I've heard it's hard to checker and I've heard stock builders talk about not liking to work with it, but after it's finished are there any downsides to it compared to English, Turkish, Bastogne etc.?

While not my first choice like you said hard to checker hard to copy on a duplicator (for me anyway). Lighter in weight so less dense. I've heard it likes to move more but have no first hand experience.

All that on a normal rifle I would think it would make a great looking stock with the right grain. HEAVY kickers I would go denser.

I have several Claro stocks and love them. Having said that, they are on light recoiling guns as I wanted the reduced weight of Claro.

I see no downsides at all with Claro, it's just a matter of weight and if you want it or not.

Even a heavier recoiling rifle will be fine with Claro.....I'd simply use quite a bit more glass bedding compound to carry the recoil over a larger area of the wood.

From what my riflemaker tells me, Claro is less dense so it is very hard to checker well, and it is softer than the other walnuts, so more prone to denting.

I personally have none, so I cannot speak from experience, but I value Robert's opinion very highly, fwiw...

I did one wayyy back and it had larger pores than a teenagers skin, Once I got them filled looked great.

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
I've heard it's hard to checker and I've heard stock builders talk about not liking to work with it, but after it's finished are there any downsides to it compared to English, Turkish, Bastogne etc.?

You bring up an issue for which I ask clarification.

What are differences between Claro walnut and Bastogne walnut?

Or alternately, What are Claro and Bastogne walnut?

I think it has to do with the amount of moisture in the area it is grown. I.E. more moisture equals faster growth softer wood larger pores...

I stocked a Rolling Block with a piece of Claro that had very large growth rings-obviously grew in a wet area-it was soft a little brittle, and I didn't like the looks of the very wide growth rings.

I also stocked a 1909 Argentine with a piece of Claro that I got from Pachmayr in the mid-70's, that had very tight growth rings and worked nicely. But I think that's the exception and you're not likely to find that kind of blank today.

I'm a wood snob. After I did my first stock in English, I never looked back.

Clarence

Claro is hard to work when making a stock without a duplicator. Like wood with the fiddle back and curls it will split out very easy. Checkering takes a little longer as you have hard spots and soft spots between the figure.



My duplicator allows for control of the carriage and is operated with one hand. This allow the cutting of figured wood where others units doesn't have the control of the carriage. I made my machine because of trying to cut crotch grain in black walnut about 30 yrs ago.

I like Claro to use with the more modern styles of stocks. It is a good wood to do basket weave carving instead of checkering. The grain is sealed much more on the the carving than checkering. It all depends on what the customer asks you to make.

quote:

What are differences between Claro walnut and Bastogne walnut

Claro is normally and English graft on a Black Walnut root. Bastogne is a hybrid (cross breed) between the two. Bastogne us usually much denser and my wood of choice.

Got one I'm doing now for my brother as a surprise to him...has a knock your socks off figure and didnt have to pay English or Turkish prices...it'll be in ot/six.(you get more bang for your buck with Claro). BUT...I'd glass bed the stock, full length and use rotten stone and sand the first few finishes in to fill the pores and it will finish nicely. My first stock in smithing school was claro, had it been english I might have a different intake, you have to take your time with it. I like the other walnuts better but Claro can work to if you see a piece that...knocks your socks off.

quote:

Originally posted by thirdbite:
Actually claro walnut is juglans hindsii and is a black walnut native to northern California and possibly Oregon. It is often used as rootstock for English walnut grafts, but the resultant wood is juglans regia or California English walnut.

How do you differentiate between hindsii, regia, and californica in lumber form?

quote:

Actually claro walnut is juglans hindsii and is a black walnut native to northern California and possibly Oregon. It is often used as rootstock for English walnut grafts, but the resultant wood is juglans regia or California English walnut.

Well I think I just need more

Juglans hindsii, commonly called the Northern California walnut and Hinds' black walnut, is a species of walnut tree endemic to Northern California. [1] [2]



Distribution[edit]

The historical range of Juglans hindsii is from the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley to the Inner Northern California Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay Area, in Northern California.[1]

The tree grows in riparian woodlands, either in mono-species stands, or mixed with California oak species (Quercus spp.) and Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) trees.
Conservation
Juglans hindsii has only one confirmed native stand remaining. It is listed as Seriously Endangered on the California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Inventory. [3] The IUCN classification is a Vulnerable species. It is threatened by hybridization with orchard trees, urbanization, and habitat conversion to agriculture.

Description[edit]

Juglans hindsi is a large tree, growing 30–60 feet (9.1–18.3 m) tall. It has a single erect trunk, commonly without branches for 10–40 feet (3.0–12.2 m), and a crown which can be wider than the tree is tall. Trunks commonly reach 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m) in diameter near the base of the tree.[4]

The leaf is approximately 1 foot (0.30 m) long, with 13-21 two to five per leaflet, with dentate margins. Unlike the Southern California walnut, the vein angles bear tufts of hair.

The nut has a smooth, brown, thick shell, that contains a small edible nutmeat.[5]

Uses[edit]

Cultivation[edit]

Juglans hindsi has been commercially important as a rootstock for orchard stock of Juglans regia (English walnut) trees all over the world. It is also used as a parent to the fast-growing Luther Burbank hybrid, commonly called "Paradox" (Juglans hindsii x Juglans regia). "Paradox" rootstock is a hybrid, produced from a Northern California black walnut tree pollinated by an English walnut. [6]
Ornamental tree
The Northern California walnut is cultivated by specialty California native plant nurseries. It is used as an ornamental tree in traditional and wildlife gardens, and for habitat gardens, natural landscaping projects, and climate compatible drought tolerant gardens. The tree is also planted in habitat restoration projects.

Lumber[edit]

The wood of Juglans hindsi is commonly called Claro walnut by the lumber industry and woodworkers.[7] It is highly figured with a rich brown color and striking grain patterns, especially in the crotch areas, where large limbs meet the trunk.[8] It is used in small quantities to make fine furniture and gun stocks, and sold as slabs to make large natural-top tables because of its durability, good working properties, and swirling iridescent figure.

Some confusion exists about the nature of Claro walnut because Juglans hindsii is commonly used as the rootstock of orchard trees. The section below the original graft is Claro walnut wood, while the section above is the lighter-colored English walnut. Some woodworkers have even taken advantage of this by making the change in color of the wood a feature of their work.[9]

Taxonomy[edit]

The current classification of the plant is as a distinct species.[1] Some botanists and the 1993 edition of "The Jepson Manual" had classified it as Juglans californica subsp. hindsii, a subspecies of Juglans californica (Southern California black walnut).


The Story of Walnut

European Walnut
Walnuts are one of oldest foods and have been gathered and eaten by humans as far back as 8000 BCE. The nut became most famous in ancient Persia and the tree is often referred to as Persian Walnut. The Ancient Greeks are credited as the first to cultivate the walnut trees in Europe. Centuries later it gained the name European Walnut.

Claro Walnut
In the 1700’s Franciscan Monks brought the European Walnut to California. The tree struggled with growing in it’s new region. To better grow the Walnuts, the farmers began grafting the European Walnut onto the native Claro Walnut which had adapted to the California soil. The word "claro" in Spanish means bright, which describes the brilliant coloration of the wood, favored by furniture makers for its vibrant figure and color.

Bastogne Walnut
An interesting thing started to occur in the California walnut orchards. About one out of every hundred walnut rootlings looked entirely different from the rest. These “ugly ducklings” were a result of cross pollination between the English and the Claro trees. Referred to as “Paradox Trees” or Bastogne Walnut, they grew much larger and denser than its two parent trees, with the resulting wood coloration a swirl of the other two walnuts combined. The Bastogne Walnut wood had become the most prized and rarest of all Walnut woods. Unfortunately Paradox Trees are sterile and can never reproduce. We can only wait for one out every hundred to grow on it own.



Picture of grafted treeshttp://www.kagenschaefer.com/p...0Trilogy/Walnuts.jpg

I've bought a few blanks from Wally at the Claro Walnut Gunstock Co. and they've been much tighter grained than Claro that I've got and seen fron other suppliers. Wally's wanting to retire, I should probably buy a couple more blanks before he does!

Boy oh boy, am I pleased to be informed that Bastogne walnut is a particularly dense, prized wood. I have two built-to-order English-style .72-caliber muzzleloaders being built. I managed to find two Serengeti/Kilimanjaro Stealth® laminated stock blanks, one maple, the other Bastogne walnut. I knew the maple was primo wood - hard and dense as all get-out. But I knew nothing about Bastogne walnut. I had hoped it would be a denser wood than American walnut, for stress from firing will be "substantial."

Many thanks for informing me.

Denser and heavier. I have Bastogne walnut stocks on all of my DG rifles.

Claro, black, even Bastogne, will have less resale value in a top dollar gun than European walnut, Turkish, Russian, French for example..

Claro in most cases is porus and referred to by many as California cork wood, as it feathers when checkering. I have seen on rare occasions some awesome Claro that was hard as woodpecker lips and a beautiful blood red..

I don't use it much..Mostly I lean to Russian or Turkish, some Australian wood is excellent. Today French is non existant other than its from France, but they fleeced the good stuff out for furniture in vaneer, many years ago..I also see a lot of advertised French that's not the real stuff.