Every once in a while I run across a stock that wont cut clean. The checkering fuzzes up and the job then becomes a serious chore. I just keep going over the diamonds till the fuzz is gone. Sometimes super glue on the panel and then recut will work.

The question is, what causes it? I asked a well seasoned stockmaker one time and his comment was "the wood". I have never been very satisfied with that answer. I would be nice when looking at a blank to be able to recognize a piece thats going to fuzz up. Then you could run screaming the other direction

Any thoughts?

A person that builds high end custom furniture would have the knowledge to answer that question. I think its just that that particular piece of wood is softer than normal and may need to be at a much lower moisture content to cut nice. I am not an expert on woodworking so I could be wrong. Google up some of the high end furniture makers. The guy that is CEO of Grizzly woodworking tools company is such a guy...a real master at the woodworking trade. You should see his custom guitars...it would easily rival even the best stockmakers.

I wouldn't call myself a "hi-end" woodworker but I do make roll top desks and such other pieces of furniture.

At times when I use the router (and other tools) I have the same trouble.....but I've learned that if I rout the opposite direction this problem disappears....that the wood grain is coming somewhat out of the wood toward me and if I go the other direction the problem eases as I'm cutting the other direction.

Walnut isn't at all the hardwood we often think it is....try Hard Maple or ash.... The softer woods seem to be worse in this regard where the truly hardwoods splinter and split when cut the wrong direction.

Try justcutting the other direction and see how it works.
I've encountered this with several hardwoods while building my house.
Here letter "A" is a raised panel Maple half wall and "C" is a tongue and groove ash half wall and "B" is a tongue and groove ash ceiling.

Not in the photo is walnut trim on the windows and other trim in the house. The walnut is more susceptable to direction of grain but the other woods react more severely to being machined the wrong way.

All these woods are totally machined from home sawn lumber here in the shop.

Got a picture?

go to the donut shop - i think our local fuzz play checkers there

Bill,
I suspect that Vapodog forgot the photo. But I know what he means and agree.

Fiddle back wood will do the same thing. Basically the grain of the wood is changing directions and what appears to very dark is end grain that has been cut off to produce the flat plane of the stock. The grains going at 90 degrees to the plane of the stock do not have the structural integrity (good word huh???) as the flat portions and when you cut them with your little electric wheel, they friz up (okay not so technical this time). How about this, the longitudinal fibers have lost their cohesive bond to the adjacent fibers and are curling their hands up in the air and giving up. Actually you are seeing little wood surrender flags. It probably has something to do with the French.

quote:

Originally posted by Customstox:
... It probably has something to do with the French.

That's why I perfer English or Turkish.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by ElCaballero:
Got a picture?

Strange.....my screen shows a photo clearly!

no picture in mine

Chic,

Ah yes, cohesive bond...but of course (monty python accent). I believe, the actual reason is Im trying to get something done and its little wood gremlins giving me the middle finger. But thats just my twisted view.



Rem721,

The only stocks I have ever had fuzz on me have been English, Turkish, and French. But to be fair, I run away screaming from Claro anymore and give any Black walnut a hard look with a jaundiced eye before working on it.

Bill
Isnt this why you love wood?????? I will stick to my metal work.

does this help?

quote:

go to the donut shop - i think our local fuzz play checkers there

I resemble that remark.

I usually try running a hand checkering tool on he blank before I start to work. Only moderately successful in finding out if it will or will not "fuzz". Super glue sometimes works OK, sometimes shellac and sometimes putting a coat of stock finish, let it dry, make another pass, repeat. Or....fire up a propane torch and make quick passes across the checkering...I've been tempted a couple times to just set the damn thing on fire and start all over.

quote:

Originally posted by h2oboy:
Bill
Isnt this why you love wood?????? I will stick to my metal work.

Got any photos of your metal work to show us?

hehehe....I know how you feel Duane!

22WRF
I normally dont post many pictures of my metal work, but in this case I will post one. If I can remember how!!!
Recognize the rifle Bill??

Looks nice h2oboy. Customer rifle or personal?

Bill
Personal!! I will not post pictures of customers rifles.Do you should recognize it?

Bill
Maybe this will help.

Bill, I remembered something after our phone conversation the other day--some of the wood I have had fuzz on me has a certain kind of grain, it has a name that I can't think of, but it looks like woven cloth, sometimes in patches or bands, these tend to have the fuzz. Kathy F.

h2oboy,


Now that I recognize.



Kathy,

Im going to post some pics here in the next day or so of the subject stock I have been talking about. I think you could be on to something about the bands of fuzz.

I did up a myrtle wood stock last winter that had very complex grain structure. The wood checkered quite cleanly but the power cutter was continually coated with a very fluffy, fibrous (fuzzy if you like) cutting residue. I think Chic may be right on in referring to grain direction as this blank literally had minute portions of the grain running at right angles to the surface throughout it's length. Pretty but pesky to work.

quote:

Originally posted by h2oboy:
Bill
Maybe this will help.

They just don't get much better than that!
Beautiful.
Boy, there are some heavy duty gunmakers and stockmakers on this thread!!!!

Hell, Im just the waterboy. The only reason I posted the picture is because Bill had a hand in the woodwork. He is a talented carpenter

H2o

How's that rifle shoot? After all it was built by a guy who used a crayon and a stick to measure it out.

I dont know if you are referring to the stock design or the metalwork but I'll say this.

The stock was built to spec and if you are attempting to start a fight you will not be successful.

Bill,

If they've allowed Water boy to move beyond the string and chalk I'd be surprised. He did use to ride the "little" bus to gun smithing school after all.

Have they let him start working without the helmet and the drool cup yet?

OMG - okay.....you two have at it. LMFAO

Bill
Sure-stroke's comments are directed at me and not you! Your work is excellent.

Surestroke
The rifle shoots better than yours!! Maybe you should have asked your last gunsmith if he had a crayon in his tool box..... might have saved you a lot of money and whining

Ahh now that hurts...Yours might shoot better but mine is bigger than yours.

Back to the orginal topic.....

Anybody got a match???

The entire forend fuzzed. Im still working on getting rid of it. Superglue and recut....etc, etc, and Im rapidly loosing interest in the entire project.




The grips fuzzed up at the top of panel near the nose. Basically the entire top point on each side was fuzz. It cleaned up easier than the forend.

Bill that is a piece of English?

Yep.

Bill,

I have run into fuzz on certain checkering jobs, as well. It seems exascerbated by odd runout of the grain in some places and by soft wood, in particular with Black walnut although it sure can happen with English. When it does happen I have had the best luck by ignoring it until the last pass or two. Then I brush on a very thin epoxy, the very thin marine type of stuff, let harden a couple days, and then finish the last pass or two. Fuzz is usually not an issue at that point.

I believe that using a very, very sharp checkering cutter can preclude most fuzzing. I use the W.E. Brownell cutters and I sharpen them often with a fine diamond hone. This seems to lessen the amount of fuzz I encounter. I also believe that the file type cutters, like the Dembarts, tend to not cut as cleanly as sharpened Gun-line and W.E. Brownell types thereby causing some fuzzing. The Dembarts are also impossible to sharpen in my experience.

The quality of the W.E. Brownell cutters is not what it once was, but they can be trued and sharpened rather easily and I still prefer them over all of the others.

Best to you.

Nice checkering Bill. Maybe the fuzz is just lint. I know a good way you can get rid of it.

mebbe a little pro custom gun oil, allowed to dry up and soak in?

heck, i don't know, but I would try
jeffe