Possible stock wood

[Brian Jordan]

Seen this recently at a local woodcraft store. It is labeled "spalted maple" The wood seems fairly hard to a thumbnail test. I could easily get two stock blanks out of this piece and maybe a few pistol blanks and sure some knife handle material from it. The wood was near 9' long and 2-3/4" thick. What are you thoughts on this? The price was very reasonable compared to buying an already cut stock blank with this type of figure.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wohPZ8102difSdft1

[rich pierce]

Non traditional, but if it appeals to you and is hard enough, go for it.

[James Rogers]

Spalted means decomposing. A lot of that wood is stabilized with some type of epoxy injection. I would think twice.

[ddoyle]

Blanks from reputable dealers are really a fantastic deal - If you do not try and get something for nothing. Cheapest way to get a stock blank is to pay 50 dollars more instead of trying to pay 50 less like the other guys. Cheap blanks are false economy. Top quality blanks are a bargain.  Stock blanks are everywhere but good stock wood is scarce, scarce, scarce. Working with a slightly shorter barrels, forgoing figure and living with a marr in a non crucial part opens up alot of options.

Your gonna spend 100s of hours with your wood, spend .50 cents an hour for the enterainment you wont regret it.

call joe or suzie

[Brian Jordan]

Added a link to the picture. forgot in the original post.

[ddoyle]

nope

[Sawfiler]

My experience with woodcraft selling wood is walking in and getting a kick out of the high prices they are charging. I would go with the others advice and stay away from it. As a previous poster mentioned - spalted is a nice way of saying rotten which will equal too soft for a stock. Take wiff of what the piece smells like and you will agree.

[yip]

Brian; you just keep pumping em out, happy to see ya putting dem together............yip

[Brian Jordan]

Thanks for the replys guys! This is why I asked the question on here. I will pass on this piece.

[WadePatton]

Blanks from reputable dealers are really a fantastic deal - If you do not try and get something for nothing. Cheapest way to get a stock blank is to pay 50 dollars more instead of trying to pay 50 less like the other guys. Cheap blanks are false economy. Top quality blanks are a bargain.  Stock blanks are everywhere but good stock wood is scarce, scarce, scarce. Working with a slightly shorter barrels, forgoing figure and living with a marr in a non crucial part opens up alot of options.

Your gonna spend 100s of hours with your wood, spend .50 cents an hour for the enterainment you wont regret it.

call joe or suzie

I'm with DDoyle here.  Stockwood from reputable dealers in stockwood are the best bargains out there, they fully understand your purpose and needs and do not want you to be dissatisfied with your purchase, this is how they survive.

If you can afford to buy more than one piece of wood, then sure, try everything.  But if you want good wood, go pro.

[FALout]

I can understand why some people want to use something different, but there was a really good reason maple was used back in the day, it was the BEST choice of wood for them and it still is today when recreating the American longrifle.

[Goo]

I looked at your profile and it says PA.  I just looked on Craig's list pittsburg , search terms wood slab and there is lots o choices.  That gun will out last you if you do it properly and choose a nice piece of wood to work with

[Nordnecker]

I'm curious what "reasonable" is. I went in Woodcraft the other day. I was shocked to see a slab of cherry about 10' long, 10 or 12 in. wide and maybe 1 1/2 thick was $748 plus.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

My neighbour across the street bought a stock blank from a local fellow who dabbles in gun making.  He paid $25 CDN for the wood, bandsawed out for a modern sporter.  the maple is west coast maple and heavily spaulted but the curl is close, consistent and loud from end to end.  He carved the stock and brought it to me for assistance in finishing.  We applied tannic acid and ferric nitrate to the wood, and all of the spaulting disappeared.  It stained up as if it was a high end piece of wood.  To the fingernail test, the spaulting did not feel soft...it was consistent with the non-spaulted wood.  I think he has a good stock there, but shooting will tell.  My point is that the discoloured wood from spaulting disappeared with staining.

[ddoyle]

West coast maple and fruit wood is free, but he got a good deal on the drying and storing. A guy who knew how to make a chainsaw rip well would have no trouble filling a 3ton with blanks anywhere from Hope to the salt chuck. Stuff from the higher ridges (where alot of development is now happening) is acceptable wood and it costs to dispose of it.

[Daryl]

The only "spalted" wood I examined, was some spalted birch and aspen.  The discolouring agent appeared to be minerals absorbed into the wood and the wood was not soft at all - as hard as can be and was "finished" into some amazing kitchen cabinets by a local chap, a carpenter/custom cabinet maker friend of Taylor's and mine. He would NEVER use rotting wood for his kitchen cabinets.

I think the term spalted is misused, perhaps in this & Taylor's post or in the posts saying it is the start of rot or is rot.

I have seen a lot of rot in soft woods, conifers and the 'lighter' hardwoods like Aspen and Birch as I was a government tree 'scaler' for a time.  I have been initially fooled by what appeared to be spalting/rot in some of these softer hardwoods as in the aspen and birch, but upon further examination, found these to be solid, sound wood, not rot nor approaching rot, simply mineral or mineral/colouring absorbed into the wood by the tree itself.

I have not seen any in maple.

[WadePatton]

The only "spalted" wood I examined...
I have not seen any in maple.

Prolly all the spalts got frozen up there. 

Down here in the Southeastern Hardwood forests, I'm quite certain I've seen spalted maple and ROT is the very next item on the menu when you see it.  Find it in whole logs and you'll usually have hard and soft spalt, and full rot/punk wood, as well as some sound wood.  I just accept it as part of the deterioration process.  Early spalted it what he bowl guys love (Boxelder often) but it gets soft really soon thereafter in my woods. 

Next time I run across some I'll get some pics for documentation.  I have a a good Sugar Maple down and need to get to it before rot sets in. Also I know where some curly Maple is rotting now because it was just too big for me to handle or get sawn -and is on the neighbor.