Curly maple grades

[Amikee]

Hello

Can anyone post a photo of 80-100% and 100% curly maple stocks? I'm trying to decide between those two and there is about $110.00 difference. Is it worth to get the more expensive one? I would assume they would be looking pretty close but I'm be wrong. Anybody?

 

[jdkerstetter]

Wood grading is very subjective and that's why most builders pick their wood in person or through a trusted source, often with pictures being sent.

No two peices of wood are the same. Seeing pictures of others guns will help very little in knowing what yours will turn out like unless you select the wood in person and compare it to the pictures.

Then there's the finishing component??? Different blanks from different trees will react differently and a builder who doesn't know what he's doing can actually obsure or muddy the figure rather than excentuate it.

Percent of curl is only part of the equation. 100% curl should have even curl from one end to the other. The question is, how is is space? Wide curl with wide gaps between 'em or tightly curled with many lines per inch of board? Makes a big difference in appearence and in price.

So does how it's cut. Flat/slab or quarter sawn? Flat sawn will normally have more curly on the top and bottom, quarter sawn on the sides, depending on how it's layed out.

Of course, none of this matters if the builder doesn't do his job. Pretty wood doesn't make the gun, architecture does. There plenty of ugly guns out there with "nice wood". It's more important to have a well built, attractive gun than one with a highly figured stock.

Like that friend of mine with the ugly girlfriend with the figure of a 14 year old boy.....she tans well and has a really nice complexion. :idunno:

I know, more questions than answers again. :grin: Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Amikee]

That's a great information. I didn't even suspect that there is that many variables.

 

[gunmaker43]

Check out gunstocks.com Located in Las Vega, NV. Cecil advertises 30,000 blanks in stock & his prices are really competitive. A good sample is shown in gallery sec. Tom

 

[Amikee]

Thank you very much for the reference. I'll check it out.

 

[jdkerstetter]

On the East coast on of the most reputable gun stock wood suppliers is Dunlop wood crafts. They really know their stuff. And while on their site check out their "component sets":
http://www.dunlap-woodcrafts.com/G...ctr=dunlop woodcraft&__utmv=-&__utmk=60697198

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Bruce Bogart]

In MY order of importance:
1 hardness of wood
2 grain flow thru the wrist
3 curl/figure

Just my $.02

 

[Birddog6]

There is no set grading that I know of... The vender sets his own grading system & what HE thinks is is. And even that will change from what he gets out of the kiln at dif time. If all the curl is getting less, the #5 grades are now #6 & the #6 is now a #7, etc., because that is the best they have. I have bought some #5 that was every bit as good as a #7 two years later.

And one vender a #3 may be a #5 when compared to wood at another vender. To me you cannot compare grades when they are graded on a dif system. The only way I know to do that is comparing the TOP Grade to another top grade, or a plain one to a plain one. And even then we get into a Hardness factor......

Two different times I have bought a Grade #7 and when I got down into the blank where the stock finished out, it turned out to be a grade 3 or 4, & just lost all the curl. But you have to consider out of well over 100 blanks I have bought, this has only happened 2 times. But wood is wood, ya can't see Inside it, and it is what it is. Sometimes it just happens.

I like to hand pick all my stocks or blanks & pretty much do that. Once in a while I will buy one from photos if I have some good photos & feel comfortable with the vender. The reason I do that are a couple guys cutting & selling stocks have no idea what they are doing & don't care, as long as it sells. Most all the stocks have grain runout at the wrist. I want ALL of my blanks curved & good grain thru the wrist.

I just looked at some stocks a new guy is cutting the other day & it has some really nice curl in it & was thinking of buying 5 maples & 2 curly ash. But best I can tell, all will have grain runout at the wrist. Curl means absolutely Nothing if the stock is broken in two......

Now if I build rifles from those blanks, who do you think is going to get the blame if one breaks at the wrist ? The guy that bumped that stock too hard, or the guy that built the rifle on a weak blank ?

Can't remember the last time I bought a precarved stock sight-unseen but it has been many moons. I do remember the last 2 I bought that way I returned, as they were not the quality I wanted for the $ spent.

In closing.... Buy the best wood ya can afford. Grain structure & hardness of the wood comes first, curl comes last........

Keith Lisle

 

[Vaino]

The last 3 blanks came from Dunlaps, sight unseen. Talked w/ Wayne Dunlap and he actually talked me out of all #7s and said I would be pleased w/ a #4, #5 and a #7. He was correct and am presently working the #4 and it's a nice piece of wood.

Previously bought 5 quarter sawn sugar blanks from Freddie Harrison....top grade and strong curl from one end to the other....but, $250 to $400 is too expensive. The lower price was on a blank bought in 1985.

Like was said....curl is only one factor in choosing wood and I think very curly wood is more suitable on a plain MLer....otherise it can be a distraction....just my opinion.....Fred

 

[Billnpatti]

J.D. explained it pretty darned well. In selecting a grade, you should decide ahead of time just how much carving and inlays you will be putting on your finished rifle. I am of the opinion that the more embellishment you put on your rifle, the plainer the wood ought to be. In the first place, if you have a lot of carving and inlays, you won't notice the grain so much so why pay for it. Besides, often the more figured the wood, the greater difficulty you can have when carving and inlaying it. On the other hand, if you plan to have a minimal of carving and inlays, the grain will be more noticeable and add more to the beauty of the finished rifle. Select your wood according to how you will be finishing your rifle.

 

[Pete G]

If the style rifle you are building is appropriate for fancy wood, get the best grade you can afford. It really adds a lot to the finished result.

I've got a couple of rather plain, late percussion rifles that used what would today be considered top grade fancy wood. If not for the wood they wouldn't be anything special.

 

[stinkyfeet]

Grade 1: Wheres the curl or Is this pine
Grade 2: I think I see some curl
Grade 3: Well that's cute
Grade 4: Its got random stripes all over
Grade 5: Nice curl and evenly distributed
Grade 6: That's Nice
Grade 7: OMG that's amazing

 

[Vaino]

Slab sawn blanks usually have much more curl and stronger curl on top and bottom and often the side curl disappoints after stain and finish are applied. Quarter sawn blanks are just the opposite....very strong curl on the sides, but the prices are quite high.

Years ago I bought 5 quarter sawn blanks and at that time the prices were moderate but then stopped using them because the prices "skyrocketed" and also I became less enamoured w/ curl.....Fred

 

[kaintuck]

"Like that friend of mine with the ugly girlfriend with the figure of a 14 year old boy.....she tans well and has a really nice complexion."

:rotf:

but then again...ain't nobody here won a beauty contest!!!! :rotf:

so when it's done....it looks good, feels better, and shoots perfect.... :grin:

i think it takes a hundred + years for wood to look good on a rifle.....so i guess I won't really see my rifles in their 'best' age!

 

[jdkerstetter]

"Like that friend of mine with the ugly girlfriend with the figure of a 14 year old boy.....she tans well and has a really nice complexion."

A.K.A......"nice wood!".......Not a high complement if that's the only redeaming feature of a gun. :wink: Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Birddog6]

Yes. :applause: had a guy at the gun show look at one of my rifles one time & say "Dang... How did you do that !"

Course I am looking at the rifle, thinking he Really Likes my Work ! and I am young & all excited & I look at him, then back at rifle, then at him, then at the rifle, then back at him..... trying to pinpoint what he is getting excited about..... :idunno:

I finally said "What part do you like so well ?"

He says "Howd'ja burn all them stripes in there so purdy"...... :shocked2: :redface: I started to explain it was the nature of the wood & etc., & was bluntly told I was full of SH$$ and demanded to know how I burnt it in there..... So I told him my 5 yr old son did it with his wood burning kit, he said he did a hell of a good job & went on....... :rotf: :rotf:

Keith Lisle

 

[jdkerstetter]

Hey Keith, That's funny. Was this gunshow in Virginia? If so, I think I met that guy. I've related this tale here before, but it holds up.

I was in Jumbo Sports, a now defunct big box style store. Friend and I were standing in what passed as the Muzzleloading aisle.

Guy standing there hears us talking and says, "You fellas know sumtin' 'bout muzzleloaders?”

"A little." was our response. Holding up a blister packed card full of some modern plastic and jacketed wonder pills, he says "These any good?"

My reply was, "Do you have a 54?", to which he replies "50, 54 what's the dif'rence?"

My youthful reply was something like....."Them will do!"

In my mind’s eye I can still see him standing in the woods, or perhaps a back porch somewhere, trying to seat those .54 with a hammer.

Shame on me! :grin: Enjoy, J.D.