Different wood for pistol stocks

[sydney]

Hi--Any ideas for a different wood to use for a pistol stock??
      Thanks  Sydney

[smallpatch]

Different than what? 

[sydney]

Different than Black walnut and there is not much english  walnut
 grown in this area
    Sydney

[smart dog]

Hi Sydney,
European and English walnut are readily available from suppliers like Dunlap and Gobi.  Just get online and look.  It will cost a bit but there is nothing like English walnut for a gunstock.  Cherry is also a nice wood for stocks.  However, European, Turkish, and English walnut are the "creme de la creme" of gunstock woods. 

dave

[Chris Treichel]

Apparently there are a few Australian trees that produce good gunstock wood. http://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hints-tips-wonderful-wood.html

Apparently Walnut trees are grown in Australia for nut harvest.

[fastfrankie]

What about pear wood???

[Hungry Horse]

Some of the interesting wood varieties I have used, are Mertle, and Madrone, both are interesting to work with, and can yield a very nice stock. I live in Lake County California, a region known for Bartlett pear production. I have seen pear wood used in furniture production, but it is alway used on something that is going to be painted. Pear is very plain wood, with little interesting grain unless you cut the blank from the area of the graft.

Both woods mentioned are available from Calico Hardwoods, in Windsor California. If you Google Calico you can look at their wonderful selection of exotic stock wood.

                           Hungry Horse

[keweenaw]

I have a myrtle blank for a centerfire rifle I will never use that you could make a couple pistol stocks from if you're interested.  Even give you a good price on it.  Myrtle is nice stuff to work, cuts cleanly in about any direction which is one of the reason bowl turners love it.

Tom

[sydney]

Hi Syder--thanks for the offer --i layed out the pistol pattern on some blanks i have here and can t get 2 on the same pc of wood--the pistols are very long
     Also the mail to Canada would be costly
       Sydney

[smallpatch]

Sydney,

Surely there are Maple trees in Canada?  Can't beat some nice figured Sugar Maple.

[Acer Saccharum]

Canada has only fir trees. I'm not sure how they make maple syrup out of pine sap, tho.

Stocks I have seen: Apple, pear are traditional stockwoods, besides Eng walnut, beech, ivory(not wood), iron(not wood) and ebony.

[Mark Elliott]

Hi Sydney,
European and English walnut are readily available from suppliers like Dunlap and Gobi.  Just get online and look.  It will cost a bit but there is nothing like English walnut for a gunstock.  Cherry is also a nice wood for stocks.  However, European, Turkish, and English walnut are the "creme de la creme" of gunstock woods. 

dave

I picked up a big scrap of black walnut with some crotch figure in it and an English Walnut pistol blank at Dunlap for $25.   I don't think that is so expensive.   Just give Dunlap a call.   Their stock changes constantly.    If you live close to DC, you should visit their warehouse.   If you are a woodworker,  it is like a toy store.   It is where the Richmond Woodcraft, buys their lumber for re-sale.

   

[eddillon]

Got lots of Circassian (Turkish)) blanks.  Some dried for over 20 years.  Some 15 years.  prices from $25 to $1500.  email me.

[T*O*F]

sydney,
Surely you have an abundant supply of birch in Canada.  I seem to recall that Rolf made a couple of long pistols from flame birch.  Many military guns were stocked with birch.  Given your cold temps and short growing seasons, it shouldn't be too hard to find a nice dense piece.

[eddillon]

Birch or Beech?

[Chris Treichel]

Man, Im a genious... thought he meant he's from Sydney and having problem finding walnut down under.

[Vomitus]

 TOF, tell me about flame birch. Lots of birch around here. Some with silver bark,most with white. Do you know if it grows in the west? I'm parts questing for a pistol also. Have barrel,plug and lock,that's it.

[eddillon]

Given a choice of birch or beech, I'll take beech.  harder, more uniform grain and more appropriate for a Northern european pistol.  Walnut is the best for a pair.  I say this because  a pair indicates pistols made for a wealthier clientel.

[T*O*F]

TOF, tell me about flame birch.

LB,
Back when Rolf from Norway did his pistol builds and documented them here on the board, I believe he used flame birch for them.  I don't know much about it, but I think Norway is about the same longitude as Canada so it should be available to you.  This may have been back sometime in 2010.  Perhaps you can find the old thread or PM Rolf about it.

[eddillon]

Rolf is certainly in the land of both the birch and the beech species.  Hope he chimes in here and gives an expert opinion  as to which is moe appropriate,  In the meantime, I'd opt for using walnut for a pair.

[T*O*F]

Rolf is certainly in the land of both the birch and the beech species.  Hope he chimes in here and gives an expert opinion  as to which is moe appropriate,  In the meantime, I'd opt for using walnut for a pair.

Ed,
The gist of this thread is not what is appropriate, nor what any particular person would use.  It is about alternate woods to use that might be locally available where he lives.  He is not interested in importing wood from another country.

We both have nice wood that we could sell him, but he's not interested.  Sometimes one must put personal agendas aside and just stick to the topic.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It's not hard to find both hard and soft wood in all species.  But I have only used birch to stock one piece...a double twelve bore shotgun, and it was a client request.  I'll not use birch again...much to soft and stringy.  There are lots of woods much better suited.
I bought a piece of pear wood from our local hardwood purveyor, to make blocks for a period sailing ship model.  It is so fine grained and uniform that it would be a great choice for a highly carved pistol.  I remember seeing an image of a wheellock pistol in one of my books, stocked in pear, and yes it's featureless as far as grain and figure, but it is beautiful just the same.  And a treat to carve.  Stay clear of ebony...sacre blu!!

...only fir trees in Canada - that's choice!

[Acer Saccharum]

...or is it fur trees?

Now, Yellow Birch can be as hard as sugar maple. Don't discount that! White or Paper birch is useless. I don't know about Black Birch wood, except that the broken twigs smell like wintergreen.

[T*O*F]

...only fir trees in Canada - that's choice!

Probably because the winters are so long up there that they use them to lay in an 8 months supply of spruce beer.

[keweenaw]

I've split lots of yellow birch firewood that had great curl in it.  It tends to be a bit stringy and to not split all that well but that would be a plus for an odd stock, but I've never tried to do anything with it other than burn it.  Lots of furniture is made from yellow birch as are lots of cabinets.  Most is way to plain to be of any interest at all but a nice curly piece would be another matter.

Tom