I was out the back of our base the other day "patroling" and I came across a new fire break that has been put in. A lot of nice trees have been pushed over and I was thinking of cutting a piece out of one for a stock for an old tower muzzel loader I have. I have read on this site, were you have to paint or wax the ends of the blank and weigh it regually until it stabilize's. Is there anything else I should know? Is it best to make the blank from the heart wood?

Bakes

Hi Bakes
Do you know what species the trees are?
They may not be worth bothering with not, many Australian trees are good for gunstocks.
Picking the right tree is most of the battle.
Regards
Deafdog

Bakes,
yes, paint or wax the ends, then put it where it's not too dry so that it will not split. Even painted or waxed on the ends, is not enough if the drying is too fast.

Yes, you want heartwood, but not the center cut - no pith in the middle, so stay to one side of center.

Brent

Deafdog
Don't know,its a hardwood of some kind, but if it turns out unsuitable I'll use it for something else. Might mount pig tusk's on it or something.

Thanks Brent

Bakes

I dont know what kind of room you have on base, but you could make a small kiln for drying the wood easy enough off base. Here is a link that may help you to decide what and how to cut those trees down to size.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/fea.asp?id=1043

There are plenty of d.i.y. kilns listed on the web. I would suggest that a homemade kiln is the way to go, otherwise you may just have a piece of primed firewood later.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the link Sierra Dave.

Bakes

You need to get a book on the subject as it is more complicated than you persieve, much more so than is being indicated...

Knowing just how and where to cut the blank is a science in itself...

The tree should be left in a pond for 100 percent saturation before drying and do not kiln dry the wood, air dry it and it takes a heck of a long time to do it right...If it is not Australian walnut then don't bother...You have some of the worlds best walnut in Oz so take advantage of that, look around as you can buy that walnut at a very decent price. If you buy it green then it is really cheap and all you have to do is hang it and wait about 3 to 5 years and 15 is better.

Thanks for the advice Ray, the more I look into it the more it sounds like a pain in the ass to do! I think I'll keep my eye out for a nice peice of walnut.

Bakes