Whats lace maple burl?

[Rolf]

 From time to time you can find nice chunks of lace maple burl on eBay that are big enough for a pistol stock. I know nothing about this wood. Is it red maple, sugar maple  or a separate species. Can it be use for pistol stocks?

Best regards

Rolfkt

[George F.]

Lace wood I was told from a warehouseman at a specialty wood supplier, said it was an Australian wood, similar to oak, with alot of flecking.  ...Geo.

[Don Getz]

Sycamore, or Buttonwood, is also know as "lacewood", kind of has a pretty pattern in the grain of the wood....not sure
how it would work for a gunstock...........Don

[rick landes]

Check this site http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/lacewood.php for pics
It reads
COMMON NAMES:   Lacewood, silky-oak, southern silky-oak, grevillea, kawilia
SPECIFIC GRAVITY:   0.51

DENSITY:   38 pcf

TANGENTIAL MOVEMENT:   7.70%

RADIAL MOVEMENT:   2.70%

VOLUMETRIC SHRINKAGE:   

DURABILITY:   Good

SOURCE:   Eastern Australia

DESCRIPTION:   Planted for shade on coffee and tea plantations; used for ornamental purposes. The pale, pinkish brown heartwood changes to yellow brown when exposed. The distinguishing feature of lacewood is the prominent ray flecks, especially on quartersawn material. Flecks may be small and tight or large and dramatic. Sapwood is cream colored and moderately defined. Grain is straight to wavy. Medium to coarse texture. Lustrous. Works well with hand tools. Very high ratings in machinability. Green or dry wood can cause skin rash. Used for parquet flooring, joinery, furniture, turnery, decorative veneers, and light construction.

[Tim Crosby]

 I too thought I had heard Sysamore called Lacewood. Check this out:

Tim C.

http://www.allbusiness.com/furniture-related/office-furniture-including/158235-1.html

[Daryl]

Lacewood is pretty- at least the boards I've seen. I've thought of trying to make a self bow out of it, but the shoduler restricts me from much hand work - so far, it's only a pipe-dream.

[smart dog]

Hi Rolf,
I guess a lot depends if the listing is really referring to lacewood.  I think what you are describing is probably maple burl (any species of maple) that has a lace-like pattern.  I bought a slab for the exact same reason you mentioned, to build pistol stocks.  Burly maple was a fad for high-end pistols stocks during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.  They are spectacular when finished.  Unfortunately, the wood is hard to work and prone to cracking and chipping.  Many of the pistols made with it were restocked in walnut.  I can see why from the slab I have.  There will be a lot of waste because much of the wood is punky but there are enough hard solid chunks to make quite a few pistols.  I am going to use the wood for  stocks for small pocket and turn-off pistols.  For that purpose it should be very good and beautiful.

dave     

[Rolf]

Thanks for your answers. The burls I've seen on eBay are all from American sellers.
Some are described as lace maple burl with birds eye figure.So I think Dave's answer is probaby the correct one.

From what you write Dave, I think I'll steer clear of burls.

Best regards

Rolfkt

[Jim Kibler]

Thanks for your answers. The burls I've seen on eBay are all from American sellers.
Some are described as lace maple burl with birds eye figure.So I think Dave's answer is probaby the correct one.

From what you write Dave, I think I'll steer clear of burls.

Best regards

Rolfkt

If maple, this is most likely western Big Leaf Maple.  It seems burl and such figure is quite common in this maple   In contrast, it is pretty rare in the eastern species.  I've checked out Ebay for maple burl and all I could find was western maple.

[smart dog]

Hi Jim,
Burls occur in all of the bigger species of maples including sugar, red, silver, and big leaf.  You are right that most of the burl offered on e-bay is western maple but you can also find web sites selling sugar and red maple burl.  In Europe, they probably used Norway and Field maples as the source of burls for guns and furniture.

dave

[Jim Kibler]

Hi Jim,
Burls occur in all of the bigger species of maples including sugar, red, silver, and big leaf.  You are right that most of the burl offered on e-bay is western maple but you can also find web sites selling sugar and red maple burl.  In Europe, they probably used Norway and Field maples as the source of burls for guns and furniture.

dave

Hey Dave,

It's my understanding that the big leaf maples have a propensity for forming burls and are much more common than those from the eastern species.  I've been searching pretty hard for red or sugar maple burl and have found a few pieces, but not very much.  The western stuff seems to be readily available.

Jim

[Rolf]

Is big leaf maple used for gunstocks? How does it compare to red maple and sugar maple?

Best regards

Rolfkt

[smart dog]

Hi Jim,
You are right.  The tendency to form burls seems to be more common in the Pacific Northwest than in other parts of the country.  That is true for maple as well as spruce, fir, and cedars.  Burl is somewhat like a cancer (emphasis on somewhat) derived from undeveloped dormant buds and often results from an injury such as a broken limb.  I am not sure that big leaf maple intrinisically is more susceptible to burl or is it the fact that it grows in the wet cool climate of the PNW where wind is the primary disturbance regime (rather than fire).  Wind storms may break branches contributing to a higher rate of incidence in the species.  Rolf, I think big leaf maple is a little soft compared to sugar and red maple.  I am not sure how well it would work as a stock although I have seen several modern guns stocked with it.  It can be a very pretty wood with a lot of figure.

dave

[Rolf]

Dave , in one of your posts you mention Norway maple. The name got me curios.
There are hardly any maple trees in Norway. The only species is Acer platanoides, which we call spiss loenn. Its a tall skinny tree, rarely more than 10" in diameter. It's not used here for commercial logging. Is this the same tree you call Norway maple?

Nobody sells maple in Norway. The hard woods logged in Norway are birch (mostly), ash, elm and oak(very little). The only figure wood we have a lot of is flame birch. I use alot of it to make furniture. I haven't tried it for gunstocks. The wood I buy has been air dried for 3 months, then kiln dried. It's hard to work because it has a bad tendency to warp after cutting and planing. The warping may be due to the kiln drying. I'm going to buy some wet wood and air dry it for 3 years and see if this helps.

Best  regards
Rolfkt

[smart dog]

Hi Rolf,
Yes, Acer platanoides is the tree to which I was referring.  It may be small and skinny in Norway, but it can grow over 1 m in diameter on good sites.  Many were planted in the U.S. as ornamental trees and have grown very large.  I suspect that A. platanoides grown on good sites throughout northern and central Europe probably gets large enough to supply furniture wood.  Norway probably doesn't offer the best growing conditions (cold and thin glacial till soils?)

dave