Strange Wood Grain

[Bill Raby]

I was working on carving a stock and some rather strange grain exposed itself on the fore end. The wood is a rather nice piece of English walnut. Don't thin I have seen wood grain act like this before. I like it.

[Stophel]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say a piece was glued on.

[lawrencea]

I am with Stophel. It looks like a join.
Can you see a straight line appear if you rotate it to a more vertical angle?
Even where you have rounded and sanded along the top you can almost see a feathered edge.
Color seems spot on though.
 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Looks like a fox tail!

[rennikselum]

Possibly a tree graft?

[WKevinD]

Hot rod flames.

[borderdogs]

I am with Eric I think it looks like a fox tail I like it.
Rob

[Bill Raby]

It does look like a glued on patch. But its not. Here is another picture that shows a bit more. If you look towards the top you can see that it is definitely not a glued on piece.

[LilysDad]

Could it be a wound that grew over?

[Daryl]

Whatever it is, there are 2 of them (one above(further along) the other) & it does appear part of the wood grain, definitely.

[ScottH]

I agree with the graft idea.

[Bigmon]

I have a rifle in cherry that has similar wood.  Looks like there was a branch or limb involved and grown around.. But it is tight like yours with no gaps or seperation.?  These pics don't show it well, but you can see it aheadof the patchbox, and thru to the oppistite side of the stock.

[Clowdis]

If it's California english walnut from a farm then it's probably a graft. Grafting is pretty common on trees grown for nut production and that's where most english walnut purchased here in the states comes from.

[hanshi]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say a piece was glued on.

That's certainly what it appears to be.

[Bill Raby]

This is carved from a blank. It is definitely not glued in. It is obvious by looking towards the top of the photo. The wood is European in origin. Not from California. This appears in several places on the stock. The one in the photo is the most obvious. I like it, but it is strange.

[Daryl]

It does not have the claro or reddish tones found in "some" (My) California English stock.

[rsells]

I am finishing a rifle now using curly maple that has a similar situation.   I am not sure what caused it, but the section in question has a smaller amount of curl verses the rest of the wood and is more dense than the rest of the stock.  This grain ran down one side of the butt  and came back in the bottom of the forearm.  There are no cracks or anything.  The only issue I had was that it did not take stain as easily as the rest of the stock.  It is the first time I have run into this since I started building in 1978.   The butt section came out really well, but the forearm is still a bit lighter than the rest of the stock.  It is going to turn out to be a nice rifle.  Just gives "Old Covid" a bit of character.  Odd thing is that I have not owned a rifle for the past 12 years, and am building this rifle using parts I have had put back for several years for myself.  Go figure!!
                                                                                                    Roger Sells

[Yazel.xring]

That's really neat. I love seeing how trees grow, they always have something new to their sleeves

[Bill Raby]

And then a hole magically appears out of nowhere in the middle of the cheek rest as you are carving it. This one has a few surprises.