Rough blank

[Maineshops]

A friend dropped off a highly figured maple log and i will cut a couple of stock blanks out of it. It is only 39 inches long so they will be hawkin type blanks. What thickness should the blanks be cut?

[sz]

If it's dry and stable you can make planes rifle stocks (Hawkens included) from any blanks of 1-5/8" thick or more. But if the blanks warp any it's best to cut a bit thicker so they can be plained on 2 edges before you saw out the shape of the gunstock.  I like to have my blanks at 1-3/4 for such guns just to be sure I can get all I need from them.  Some guns have very low cheek pieces, or none at all,  and you can get by with less wood thickness for them.
You can set the center line at a slant to get a bit of cast, or to allow for a cheek piece with narrow wood if you make the stock by hand.  If you intend to send it to someone for panagraphing you often need a bit more bulk to insure the stock can be cut from the wood.

[PPatch]

Quarter sawn, 2- 2.5 inches will give you lots of options. In any case don't skimp because you don't know how that particular log will check and warp while drying. Within the day you cut the blanks be sure to seal the ends, wax, paraffin, works great. It will take several years of slow drying before you do anything else with the blanks.

There are lots of half-stock styles you can choose from, the Hawkin is only one style.

dave

[rich pierce]

I'm going to try to beat Mike Brooks to the punch and ask "what's are these Hawkins I keep hearing about?  Who were the Hawkins?  What kind of rifles did they make?  When and where?"

Agree that cutting and seasoning wood for gunstocks is a labor of love. Thicker is better, and there are many threads here about how to stack and dry and keep your planks bug-free.

[P.W.Berkuta]

A friend dropped off a highly figured maple log and i will cut a couple of stock blanks out of it. It is only 39 inches long so they will be hawkin type blanks. What thickness should the blanks be cut?

Since it is a log and will need to be dried after it is cut into planks then I would cut it two inches thick. You will lose about 1/8" in the drying and you might lose some when you square up the plank which will leave you around 1-5/8" to 1-3/4" wide planks. Dry the wood one year for every inch of thickness and be sure to seal the ends.

[Maineshops]

The hawkin was made by Jacob and Samuel hawkin 1815 to1858 st Lewis mo. I.e. Plains rifle.

[Mike_StL]

The hawkin was made by Jacob and Samuel hawkin 1815 to 1858 st Lewis mo. I.e. Plains rifle.

The Hawken Rifles were made by the shop of Jacob and Samuel Hawken, St. Louis Mo from about 1820 to 1858 and by J. P. Gemmer who had the rights to the Hawken stamps after that.

[rich pierce]

The hawkin was made by Jacob and Samuel hawkin 1815 to1858 st Lewis mo. I.e. Plains rifle.

Ha, pet peeve, their last name was HawkEn not HawkIn. Happens a lot.

[Maineshops]

I may try putting one in the vacuum chamber if I can rig up a cold trap to deal with the water. Anybody mess with that?

[J Henry]

 I have some Cherry that died on the stump,10-15 years ago,,some 16" in diameter  and dry Should I saw it 8/4 or12/4 might be large enough to quarter saw and get some stock blanks. There are 9 trees in all.

[Mike Brooks]

Little Jimmy Hawkins was not only a great child actor but designed one of the most popular modern muzzle loading rifles in use today.

[Cody Tetachuk]

If you are making blanks to sell, make them 3" thick and sell them for flint SXS's. Blanks of every grade for half stock rifles are everywhere, thick enough for a SXS, not so much.