Question on Cutting Gunstock Blanks

[44-henry]

I have a nice piece of walnut with a lot of figure in the bottom section. I would like to try and get three usable blanks from it, but would like some advice before I cut into it. As can be seen the figure comes with some problems. The grain flow seems OK, but the question is should I move everything further down a bit and sacrifice some of the figure.

[oldtravler61]

  44henry I'm no expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But as long as you have enough room above that knot you should be good in my opinion. You could probably open the width also. JMHO

[Dennis Glazener]

The only thing I will mention is if they are not full-size blanks i.e. like you would buy from a dealer, and want someone to duplicate a pattern you should check with the person that will do the duplication and make sure he has enough wood to do his set-up. I cut a blank and sent it to my stock-man to use on one of my patterns and he had to glue wood on either end in order to set his machine up (extra labor charge). I had cut the blank too close to size. If you are planning on doing the stock from scratch there should be no problem with blank size as long as it's large enough for the finished stock.
Dennis

[Top Jaw]

The knot is obviously your limiting factor.  Also, what the opposite side of the walnut board looks like, and what you need to avoid.  A buddy and I made a couple of plexiglass blank patterns to avoid cracks and knots while laying out blanks.  Also, making sure there is no center pith in a blank.  If the board contains the pith, you will need to avoid it in the blanks by being on each side of it (which might mean you only get two.  Or two fulls, and some half stocks). 

And finally, having relatively straight grain through the wrist area is important.   If you’re cutting these for resale, per Dennis’s comment, they need to be of a universal common size. You may want to get a pattern from an existing stock blank (and be able to take a 44” or 46” barrel length) that anything can be made from. If you’re making something for yourself, not as important.  But certainly worth capturing the burled wavy grain in all three buttstocks, even if it means squeezing them a bit. 

[44-henry]

Thank you for the comments. The Blanks are for my own projects, I was just a bit concerned about getting that close to the knot. The opposite side is cleaner and shouldn't create any issues with the current layout.

[mikeyfirelock]

This is probably not possible but can you move the blank on the right side of the pic to clear the knot and thus miss it ?     Looks like it would be possible to then cut a half stock blank out with the buttstock portion oriented to the other end ?   ( hard to tell…. Just a thought….maybe some pistol stocks ?)
( been listening to my wife a good part of day….my excuse).  Of course, thickness permitting.
mikeyfirelock. 

[taterbug]

another possibility (cant see the whole slab) may be to flip the center pattern side-to-side.  Slide it down closer to the base so it wraps around the butt of the far right blank.  looks like it would clear the knot and still have straight grain through the wrist and some interesting grain in the butt.  But that would certainly cut into the base if you have more plans for that area. 

Nice slab, and anything you do with it should get some nice blanks.  Always nice to see layouts like this.  Hope it helps someone else in the future that gets lucky enough to get a nice slab.  Sweet to have such a problem

Definitely show us what comes out of it, no matter which direction you go.  And I'm sure you could move any drop-off pieces on the forum if you don't have plans for them.

[Waksupi]

Leave as much wood as possible on the blanks. Once you cut them, they are going to dry more, and can change dimensions, and possibly twist a bit. I've bought too many blanks over the years the vendors cut to what THEY thought a finished shape should be, and we weren't always in agreement on that.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have to question, what is the little flat on the toe area of the buttstock for?  That basically limits how much depth the butt plate area will have and limits how much drop you can get out of the blank.  I've never seen a stock blank laid out with an outline that deliberately limits what you can get out of the wood.

[44-henry]

Thanks for the comments. I haven't had a chance to cut these yet and will play with the suggestions. The pattern I have is more than large enough for anything I would build with it, but I agree the flat doesn't make much sense and I will change that. My larger bandsaw is down for repairs anyway, so nothing is happening until that is fixed.