# VA black walnut in OR



## 056 kid (Oct 1, 2010)

I have about 80 lbs of black walnut sitting in my garage. how can I cure this wood? I am aiming to hand carve several gun stocks. I have had the chunk for about 4 or 5 weeks..


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## swift4me (Oct 9, 2010)

I've made numerous stocks from black walnut, and english. Never from a recently cut tree though. If they are cut into blanks and you wax the ends, I would think you'd need at least two years if not more to get a good moisture content. If you're hungry to get going on the stocks, you can buy decent claro walnut blanks at good prices all over Oregon and Northern CA.

If I can help with the poroject, let me know.

Pete


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## 056 kid (Oct 9, 2010)

No hurry at all. I will tale all the help I can get!

So it sounds like I need to saw it into blanks?


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## swift4me (Oct 9, 2010)

Yes you should cut them into blanks based on the stocks you want to make, ie: two piece shotgun stocks, rifle blanks, etc. Roughly 3" thick, or a bit more depending on stock dimensions. If you google gunstock blanks, you'll see scads of photos and get the idea. Is it really figured or fairly straight grained?


Pete


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## 056 kid (Oct 10, 2010)

There are some knots but I dont think too many. 

the chunk of wood is out of a double stump that measured about 34''. I believe I can get at least 2 blanks out of it, the blanks would be for a remington model 700. Then maybe some for a pump shotgun, and finally some pistol grips. 

I am thinking about doing some cutting tomorrow, but im not sure how to go about curing the wood. I live in eastern OR where it drier than the western part of the state, but it is still somewhat damp. Would keeping them in the garage off the ground work? Winter is coming and it is not heated in any way. the drier also blows directly into the garage but I can remove them while drying clothes..


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## swift4me (Oct 10, 2010)

If you want some figure in the stocks, think long and hard before you cut. If I understand you correctly about it being a double stump, there could be some interesting grain at the junction. There is a grain pattern called "feather crotch", (not the name of a pole dancer in Witchita Falls), that occurs at the junction of a limb and the trunk that really looks cool in walnut. Again you can google that and see what I mean. Cut the rifle blank(s) first then worry about the two piece shotgun and pistol grips. If the rifle blanks don't come out right, you can always cut them up for your shotgun stocks.

You want to have interesting figure back towards the butt of the stock, and straight grain up in the barrel channel for a good rifle blank. Knots are a pain to work with around the action area or the barrel channel, so keep them behind the pistol grip.

As for drying, I think La Grande would be good. I wouldn't worry about the dryer. Just wax the ends really good, for about 4" up from the end, and give it good air exposure on all sides.



















This is a stock I did once completely from a blank with only hand tools. I didn't want to screw up a nice blank, so this is a fairly plain piece of claro walnut. It takes a long time to do the inletting if you want a good fit. The Remington 700 is not too difficult to inlet depending on whether it is a BDL, or an ADL.

Once the wood is dry, you might think about sending it out for someone to semi-inlet on a pattern duplicator. It isn't that expensive, and they do all the hard work, and you get to do the fun stuff.

In any event, it will be at least a year or two before the wood is really ready.

Good luck.

Pete


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## 056 kid (Oct 10, 2010)

Beautiful work!
If I could find the little card that transfers pictures off my phone to my computer I would post a bunch of photos. What I am going to do tomorrow is clean up the chunk, square it up and smooth the surface to try and get a better idea of what I have to work with. Is there a certain kind of wax should I use to coat the ends with? I am getting excited about the whole thing now though, thanks to your information. 
The rifle is an ADL in 7mm by the way.


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## swift4me (Oct 10, 2010)

Here is a link to a great write-up on what you are doing. You can use melted paraffin or several coats of latex paint to seal the ends.


http://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hints-tips-wonderful-wood.html

My bet is you'll want to start making a stock long before this wood is ready. You can check out www.gunstocks.com in Yuba City, CA. They sell all grades of walnut, and offer inletting services and have discount blanks and stocks too that may have slight imperfections.

With a 700 ADL, you won't have to inlet around the floorplate like the BDL, so that is easier. The distance between the top and the bottom of the contact surfaces for the two action screws is critical, so for a first one, the semi inletted blanks give you the time to figure things out as you go.

There are lots of guys in Oregon who sell walnut stock blanks as well. Easy to find on the internet. The best books I found were Monty Kennedy's classic book, Checkering and carving of Gunstocks, (mostly about checkering and detailing as opposed to inletting), and another by David Wesbrook, but that one is collectible and over $250. It is the best I've seen. There are some great stockmakers in Oregon too. Lots of times they are willing to share their knowledge if approached the right way.

Good luck.

Pete


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