Does wood gain weight in the summer?

I'm getting toward the end of a LR build, and wondering if it's best to finish it in the summer or in the winter. Of course there is more moisture in the air in the summer time than there is in the winter, and I want to keep the gun as light as possible So I'm wondering if it would be best to wait until the winter to put the finish on, or to put the stock in to my solar kiln before finishing. We all know that wood moves (width wise) with variations in humidity, (oak is the worst) and I'm wondering if it might be best to leave a little bit of a gap in the tang sides so that it doesn't split once winter comes (if finished in the summer or during high humidity). I've already noticed a razor blade's worth of gap in the barrel channel that wasn't there in January.

Just wondering what others do regarding this.

:shake: once done....never put it in the heat somewhere w/o the barrel.....ever see the stripes on a candy cane??? :haha:
the house is 9-12% moisture...so she will grav toward that is what I have always been told....
i really don't think after finishing there is a season that's good or bad.
now CUTTING a tree....I only cut around Christmas time....cause my Amish brethren tell me that's proper~then paint the ends....right fast!
marc

No, it does not gain any noticeable weight from moisture. However, any properly cut gun stock will move, vertically, up and down, often leaving the breech tang standing proud. It will not/should not swell sideways or length ways. I try to finish my builds in late winter. The wood is at it's smallest point at that time. In the summer the wood may expand a bit leaving the tang a bit low if not properly inlet. The same goes for the butt plate heel. I can deal with the heel problem, but a high tang in the winter burns me!!! PS. the older the wood, the less this seems to be a problem as the wood finally cures out.

Wood will "shrink or swell" more noticeably than change weight due to humidity changes. Finishes just slow down the movement, they don't completely stop it. ( Stabilizing the wood will prevent any changes but it is costly and will increase the weight. Stabilizing wood was first used for military sniper rifle stocks. ) :idunno:

Here in Minn we have very dry winters and very humid summers.
As Ohio points out finishes only slow down the seasonal change caused by this available moisture. I have found no sealer and/or finish that completely stops it and it's pretty common to see in antique guns and furniture that it's the drying that causes the most damage or change.

That said, it's the winter drying I'm more concerned with and what get's most of my attention. Every year sometime during mid winter all of my guns CF and ML get treated/wiped down with an oil type furniture preservative.
I gotta feed that wood.

I have little concern what season it is when I finish a gun or other wood project, but I also know that all fine pieces made of wood need continued lifetime care, :idunno:

It ain't rocket science and it ain't hard to do.
Just sayin,

All wood swells sideways as humidity increases. Ask any accomplished woodworker who they build doors. Doors are built with 'floating' panels and expansion spacers to allow for this factor. Guns being much smaller may not always show this effect to the naked eye. But, I guarantee you positively that if ye travel from a dry climate to a humid one or the other way and don't zero yer rifle on arrival Bambi will get away.

I poked around some since I started the original post. Generally, a rule of thumb is 1/4" for every 12" across the grain, and half that through the grain. That swelling has to come from somewhere, and since wood is hygroscopic that has to be the answer, and the reason for the swelling.

I also weighed my guns now as compared to last I did so in February. The full stocked LR's gained .3 pounds, and the half stock guns gained .2 pounds

I also weighed my guns now as compared to last I did so in February. The full stocked LR's gained .3 pounds, and the half stock guns gained .2 pounds

Click to expand...

Interesting.

Because my building sometimes transgresses through all 4 seasons, I've experienced wood movement on some stocks and none on others.....don't know the reason.

My main concern is w/ the lower buttplate screw...have had to relocate this screw on 3 LRs due to shrinkage and no longer file the lower butt molding shape into the buttplate because of a mismatch caused by wood shrinkage/expansion

Also have had the "unrelieved" bbl pins deflect because of either wood expansion or shrinkage....a vivid illustration as to why the holes in the bbl lugs should be elongated.

The more prolific, faster northern builders probably don't experience the winter/summer wood changes and some builders are fortunate to live in areas w/ only slight variations in seasonal humidity. I'm not in either category, so will just have to contend w/ the complications of varying humidity.

As was said....unless the stock is completely encased in one of the "plastic" finishes, some changes in the finished wood are inevitable.

.3 of a lb is nearly 5 oz.....seems like a whole lot of moisture absorption. Weighing this much water in a plastic cup would illustrate how much it really is. Not doubting your findings....just seems like an inordinate amount.....Fred

I was quite surprised at the number too Fred. I'll keep weighing them as the years go on. But, going from totally green wood to oven dry, a piece of Aspen wood can go from weighing 50 pounds to 20. Aspen weighs about 38 pounds per cubic foot at an 8-10% moisture reading. Average seasonal change is 8-10% total moisture. The wood web calculator http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl shows about a 3.5% weight gain for a 10% moisture swing, which is less than what my measurements show. In a 2 pound stock (pretty normal LR stock weight) that's about 1.2 oz.

I'm guessing your bigger issues regarding wood movement and screw location came on stocks that were flat sawn rather than quarter sawn. Wood movement is roughly twice as much that way. Maybe if you flared the top of your screw hole (north-south based upon the season you drill it and which direction you expect the wood to move, and make the pilot hole a little off center relative to the metal) to allow the screw to bend and move a little that might help relieve some of the stress. The closer the screw hole is to the top of the butt will minimize the amount of wood that will be expanding and contracting. Longituninal (lengthwise) movement is near zero. Rule of thumb for oak and maple movement is about 1/4" per 12" tangentially, and 1/8" per 12" radially. If you have rift-sawn wood you can split the difference. :grin:

Have used both quarter sawn and slab sawn blanks and never noticed which blank produced the shrinkage that culminated in relocating the bottom buttplate screw.....probably the slab sawn seeing that's what I use the most of.....but most of slab sawn blanks didn't have to have that screw relocated.

I can't imagine after the sealers and finish coats, that any of my stocks would absorb that much water....it's not evidenced at all. What is the finish on your stocks that allows that much moisture to be absorbed? BLO?.....Fred

I start with aqua fortis, then 2 thin coats of shellac, then 2-3 thinned coats of an alkyd varnish carried in tung oil.

I'm with you on the measurement thing. I suspect error in the instrumentation as much as anything else, as, it only registers to 0.1 pounds, and is a relatively inexpensive digital scale used primarily for weighing luggage.

Still, on my current build, the stock has gained between .1 and .2 in weight the last couple of months while I've been shaping the wrist and fore end, and doing lots and lots of carving too.

At the end of the day, weight is just a number. It's really in how you carry it and how it's used more than anything else.

We have almost 90 to 100% humidity from March until November so I haven't noticed much weight gain in my rifles.

I, on the other hand do seem to gain weight in summer. Probably more to do with seafood platters and cold beer than humidity though.

Pete G said:

I, on the other hand do seem to gain weight in summer.

Click to expand...

See! It all depends on where your at,
I definitely gain weight in the Winter :shocked2: