more maple....(spalted)

11 July 2018, 01:28

So I find this piece of maple and it says.....turn me into a .308 Winchester.....

The barreled action is 100% Howa....as is from their factory. I bought it from gunbroker and when I tookit to the range using the original Hogue stock, it was very accurate and I wasn't at all sure I wanted to monkey with it......But monkey I did and when it was done the accuracy had actually improved.

It is now the most accurate rifle I've ever owned.....with 150 grain Barnes TTSX bullets and 51.5 grains CFE 223 powder it will consistently hit dime size targets at 100 yards
Pistol grip cap and for end tip are cocobolo as I like the red color with the maple.

The wood came from Potsdam Minnesota

Stock routing by Dennis Olson of Plains Montana

11 July 2018, 05:28

lindy2

quote:
It is now the most accurate rifle I've ever owned

Or maybe your shooting is getting better as you age!

Nice work. Looking forward to seeing a pic of the elk that you take with it this fall.

11 July 2018, 05:39

vapodog

quote:
Looking forward to seeing a pic of the elk that you take with it this fall.

Let us not count our chickens before they are hatched.

11 July 2018, 06:41

richj

Very nicely done

11 July 2018, 06:58

Brian Canada

Very nice job. Perfect!

11 July 2018, 08:01

bwanamrm

I like it!

On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch...
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
- Rudyard Kipling

Life grows grim without senseless indulgence.

11 July 2018, 11:33

DCS Member

Maple has never done much for me until now. Good job.

11 July 2018, 16:08

Jerry Liles

I don't usually like maple but I'll make an exception for this stock. Very handsome.

11 July 2018, 19:46

ClaMar

I really like the looks of your stock!

A question, from my ignorance: Does spalting create soft spots in the wood? I ask this because I've seen some spalted wood (picked up from fallen trees) that is punky, and not sure whether the same thing happens when the wood is dried under controlled conditions.

Clarence

11 July 2018, 21:23

vapodog

quote:
Does spalting create soft spots in the wood?

Absolutely it does....it's the decaying process caused by fungus growth.....

Spalted wood is highly prised for its unusual patterns and colorations, but it's not necessarily easy to work. "Spalting" occurs in an early stage of the decay process, when various colonies of fungi stake their claims to a piece of fallen wood. The characteristic blue-black lines that run through spalted wood actually represent the lines of demarcation between incompatible colonies of micro-organisms and, while beautiful to look at, they mean that the wood is in an early to mid-stage of decomposition.

"Assuming the spots aren't too mushy, you can pot them with a wood hardener designed to soak in and stabilize rotted wood. They come in two versions — a one package pour on and a two part thin epoxy with names like "Woodrot" (which I use) In my opinion, the epoxy is the better of the two. You can get some from System Three in Seattle — they have ads in most of the woodworking magazines. Once stabilized, you can treat it as any other wood. The epoxy will affect the way it takes stains, but most folks don't stain spalted wood. It will not affect finish adhesion, and rarely affects glue adhesion.

I have used spalted Maple in panels of wood in my house and did not stabilize it.....the stuff has been there for 15 years with no further decay noticeable. I'm of the opinion that if the wood is not "punk"....able to be penetrated with the fingernail..... it will stop decaying after the oxygen is cut off by putting a good finish on the wood.

11 July 2018, 22:25

p dog shooter

very nice

15 July 2018, 04:08

vapodog

quote:
Originally posted by p dog shooter:
very nice

I have another piece of spalted wood from your backyard.....(Augusta).....not sure what Ill do with it as I'm running out of guns to build.

15 July 2018, 04:52

wildcat junkie

Why have modern gunmakers forgotten how to stain maple?

15 July 2018, 05:25

ColoradoMatt

I’ve seen a lot of splalted maple revolver stocks and thought all were not for me, but seeing rifle, it works for me on rifles!

Matt
FISH!!

Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984:

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

15 July 2018, 06:36

dave wesbrook

Save yourselves a lot of heartache and wind up with a far better stock.Buy a good quarter sawed blank of hard sugar maple and stain (dye) it what ever color you want.

15 July 2018, 15:58

wildcat junkie

quote:
Originally posted by wildcat junkie:
Why have modern gunmakers forgotten how to stain maple?

quote:
Originally posted by dave wesbrook:
Save yourselves a lot of heartache and wind up with a far better stock.Buy a good quarter sawed blank of hard sugar maple and stain (dye) it what ever color you want.

"Acid staining" is more effective on maple than dyes or conventional stains.
http://www.jimkibler.net/blog/...finishing-burl-maple