Stock Wood Stack

[David R. Pennington]

I broke down my lumber stack to check on it. I had a red maple cut into 3 inch planks almost three years ago. And some wild cherry inch boards and one cherry stock plank. Every thing looked good and dry except for a tremendous ant colony. I scraped up the eggs and larvae into a bucket and dumped them near the bird feeder. The birds scarfed them up. I noticed a few worm holes in one of the boards. I put some sevin dust out as I restacked. Should I have treated the stack for insects when I first stacked it?
I pulled out one of the maple planks and the cherry plank. I think I will go ahead and lay out my stock blank patterns on them and saw some blanks out then store them inside the shop for another year or so. Wow those 3 inch maple planks are heavy!
The tree had two natural bends in it so the grain in both logs will run great for rifle stocks. It does appear to have a good bit of curl but I'm not sure how consistent it is yet.

[Acer Saccharum]

I have had bug problems with my last maple log. I suspect the tree had bugs before it was dropped, or it was cut in weather that was too warm. I took all the precautions I could, like getting the bark off, sawing it up ASAP, etc. And still had bugs (powder post beetles, I think)

I recommend cutting stock blanks out right away before the wood starts to dry much. This last log, I let the planks dry several months before I realized I was getting a lot of stress checks. I then cut it into blanks, but I'd already lost some primo steaks because of checking.

If it's cut into in stock blanks right away, the pieces of wood are much smaller, and can shrink without so much wood loss.

[rich pierce]

Do cut out blanks tend to warp more than stickered planks?

[Hawken62_flint]

Rich, could you explain to a layman what the heck you just said in your post?? I am totally left in the dark by your statement.  Thanks for any enlightening you can give this neophyte. 

[rich pierce]

When trees are cut into planks and stacked for seasoning they are sully put on a flat dry surface, the bottom one off the ground with "stickers" which are simply narrow square pieces of board every couple feet or so to allow air to circulate and keep everything level and flat.  Fresh boards are very heavy with water and layering them up in stacks with stickers in between each plank and the one above and below helps the wood stay flat while it dries.

I was wondering if a blank or roughly rifle stock shaped cutout from the plank would have more of a tendency to warp because it does not have the weight of the planks above it keeping it "in line".

Now that explanation doesn't mean I didn't ask an insensible question!

[Dan Fruth]

In volume 2 of the Journal of Historical Armsmaking Technology an article appears that deals with a surviving rough hewn stock blank. The blank is quite oversize, but is hewn to a size of 2 7/16 thick at the butt, 1 15/16 thick at the muzzle, and enough drop to accomodate a range of stock architecture. Wallace Gusler wrote the article, and states that it was common practice to rough hew stock blanks from green wood. The reason being there would be less warpage from oversize blanks with uniform wood removal, than from sawing blanks from a seasoned plank. I know from experience working lumber that seasoned wood tends to case harden on the outside, and if a surface is "opened up" by sawing or planing and the other side not touched, the piece will tend to move. In the shop, we alwayse tried to take uniform cuts from lumber, as this would reduce the possibality of warpage....Dan

[Dan Fruth]

I just realized that the topic was bugs not warping! Sorry for the rabbit trail........I had several planks of walnut on stick for about 1 year outdoors, and then moved them into the barn for the rest of the curring. No bugs that I can detect, but thats walnut. If I were to cut a maple log, I would try to make a plastic tent over the stack, and fume the inside with a couple of bug bombs...And then move the stuff inside asap. Be sure to remove the bark as aoon as you can.

[Eric Krewson]

No bug problems with my stock wood stash so far but all that isn't still in log form was made into stock blanks and stored indoors. Bow wood, that is a different problem, bug ridden from the get go if I don't do my part. Bark on is your enemy as it houses the larva that start munching, powder post beetles will go after bare wood.

I spray my bark on wood with Diazanon strong enough to get the EPA after me if they knew. This treatment usually keeps the bugs at bay but retreatment is necessary every 6 months or so if the wood is left outside.

If you do start seeing dust trails from powder post beetles, a quick pass with a propane torch over the holes will stop them in their tracks.  

[kaintuck]

Get thee to the bug dust/spray and thee shall restack yearly, whilst rotating thee covered stack. Thou shalt weight and stack evenly with thine 1" spacer boards lain between......so sayith thyne Amish friends....

Marc

[Acer Saccharum]

Take your stocks from the trunk of the tree, and be careful what tree you take it from, or you can end up with a bunch of junk wood for your efforts.

This is what a geezer told me:

Reaction wood is wood from a tree that has been leaning, or trying to compensate for having branches cut from one side of the tree. Branches that come off the truck are also reaction wood.

Reaction wood has a lot of internal stress will never cure straight. Big branches will have gorgeous grain for a gun, but there is much stress in this wood from the branch holding itself up for a hundred years, tension on the top of the branch, compression on the bottom. The wood wants to curl up as it's drying. Even if you saw some off to straighten the blank out, it will continue to curl. The pieces you cut off your stock will curl up.

Sorry, this isn't about bugs in the wood at all. 

[Ryan McNabb]

Cut out your rough blanks and store them inside, clamped together or to the wall.  This is for unknown wood from planks you take off the mill.  It's always safer to get your blanks out of the plank ASAP so you can know more clearly what youre dealing with, warpage wise.  Don't fret the inevitable waste of a hopelessly warped blank, it happens, and you're still money ahead.

As for bugs, I store lumber on landscape timbers, up on concrete blocks, and slosh a little chainsaw gasoline on the blocks.  No critters.  Unless copperheads count.

[Tony Clark]

Do cut out blanks tend to warp more than stickered planks?

No, smaller the piece of wood you set up to dry the less warpage this is basic understanding Rich.

The Ants come from damp conditions.... read this over one more time if you have ants.... wood need's to be stored in dry conditions if it's expected to last. That can mean from log from to finished product. Wood ants are the big black ones that appear when conditions are cool and damp. if your wood is that way they will get in there. ants do not like dry lumber

[rich pierce]

Good to know.  I've got a friend with some walnut planks that are pretty fresh, and plan to buy 2 of them.  Will get them cut to blank dimensions.

[FL-Flintlock]

Reaction wood has a lot of internal stress will never cure straight.

Just run it through a normalizing cycle Tom.