Question

[Oliver55]

Greetings, everyone.

How you rate the wood of this forestock?

I have another stock with highly figured fancy maple that pops right out. In this case, even after rubbing a little denatured alcohol I wasn't getting much figure out of it.

Thank you very much indeed,
Oliver

 

[Black Hand]

Rate?
It looks like wood and could be made into a rifle - there were some with very figured stocks and others that had little figure.

 

[Oliver55]

Pardon me. Rate as in plain maple, fancy maple, extra fancy maple. I've had stocks with plain maple and extra fancy (Highly figured maple).

 

[Black Hand]

Forestock looks fairly plain, but that might just be the pictures....

 

[Oliver55]

Forestock looks fairly plain, but that might just be the pictures....

Thank you for your response, Black Hand.

 

[bubba.50]

Lighting may have somethin’ to do with it but, in the last picture looks like quite a bit of figure in the wood.

 

[necchi]

I would call it plain w/inclusion.
The grain runout on the forestock could make it a risky long gun build.
There seems to be some figure in the forearm at least on the one side.
The wood may have been better suited for a half-stock,(?), but that's all a roll of the dice when a decent looking blank is milled.
I'd pass if I had selection,, or perhaps pay a discounted "plain" price because of the inclusion.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Nothing wrong with plain wood as long as it's hard.

 

[Zonie]

Oliver:
I'm seeing some curl in the wood that should show up but only after you've applied a alcohol or water based stain or a heat tinted aquafortis solution to it.
Without the stain, the contrast between the curl is rather faint on all of the maple stocks I've used.
Without a stain to darken the curly wood grain the only way to see it is to shine the light on the surface at an angle and look for lighter and darker stripes.

When I say this, I'm ignoring the obvious grain runout markings that appear as dark shapes on the stock and just looking for the "curl".

If you really want to see what it will look like buy a bottle of Birchwood Casey Walnut stain and apply a coat of it. After it has dried, wipe the surface of the wood with a wet washrag. You will see what it will really look like as long as the surface stays damp.

Yes, I know. At this stage of the game you are going to be sanding off your "test stain" but as I say, this is the only way to really know what you have.

 

[Oliver55]

Thanks everyone. Very much obliged.

I've added shots of the lock area back to the buttstock. There is definitely some very nice curl there and I like this stock from the lower forestock back.

To clarify, I purchased this as "extra fancy" and don't feel that it is consistent with that rating on the whole. I have another stock on my bench that has curl from end to end, apparent without having to rub alcohol on it and I certainly got what I paid for.

Best Wishes,
Oliver

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
That piece of maple on that Kibler SMR kit looks very nice to me. I like the quilted effect more than tight even curl.

dave

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

That's an outstanding piece of wood, I wouldn't hesitate to make a gun out of it.

 

[azmntman]

I'm NOT an kind of expert (all mine are factory) but I see what will be an insanely nice chunk of wood when completed. I think you may change yer mind when its done?

 

[EC121]

Wood grading is in the eye of the seller. He/she can call it whatever they want. There is no standard grading system. It all depends on what you paid for it. I like the look of it.
I want one like Mike's. I don't have a Lehigh in the stable.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Wood grading is in the eye of the seller. He/she can call it whatever they want. There is no standard grading system. It all depends on what you paid for it. I like the look of it.
I want one like Mike's. I don't have a Lehigh in the stable.

Bring all your spare change to Knoxville, that Lehigh is the only gun I have for sale. But you're a lefty aren't you?

 

[EC121]

Left or right doesn't matter to me. I want to shoulder one of those stocks before I commit to one. Maybe I can make it to Knoxville for a day trip.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Left or right doesn't matter to me. I want to shoulder one of those stocks before I commit to one. Maybe I can make it to Knoxville for a day trip.

This one shoulders well right handed, in fact it's the best handling Lehigh I have ever shouldered. I don't recall if I put any cast off in it so I don't know how it would shoulder on the left shoulder.