I have a squared off piece of Katalox or Mexican Royal Ebony. When I say a piece, I mean a piece large enough to make two gun stocks. The question it what would it cost to make a stock out of it? It is a heavy wood and as the name suggests dark and not easy to work with. I was thinking that if I had it made for a common action, say a M70, could a CNC make it for a reasonable cost? If you think that is crazy, I also want to have a stock made from Desert Ironwood

There's a good reason Juglans Regia is the "go to" choice for gunstocks. The about perfect combo of strength and weight...You'll certainly have strength, but at a huge penalty in weight.

When I first got interested in gunstock making, I bought a book called GUNSTOCK WOODS AND OTHER FINE TIMBERS. I go back to it often when questions such as yours get asked in order to refresh my knowledge. As in most cases, the name of the wood given is common terminology of the area. Mexican Royal Ebony is not listed in my book by that or the other name you gave. I did find another listing that may help...Brown Ebony. The scientific name is Libidibia sclerocarpa. This wood is imported from Mexico and is not a true ebony. It does, however, meet all of the criteria you mentioned about weight and density.

The wood is hard enough to make a gunstock...from the books description. However, the harder the wood the more prone to splitting along grain lines with the heavier calibers. Can you make a gunstock out of it.....yes. Can you make one cheaply....more than likely not. CNC machining does not cut the cost of the project...in fact, if the person cutting the stock is not making them in bulk for the industry, the cost is higher as the machine cost, tool cost, electric cost...etc have to be figured into the actual labor/overall cost. Your are still looking at a 4 figure finished product from a reputable stocker. If I had to guess at what it would cost from a carver standpoint....at least double the regular charge and you do all of the inletting, fitting, sanding, finishing. Checkering would also cost 2x as much. It would be hard on all of the cutters and need to be sharpened or replaced.

Iron wood has been used and Fajen had a pallet on hand for those who requested it. There was a huge mark up on labor and material in that case.

Sorry. Katalox with a K

I'd love to see a gun stock made from Ironwood.

Katalox, or Mexican Royal Ebony, is a dense Central American hardwood - Swartzia cubensis. It is listed in several USDA publications as a suitable substitute for African Gabon Ebony in stringed instruments (usually fingerboards and bridges). Trees aretypically 40-75' tall with diameters of 12" to 20" and prefer soils that drain well; they do not grow well in areaswithwater saturated soil.. Similar to a true Ebony, only about 20-30% of any log produces the dark heartwood. The dark purple/black color accents well with the creamy/golden sapwood to create contrast that can be well utilized for a unique look in your projects.Every board is different and one of a kind! The wood turns well and takes a nice finish. Common uses are fine boxes, musical instruments, flooring, and other fine woodworking projects.

quote:

If you think that is crazy

Like reinventing the wheel.

Dave

I would wish boom stick well. Post photos when you get it done.

Just went page by page and only found one listing with the Swartiza genus listing. It was from Africa. THAT means that in 1987, when the book was published, this timber was either not well known at the time or even thought of as a gunstock wood in the USA at the time of publishing. But with the rules and regulations placed on Ebony by the USA and Sri Lanka in the early 80's I am not surprised another alternative for the Luthier industry was not found that circumvented the overseas import rules.

Make sure that your gunstock layout is good before committing to this. IF there is a chance the grain flow could cause problems...abandon this choice.

I think my first project for the wood is to make knife scales. I actually had to cut the end piece off to get it on the plane. They questioned me about having such a large chunk of dense ass wood in my carry on luggage lol. I will have to post pics some time.

It looks like this. Tight ring pattern and a dark purple brown almost black color

Boomer,

I'd be concerned about chipping, cracking and flaking with Katalox. It's reportedly very similar in texture and oil content to Gabon ebony which does not like to be routed. I tried to make an ebony grip cap out of the Gabon once back in December. I barely cut 3/4" of the circumference before splinters started flying as the bit rode up sharply and split 20% of the wood away. Katalox could present a similar problem as well.
Might find someone that will say "we could try it". But, I suspect that most wouldn't touch it.
Plus, is it really that gorgeous a wood to justify taking a chance?



CB

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
There's a good reason Juglans Regia is the "go to" choice for gunstocks. The about perfect combo of strength and weight...You'll certainly have strength, but at a huge penalty in weight.

Agreed. I would not use anything else on a rifle. But I certainly respect the OP's decision to try something different.

If you get it done, please post some photos.

AT

Sure would be a first if someone could pull it off. Maybe a CNC cutting at high rpms, moving at a really slow speed could get it done.

If you don’t go the gunstock route, I vote to sell it to a luthier. http://scottwalkerguitars.com This guy is one of the most talented custom guitar builders in the world. His guitars very much remind me of fine custom stock makers. I can put you in touch with him. How big is the blank?

the two oddest wood gunstocks I ever made were from oak and American chestnut and they both were for the same client. he found the wood in beams from old barns in upstate PA. I used to live about an hour from Mike Kokalous (sp) and he turned the blanks from my pattern. I don't remember the exact amount but it wasn't that much higher than his standard.

quote:

Originally posted by max(hm2):
the two oddest wood gunstocks I ever made were from oak and American chestnut and they both were for the same client. he found the wood in beams from old barns in upstate PA. I used to live about an hour from Mike Kokalous (sp) and he turned the blanks from my pattern. I don't remember the exact amount but it wasn't that much higher than his standard.

I think Mike left the business a few years ago. He did one for me and I was pleased.

quote:

Originally posted by Colin Masters:
If you don’t go the gunstock route, I vote to sell it to a luthier. http://scottwalkerguitars.com This guy is one of the most talented custom guitar builders in the world. His guitars very much remind me of fine custom stock makers. I can put you in touch with him. How big is the blank?

It is about 9" square by 4'
It is more of a sentimental project since I got the hunk of wood on my honeymoon. I was zip lining in the jungle in Mexico and I noticed a heavy and what looked like ebony wood in use for construction in some of their buildings and chairs. The wood is quite resistant to weather and insects so the locals use the wood for lumber in their wet and humid area. I was shocked that they were using such wood for ordinary things and asked where I could get some. The locals just pulled out a chainsaw and cut off a big hunk off a beam and I think I paid like $20 for it. I was wondering if I should import the wood.

Sorry for the large size of the pics. Here is the beam of Katalox. Yeah, looks like a railroad tie right now lol. It was a beam used in a home that was just on this persons property. No idea when it was harvested or how long it was outside but it is heavy as hell. I will have to play around with the end piece that I cut off to see how well it will cut and how strong it is. I used a hacksaw to cut the end off and that took a while lol.

That is a lot of ebony. How long ago did you get it?

Here is what Scott walker does with ebony as a guitar top laminate. http://scottwalkerguitars.com/guitars/the-phantom/

There was a guy that had Fajen make him 20 stocks out of all kinds of wood including
one in redwood endgrain (very light weight). It was featured in American Rifleman,maybe in the 80's.

I believe the story was called "Magnificent Obsession".

I've had it for about 4 years but I don't know how old it is. It is a lot of dense heavy wood. The guitars that guy makes are gorgeous. I don't know what would be left over but I'm sure I could find other projects to do with it. I should go back and get more of this wood for other future projects.

Back in 2001 I was studying and bumming around China and Southeast Asia. I came across this sketchy store/warehouse in Kunming next to a restauratn I liked to go to.

They had a room filled with exotic wood, along with a bunch of ivory that had not been turned yet. There was 10 or so pallets of Brazilian rosewood, huge beams that were just massive. That wood would be worth $1,000,000 or more today. I was warned off hanging out there as it was Triad operated.

Butch:

FYI- Kokolus's work continues through these folks using Mike's patterns. They were operating part-time when I inquired half a dozen years ago after Mike passed.
http://www.gunstockduplicating.com/about.html

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:

quote:

Originally posted by max(hm2):
the two oddest wood gunstocks I ever made were from oak and American chestnut and they both were for the same client. he found the wood in beams from old barns in upstate PA. I used to live about an hour from Mike Kokalous (sp) and he turned the blanks from my pattern. I don't remember the exact amount but it wasn't that much higher than his standard.

I think Mike left the business a few years ago. He did one for me and I was pleased.