Where to find burl maple?

[Hemo]

About to start a European style smoothbore flint pistol, and inspired by Jim Kibler's fabulous fowler, I'd like to try my hand at using burl maple on the pistol. Dunlap has none, other gunstock sites online have lots of fancy and very pricey walnut, but no burl maple. Does anyone have a line on a supplier? I need about a 20 inch long piece.

Gregg

[James Rogers]

Greg,
 
Check with  Jim Kibler. He has offered a few burly pieces here before. He may have access to more.

[Sweeney]

Gregg, will you be at Friendship? I don't have any true burl but I have what may be the next best thing in terms of intense, unique grain hard maple. I will have some of it with me at the shoot.
Troy

[smart dog]

Hi Gregg,
Most maple burl lumber sold is from Oregon big leaf maple (it form burls more commonly than sugar or red maple). The big leaf maple that I've examined seemed fairly soft but my sample size is very small.  One advantage you have of making a pistol from that time period is that the stocks were often much straighter than later pistols.  You won't need a very wide plank.

dave

[Ron Scott]

As a person who lives in the area where it grows, Big Leaf Maple is softer than I would choose to build with. There are of course rare exceptions. One thing to consider is the lack of consistent grain flow in regards to strength throughout the grip when choosing burl.

[Jim Kibler]

Gregg,

I'll look to see what I have...  The only burl I've been able to get in pieces big enough for our use are from big leaf maple.   It's not as hard as one would prefer, but it does work if a denser than typical piece is found.  My impression of the pieces I've used is that they would be somewhere between low and medium density red maple.  If someone has a source for big burls from red or sugar maple, I'd love to hear from you.  I have absolutely no idea how such big pieces of burl were found in the 17th century.  Things must have been different then...

Jim

[Scota4570]

Maybe "quilted maple" or "birds eye maple" would work out. 

[Sweeney]

Quilted would best describe the most extreme of what I have in hard maple. Be happy to post photo if needed.

[Sweeney]

Here they are whether needed or not!

[smart dog]

Gregg and Sweeney,
That is a very nice slab and may be a better choice for a gun stock.  Even a highly figured stump piece of sugar maple might be a really good choice.  I have some burl maple I bought years ago from Cook Woods in Portland Oregon to use for pistol stocks.  The slab is very pretty but I can only get 2 small stocks from it because there are many bark inclusions, holes, and punky areas.  I also have 2 pistol blanks I bought from Jim Kibler.  I am saving them for my big dive (belly flop more likely) into the 17th century.  They all are good examples of why it is hard to find solid burl to make a pistol much less a full stock gun, and in each case, I really can only make pistols with the relatively straight profiles common in the 17th century.  Also Gregg, burl maple was a European fad for high-end guns during the late 17th and early 18th centuries but the popularity waned.  I suspect that is because the supply was small but more importantly, the burl wood could be weak and very prone to cracking.  I think a lot of burl stocked firearms were restocked in walnut after they cracked.

dave     

[Jim Kibler]

That piece of wood is interesting, but I don't feel it's very representative of maple used in the 17th century on fine Euro guns.  All depends on how you want to approach the project.  You can take the approach of not being concerned with absolute historical accuracy and still create something amazing.

[WadePatton]

Yeah, JK is the first person I'd call.  Oh, he's here already.  Hi Jim!


(my second call, Harrison's)

[Hemo]

Thanks for your replies, all. Now I'm not sure where to go with this. Sweeney, that's a neat piece of wood, do you have dimensions and a price? Jim, however, thinks it may not be appropriate for late 17th-early 18th century work. Everyone seems to say burl is difficult to work with and not very stable. I know I can do a decent job with a piece of straight grained European walnut, and I may end up going that way. Jim, if you run across any pieces of burl in your collection, could you tote some along to the WKU workshop next week? I'll be there for the first three days.

This is more or less what I'm going after:
http://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-2524-good-and-rare-pair-of-flintlock-holster-pistols-period-1690-1720-signed-g-frugone-49805/

Notice that these have some cracks!

Thanks again, all!

Gregg

[Sweeney]

Gregg, some background on the wood in photos - dropped in December '15, the tree was massive and our cutter decreed it the hardest sugar maple he has ever dropped. Indeed the blanks are incredibly dense - noticeably more than usual. The grain is very erratic and some of the blanks show surface cracks in spite of full coatings of Anchorseal. Consequently, I have delayed kiln drying - deciding to give it more air time than the 90 day minimum. If you decide it suitable for the period/project,  I can easily and gladly supply you with a smaller piece at market price for a pistol if you can wait for it to dry.
Thanks,
Troy

[smart dog]

Hi Gregg,
Jim Kibler's Dolep lock castings would be perfect for that pistol.  Again, I think a piece of hard maple cut from the stump would be very appropriate.  The write up says stump maple but I think it was from a burl, although I cannot be sure about that.

dave

[Hemo]

Thanks, Troy, I'll give that some serious thought and let you know.

Dave, I do in fact have Jim's Dolep castings sitting unassembled in a drawer, and had that lock in mind for this project. I really wanted to attend Mark Silver's lock building class next week at WKU and get that lock built, but I couldn't get the time off. I may have to forge ahead blindly on my own. (Jim, where's your Dolep lock tutorial? You've been spending too much time making those kits!)

Gregg

[Eric Krewson]

I have a friend who turns bowls out burl wood, he gives me his scraps. This is oak burl, nice grain patterns;

[brokenflint]

Eric, I could use a scrap piece for a spoon and a cup