Quilted Maple

[Bill Raby]

   I have the chance to buy quilted maple plank to use as a gun blank. It is the most amazing piece of wood that I have ever seen, and comes with a price tag to match. I understand that this is Bigleaf Maple and softer than Sugar or Red Maple. Would this even be suitable use as a gun stock? It looks like it would be tough to work with, but likely no more so than the curly maple. Would aqua fortis be a good finish for it? I have never worked with this stuff before and don't really know anything about it.

[oldtravler61]

  Bill I have only built six guns from planks. So I am no expert. Period! The last gun I built was from a quilted maple blank. I called it the gun form h-'ll. No matter how sharp my chisels were the wood just seemed to have a mind of it's own when I was inletting it. But it sure is pretty. Don't know if I would do another one. Hopefully the pros will chime in. Mike

[deepcreekdale]

I am stocking a piece of quilted maple now and it is the hardest piece of wood I have ever worked with. Absolutely gorgeous but difficult, you just have to work slow and take small shaving cuts. Try to take a big cut and it WILL tear out.The customer had been holding on to it for 40 years and finally asked me to build him a gun with it so it is nice and stable. With maple, each blank is unique, you have to check each one individually for hardness. Some are soft, some are hard, it has more to do with the condition the tree was grown in and if it was properly handled after cutting. Species makes some difference, but you can get soft sugar maple or hard red maple, you just have to check each one if you can. It you can handle this piece, try to dig a fingernail in it. If you can make an indentation, I would pass no matter how pretty the wood.. Even better, try to make a small cut with a gouge, that will tell you if it is hard or not.

[n stephenson]

I agree with Deepcreek Dale probably best to check hardness. I built a rifle about ten years ago with quilted Maple . Thankfully the customer wanted a very plain gun no carving other than some incise and an inlay on cheek . It was a pretty hard blank but it was extremely hard to work with . Just the inletting without tearing out a lot was enough for me.I cant imagine having to do a lot of raised carving or such work. There are plenty of great builders on this forum that can do fantastic work with quilted wood. I probably just don't have the patience for it. I`ve avoided it since but , do admit some of it is very beautiful.           Nathan

[flehto]

Bought a sugar maple blank from Tiger Hunt and soon found out that it was very hard wood. Called Tiger Hunt and they told me it was "oyster shell" . Completed the LR but it was the most difficult piece of wood I've ever worked on. Am now wondering if it was quilted maple under a different name...Fred

[oldtravler61]

  Fred I am not 100 percent sure what maple my stock is. It has curl going butt to muzzle an up an down. None the less it was a pain to work with. Not sure if I am going to start a gun with the other stock I have or not.  Oldtravler

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

The figure is secondary to the wood's hardness.  If it is soft, you will not enjoy the build.  And just because it is Western Maple, or Broad-leaf maple, does not mean that it is soft.  You have to check it yourself.  Some of my best work has been on our West Coast maple.
The only rifle I have made using quilted maple was a bugger.  Not only difficult to inlet, but nearly impossible to finish.  I made a handle for a spatula out of a trimming, and a few minutes in the dishwater, and I could bend it into a "U" without fear of it breaking...like rubber.

[Bill Raby]

   Sounds like it is a real nightmare to work with. Not too worried about that. I like a challenge! Sounds like it is worth the effort to make sure it is hard. But I think even a hard plank is likely to be a bit softer than normal hard maple. Just wondering if that has any real effect on the rifle once it is finished. How soft does it need to be before it is too soft to use as a rifle?

[SingleMalt]

I'd stick to red maple, sugar maple, or cherry.

[bob in the woods]

Cherry can be a pain , too . Nice hard cherry is nice, but the softer stuff is the worst I've ever worked with out of all the stock woods.