Sycamore Wood for stocks

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

A quite large Sycamore tree just fell over in my neighbor's yard. Is it worth the trouble to harvest a few stock blanks from this tree? Or is it best for firewood?

[Habu]

Not a real good firewood, but better that than as a stock wood.  It tends to be soft, and unless quartersawn it moves around a lot.  Quartersawn, it makes great drawer sides--stable and easy to work. 

I guess you could get yourself a long-term supply of wood for various accessories and accoutrements. . .  one tree would make a lot of powderhorn plugs!

Jim

[Robby]

I've never used it but have seen a couple of center fire rifles stocked with it. Both were highly figured. I'd give it a go.
Robby

[David R. Pennington]

Used a lot for turning bowls etc.., . Don't ever remember hearing of a gunstock out of it. Not a real strong wood tends to be a little brittle I think. It carves nice. Sort of soft and doesn't split out a lot. Dough trenchers?

[Mike Brooks]

I'd try it once.

[Stophel]

It's pretty gaudy looking.  LOADED with rays.  Sort of a light orange color.

It's always seemed pretty soft to me, and seems somewhat unstable, from what I hear.  You can cut it up and dry it and see what you end up with, I guess.

Because it's so gaudy, I always figured it would be best reserved for small inlays on a jewelry box or something!   

I have a big twisted piece of it myself (not wide enough for a gunstock).  I have no idea what I might do with it.

[dannybb55]

The Egyptians used it for planking boats and it was a poor choice 3,000 + years ago. It would probably make great charcoal, like cottonwood.
                              Danny

[Michael]

I made a half French and half English and half gunsmith made parts gun and stocked it in sasaffras. Looks kind cool! My shop smelled like rootbeer the whole time. Kinda looks like ash.

[rich pierce]

I'm with Invictus and prefer proven stockwoods.  Sycamore is great for things you don't want to split as long as it being a little soft is not a problem.  Bowls, trenchers, hog troughs, even bullet boards.  Pretty neutral so probably good for all wodenware (wooden kitchen utensils, spoons etc).

[T.C.Albert]

I think sycamore was also once called the "plane tree"...why I don't know...but I did hear the regrets of a wood worker that made a wooden bench plane from one...for what its worth.
tca

[dannybb55]

We have a pine stocked longrifle at the NC History museum and Guess where the Knot is?
          Danny

[Metalshaper]

My bud used some quater sawn Sycamore, for the stock on one of his UH rifles!
Crazy,wierd, almost snake-like patterning..

He said it was kinda finicky, to work... needed to keep the tools razor sharp!!
I'll see if he can send a pic of it??

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

[Don Getz]

Sycamore, commonly called "Lacewood", is rather nice looking, but kind of falls into a class of soft, lightweight woods.
Seems like it would make a nice shooting box but don't think I would use it for a gunstock........Don

[Stophel]

European sycamore is a different type of tree, and the wood is rather like maple.  Often curly, looks like maple, people use it some, but I think it's usually kinda soft too, as I understand it.

And I agree, if it is not a "normal" stock wood (maple, walnut, cherry, ash, beech, birch) it means that someone has already tried it and failed!     There are other good American woods out there, that might make a good stock... if you could get a piece large enough.  Stuff like Hornbeam or Hophornbeam, or Mulberry or some others might be strong, hard, stable wood, but the trees just don't generally grow very big.

[Dennis Glazener]

We have a pine stocked longrifle at the NC History museum and Guess where the Knot is?
          Danny

Isn't that the museum across from the NC State Library? Its been or three years or more since I visited that museum,  I don't remember any longrifles on display did I miss an area? That pine longrifle sounds interesting I will try to get by to see it the next time we visit our daughter and son-in-law in Raleigh.
Dennis

[dannybb55]

The museum has a few Deep River or Jamestown School rifles on display, The pine stocked longrifle with a hooded rear sight and a knot for a patchbox has been in the collection and on display since the 1980s. They also have a few matchlocks and wheel locks as well as a selection of Militia and War of Southern Independence pieces. The match lock barrel is a beast, it would be great as a Doglock restock militia musket.
      The new display is straight in through the front door and covers NC history from 1585 to present.           
                                                  Danny

[dogcreek]

Roy Dunlap's classic gunsmithing book shows a modern stock made from sycamore, if memory serves me right. It was quite attractive and he commented that the interlocking grain structure made for a very strong stock. I don't know about weight, etc.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I think I'm gonna cut out a sizable hunk of that tree. I'm gettin some good ideas here. If not a stock maybe a trencher, or a shooting box. Maybe a new case for my dulcimer. Other ideas welcome.

[rich pierce]

Roy Dunlap's classic gunsmithing book shows a modern stock made from sycamore, if memory serves me right. It was quite attractive and he commented that the interlocking grain structure made for a very strong stock. I don't know about weight, etc.

It's light and hard to split, but a seasoned sycamore limb is not hard to snap off.  I don't think it's suitable for tool handles at all, and in some respects, a gunstock is a tool handle.

[Gaeckle]

Can't be any worse than hackberry..........

[TMerkley]

Just a generalization
When I was 16 I worked in a sawmill as a lumber stacker.  During the course of the summer, we did a couple of runs of specialty wood.  One of which was Sycamore.  It was a softer wood of medium heft (green) and was cut for hobbiests. If I remember correctly it was not as soft as a pine but similar to poplar just not as light.  It seemed to have a rather straight grain.   We also did a few runs of sasafras.  The only wood that they did not cut was hickory as it was too hard on the blades.  Hope this helps.  It was 18 years ago.  

[Stophel]

For those who don't know what it looks like, this is American Sycamore:

http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/sycamore.php

[David R. Pennington]

It splits nice enough when green but after it dries out some it's hard to split. I've sunk an axe into the helve and nothing happened on a dry block.

[Joe S]

Here's some hardness numbers from http://tinytimbers.com/janka.htm


1450    Hard / Sugar Maple
1360   White Oak
1010   American Walnut
950    American Cherry
950    Soft  Maple
870   Southern Yellow Pine (Longleaf)
770    Sycamore
690   S.Yellow Pine (Loblolly & Shortleaf)
380   Eastern White Pine

[Hudnut]

Sycamore has been used on some economy lines of guns.  Some Remington 788s for example.  At one time it was promoted as "Amwal".  It is soft, and tends to fuzz when sanded.  Apply a coat of finish, let that harden the fuzz, then sand again.