As a matter of strange horse trading I have a piece of ancient kauri wood from a peat bog in New Zealand on its way to me. The board is quarter sawn with flame grain similar to sapele or African mahogany. The deminsions are 4"X8"X52" and it was intended as a show piece for a fireplace mantel. Normally this stuff goes for about $60 a board foot for this size and grain quality.

Do any of you know if this wood is suitable for gunstocks? I am looking for a use for this wood, other than adorning my mantel.

wikipedia says that the "ancient" kauri wood (they use that term) can be 50,000 years old.. and still suitable for woking, if it doesn't deteriorate rapidly...

BUT
they say it's found in salt marshes.. I am certain whomever you got it from know where it came from, so I would assume peat, but...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agathis_australis

It came from land near Rehia, North Island, New Zealand. The emense log was found under some bottom land being used for agriculture when a stock pond was being constructed. There is a group over there that specializes in this type of wood and milling. They got it and milled it into lumber.

Whats the density?

I was told between mahogany and cherry

333_OKH,
I have seen and handled this wood. However, it was turned into a bowl. It seemed usable for a gunstock, but i would not chance a heavy recoiling rifle since i know of nobody that has built it into such. The wood can be stunning beyond words. It sometimes seems to have a light on inside it. Simply stunning.

I could see a small ring mauser in a 257 roberts real easy with a stock like that.

Have fun with it, but please make sure you send it to a stock maker whos abilities are worthy of such a rare stick of wood.

Bill,
the wikipedia link has the properties..
Moisture content of dried wood: 12%
Density of wood: 560 kg/m³
Tensile strength: 88 pascals
Modulus of elasticity: 9.1 pascals
After felled kauri wood dries to a 12% moisture content, the tangential contraction is 4.1% and the radial contraction is 2.3%

jeffeosso-

Problem here is that the carbon dating of my wood is approximately 30-35,000 years old. Meaning it has been dead for that long in log form under a peat bog. No rot and very tight grained. This is unique compared to current harvest trees, but I will have to test it some in our lab later to see how much different.

Can you post pictures when you get it. Sounds like a very unique and beautiful stick.

I don’t think NZ kauri would be an ideal gunstock wood – it’s a bit too soft.

A booklet I have which was produced in 1961 by the NZ Forest Service lists the most significant ‘mechanical’ properties of kauri and various other commercial timbers used in NZ. It shows kauri as being similar in many respects to US-grown Douglas fir, when both are dried to 12% moisture content:

Almost identical in density (about 35lbs per cubic foot) and in modulus of elasticity.
The listed modulus of elasticity is significantly higher than that shown in ‘wikipedia’.
(also, the modulus of elasticity of Canadian-grown Douglas fir is shown as being almost 50% higher than either the US or NZ-grown timber)

Approx. 10% superior to Douglas fir in side hardness, modulus of rupture, and maximum shearing stress.

Approx 30% inferior to Douglas fir in maximum crushing stress parallel to grain.

Although the booklet does not specifically say so, these figures would undoubtedly be for timber taken from standing trees – nobody was too interested in digging it out of swamps back in those days. According to a book on NZ timbers I had out of a local library a while back, the strength properties of ‘swamp kauri’ (as the stuff dug out of peat swamps is generally known as) are considerably lower. This doesn’t matter too much when making things such as bowls, trays, serving boards, trinkets, etc. A lot of kauri furniture tends to be made in the ‘colonial style’, so making parts a bit on the thick side to compensate for lower strength does not look out of keeping. However, it would not be so appropriate for a gunstock.

I agree with ‘AFreeman’ that it would be possible to make a nice LOOKING rifle stock out of a good piece of kauri. Timber taken from the main trunk of a kauri tree is usually fairly straight-grained, without a lot of figure, but even so, the warm, honey-like colour and the silky texture of the timber appeals to a lot of people. However, I suspect that it would only be able to hold fairly coarse checkering, and it would be easily dented. As with most timbers, stuff cut from the stump or the crown of a kauri tree can have a pretty wild grain, but it can be somewhat difficult to work with, and stability could be questionable.

Dry, straight-grained kauri is great to work with – it cuts very cleanly with either hand or power tools. The problem these days is with supply. Building demolition yards are the best source – some old commercial buildings had huge kauri beams supporting their floors and roofs. The early European settlers in this country absolutely plundered the kauri forests, and wasted it in ways that are enough to make a strong man weep. Luckily, the government finally woke up and put a stop to this before every last tree was felled. Nowdays, felling a large, healthy kauri tree, on either private or public land, is considered almost a capital offence. (though we abolished hanging some decades ago) Some re-planting has been undertaken, so in a thousand years time, the timber might be a bit more plentiful than it is now…

333_OKH,

This thread is worthless without pictures!!!

I NEED to see what 30.000 year old wook looks like!

If this wood is relative to Douglas Fir then it is too soft to use as a gunstock wood.

Three choices if that is the case.

1. Have it stabilized. Then it is too heavy and you have to core it out as much as possible.

2. Sell it to bowl turners, they love the stuff. Take the money and buy another stock blank.

3. Keep it for a project down the road that invloves furniture.

It is beautiful though.

When I get the wood I will post pictures. I need to see how long it will take?

If it is too soft, it might find itself in a few other projects. I find it interesting that a lot of this ancient wood is 50,000 plus years and much older than my piece.

Wood like this becomes "mineralized" (rather than fossilized), which changes it's characteristics considerably.

Both density and hardness change, but you can't predict to what degree.

Once the wood is cured, you can measure all those properties, and decide how to use it.

Garrett

The following publication may be of interest to anybody wanting to assess the suitability of various timbers for gunstocks - or whatever.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/ch04.pdf

Some of the other chapters are worth looking at, too.

quote:

Originally posted by AFreeman:
If this wood is relative to Douglas Fir then it is too soft to use as a gunstock wood.

Three choices if that is the case.

1. Have it stabilized. Then it is too heavy and you have to core it out as much as possible.

2. Sell it to bowl turners, they love the stuff. Take the money and buy another stock blank.

3. Keep it for a project down the road that invloves furniture.

It is beautiful though.

Adam,

What do you mean by "have it stabilized?"

quote:

Originally posted by bulldog563:
What do you mean by "have it stabilized?"

There's a wood product called "wood stablizer".. which is essentially a deeply prenetrating, "filling" expoy.

jeffe

Stabilized wood is often used for knife scales (handles). I don't know much about the stabilizing process but assume it involves pressure.