Apple wood

[pathfinder]

Now that I'm half caught up in my shop,I may have the time to build one for me. Once saw a gun stocked in Apple wood, what a plain lookin' beauty! Any idea's where I may be able to locate a piece big enough for a 44" "B" weight barrel,southern style? Or maybe some other "off" type wood?

[rich pierce]

It's pretty hard to find a fullstock blank of applewood and many times they will need patching of little places. Some of it can be spectacular, streaky and very colorful.  Other pieces are plain.  Most orchards don't think of their old trees as potential for lumber or stock blanks, much gets used in smoking meats.

Aming unusual woods, I guess curly ash looks the best to me for a later flint Southern rifle.

[Osprey]

Don't know if you'd ever find a piece, but I saw a block of curly Holly not too long ago.  Very odd.  Holly is about the whitest wood you can imagine.  Come to think of it, that's an idea, I'll have to take a walk in the woods this week...

[pathfinder]

I've been looking for some GOOD Birds-eye,and youd think that living in Bird's-eye country it would be no problem,wrong! Either it's too short,too thin or wide area's that are blank. Curly Ash the same. My usual suppliers cant seem to get any,Tiger hunt,Dunlop,Pecatonica and Gunstocks plus. Any sugestions?

[Gaeckle]

I have a piece of apple wood that will be used in a halfstock rifle (future project). Never worked with it.

If you do search on the internet for birdseye maple, you'll find a lot of stuff. Make sure your sitting down and medicated when you see the prices!

[Jerry V Lape]

Want something really different, try a piece of "quilted maple".  I have seen some spectacular pieces of this which has the "holographic" (my term for that 3D look curly maple provides) pattern but not in stripes.  It appears  a lot like a piece of large bubble wrap.   I think most of it comes from the northwest and what I saw wasn't as dense as sugar maple so may not be a good candidate for carvings. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Jerry, I've stocked a couple of longrifles in quilted maple, and you are correct.  It is soft, spongy, very flexible, and difficult to finish well.  Of course, there will be exceptions to this, but I won't be using it again.  One gets corrupted with good, dense, hard, heavy maple.  The piece I'm working right now is a piece of nice western maple.  It is nowhere near what the last piece of NY sugar maple was, but I'm enjoying working it.  It's like super hard and dense English walnut - a pleasure to carve.

[pathfinder]

Ive used the quilted stuff in making cases for Grandfather clocks,really not a good wood for guns,too squrriley!

[D. Bowman]

I have some curly ash that would be long enough for your project. PM me if interested