty inches or more through at the base. We cut the tree about 8 Ft off the ground then dug around the base and I cut it off with a 6 1/2 ft crosscut saw. The butt log had some center rot and a little bug damage but I still managed to get some good blanks out of it with good grain flow into wrist because of the crooks. I took two logs to the mill from this tree. Little 4wd tractor was a jewell hauling them out of the woods. It is all sawn into blanks with end grain painted and stored in shop rafters.

[Sweeney]

As a logger with a side focus on Hard curly maple for this industry I advise you to get your wood via the proven providers UNLESS you simply want the 'experience'.

[Sweeney]

And if you want the experience I would be happy to share all I know.....and don't know.