wild cherry for stocks

[Luke]

hello all ,been kicking around on my farm and ive seen several wild cherry trees growing,wondering if this might make some good stock wood.what do yall think.thanks luke

[Jim Chambers]

Several years ago I cut down a large wild cherry tree that was leaning toward the house, took it to a nearby sawmill, had it cut into three inch boards, air dried it for about three years, and got over 80 stocks out of that tree.  Well worth the effort.

[pathfinder]

Yup,what Jim say's. Great for stocks. I'll be cutting some from our club's wood's and there are quite a few with a perfect curve for the wrist.

[PPatch]

Several years ago a wild cherry tree with multiple trunks was blown down a few hundred yards from the house during a storm. I cut it into logs and slabbed some of it which was dried inside the wood shop for over three years. I tried working some of it last spring and it was not worth a darn, soft and stringy. I had intended to fashion a table out of it but gave up as it worked so poorly. I believe it is all about where the tree grows, this one was in a low spot not far from a creek.

dave

[Old Bob]

I've got 11  2 1/2" X 10" X 9' planks drying in my carport that I had cut a few months ago. I'll probably get at least 15 stocks, maybe more out of them. Plus a bunch of 1X4s and 1X6s to make boxes &c out of. Got the tree for free and cost me $95 to haul and saw. One blank will pay for that. Just have to wait a couple of years+. I'll speed things up if I put them in my shop attic.

[WadePatton]

black cherry is what you're looking for.  that's for stocks and furniture. 

also, try to get as much crotch/stump/crooked wood as possible, tends to be really plain in the grain otherwise.

[B Shipman]

Years ago, I found some huge cherry logs and took them to the late Ron Griffie to cut them. He took two, I got six. It carves poorly but can be done. A very stable wood and a good choice for Southern mtn. rifles and fowlers and poor boys and New England Rifles.

[Robby]

Local black cherry. Bill, I carve poorly, the wood does just fine.

Robby

[Kermit]

SHARP tools. Cherry can crush and tear if you approach it with dull force.

[pathfinder]

Local black cherry. Bill, I carve poorly, the wood does just fine.

Robby

Yeah,poor carving,as if! That's nice work. I used Black cherry extensivly in my furniture shop and sharp tool's are just as important with cherry as it is with maple. Cherry doesn't dull the tool's as fast.

[David R. Pennington]

I took down a couple wild black cherry trees in my yard a few years ago. I had it sawn and air dried it for 3 or 4 years. I've built 2 rifles out of it and I think it works/carves very well. Easier than some curly maple. I had trouble finding a stain I liked on it though. All the commercial pigment type stains I tried just made it look dirty. The first one I did with aqua fortis and it ended up a little darker than I wanted. The last one I used ammonia. It turned out a little lighter than I wanted but the thing to remember about cherry is it will darken over time. Every time I pick this rifle up I think the color looks a little better. I had a local guy saw mine and it was very reasonable. I think I had about $80 or $90 in it including what I paid the guy to haul the logs. I had him cut me 3 or 4 three inch planks and the rest in inch boards. I still have a good bit of the inch stuff I need to use.

[WadePatton]

It's my understanding, that the best color in Cherry, comes from a lye wash and then straight to oil.  no stain.

somebody slap me if i'm wrong.

[Robby]

I wouldn't say you are right, I wouldn't say you are wrong. I would say you are voicing an opinion based on an understanding.
Robby

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Lye oxidizes and therefore ages cherry giving it the darker color you often associate with cherry furniture. I like the look on gunstocks Some like a varnish without the lye aging.....ultimately it will get dark from UV exposure etc....

[David R. Pennington]

Yeah lye is what I used, I don't know why I wrote ammonia.

[Dennis Glazener]

Yeah lye is what I used, I don't know why I wrote ammonia.

Lye works real well just be careful and not add too much to the water. The more lye the more wood deterioration you get. You can quickly add 200 age to the look of the wood! Don't ask me how I know this!
Dennis

[pathfinder]

And how do youknow this Dennis?   We refered to this process as "Fuming" in our shop. GREAT look on quarter oak! And I agree,THE best color for cherry,IMHO. I wouldnt use oven cleaner though,has some other stuff in it that I'm not familiar with. Probably wont hurt,but good old Red Seal Lye from the corner store works fine.

Dennis is correct,it doesnt need to be very strong. You can alway's add some if it's not dark enough for you. I use @ 1-2 Tbl in a Mason jar of warmwater..

[WadePatton]

I wouldn't say you are right, I wouldn't say you are wrong. I would say you are voicing an opinion based on an understanding.
Robby

works for me. (your take on my opinion)

now, what's your opinion of finishing black cherry as stock wood?

[Dennis Glazener]

I don't know why I wrote ammonia

Now for the ammonia use, you can age pine/maple and other woods that don't have a lot of tannic acid in them, by paint them with a strong solution of tea then placing the wood in a sealed box with a saucer or two of 28% Ammonia. Seal the cracks with masking tape. Over a period of a few hours the wood will the nicely aged. I never tried but you should be able to do oak/chestnut and other woods that contain a fair amount of tannin acid without using the tea solution.
Never tried it on a gunstock but would like to. You can get the 28% ammonia from a drugstore that is willing to order it for you.
Dennis

[volatpluvia]

Boy you guys make things tough.  Just put 2 or 3 coats of BLO on it and when it is soaked in enough put some 18th century varnish over it and it will have a look that will just keep getting better as the years go by.  And no dangerous chemicals, etc.
volatpluvia

[Shootrj2003]

I 'm restocking an old English fowler with cherry I got years ago from a wild cherry that I had cut into boards ,I 've used it for butt plugs in my powderhorns many times

[Robby]

Sorry Wade, I just now saw you posting from last week. I guess my opinion is that people should experiment, and go with what they find most suitable for their taste and the project they are working on. Myself, I have used aquafortis on a few stocks and like the look. It  may sometimes turn almost a smokey black, but with a little elbow grease and maybe some steel wool and 360 paper it can be rubbed back, and underneath is, what to me looks like very old, aged cherry, kind of like my Grandmothers beautiful, old, favorite rocking chair. I have experimented with lye on same blank pieces and it looks artificial to me, but that is just me. someone else may look at the same piece of wood and feel that is just the ticket. There is almost no accounting for what goes on at the behind side of the eyes.
Robby

[pathfinder]

I don't know why I wrote ammonia

Now for the ammonia use, you can age pine/maple and other woods that don't have a lot of tannic acid in them, by paint them with a strong solution of tea then placing the wood in a sealed box with a saucer or two of 28% Ammonia. Seal the cracks with masking tape. Over a period of a few hours the wood will the nicely aged. I never tried but you should be able to do oak/chestnut and other woods that contain a fair amount of tannin acid without using the tea solution.
Never tried it on a gunstock but would like to. You can get the 28% ammonia from a drugstore that is willing to order it for you.
Dennis

Yup,back in the day,that's how we finished Bank's and libraries. Seal off the vent's and such pour gallon's and gallon's of ammonia in buckets all over the area,set up some fan's and warmers under the buckets,wait a day or two,and voila! fumed oak. You would NEVER be able to do this type of finishing these day's! #1 EPA,#2 OSHA,#3,child labor law's! Man,those were the day's!