Black Walnut

I snagged this pc of Black Walnut from my MIL's neighbor last night with the thought of making a stock out of it.

Any ideas on who to take it to. Joel Russo is only about 2 hrs from me so guess he would be the obvious choice, but does this look like a good enough pc of wood to mess with or not?

I wet the wood so it would show up better. Tell me what ya think>

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...geshoot075.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...geshoot074.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...geshoot076.jpg

Send it to the Randolph County, NC Gunwood repository. Jethro and I will take care of it.

Looks like enough for a rifle, a double barrel shotgun, and a couple of pistol grips to me.

A couple of "not strong" areas in that wood, but easy to cut around from what I see. Might even get some REAL nice pistol grips out of the knot/burl area in upper left.

How thick is it?

BTW - Postage paid to Randolph County, NC. Just let us know where you are sending it from and we will take care of the rest!!!

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Originally Posted by Eric in NC

How thick is it?

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5" x 8" x 48"

Which parts are not strong? I would love to have that knot area as part of the butt of the stock, but dont know if it would work out that way or not.

Good looking wood! How long has it been drying - years? NC Gunwood?? web site??

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Originally Posted by pdog06

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eric in NC

How thick is it?

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5" x 8" x 48"

Which parts are not strong? I would love to have that knot area as part of the butt of the stock, but dont know if it would work out that way or not.

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Sorry - I didn't see your ? till today.
The knot halfway down should def. not be in the wrist or lug area of a rifle stock. The feathered area at the top right should be ok if it is at the bottom of the butt of a stock. The little knot in the lower third toward the left will be a hard to finish/smooth area.

I got a response from Joel Russo and he said I'd be better off starting out with a better pc of wood. With the exception of the small feathered area it is a pretty plain pc of wood, and he would rather not use that pc.. I had mentioned that I woulda liked a pc of fancier wood, but got a great deal on this one(free...LOL).

His opinion is that you will have the same cost in labor no matter what blank you start with, but if I really wanted a nicer pc of wood then start with that so I am not dissapointed with the result.

Pretty good advice, and that is what Im gonna do.

So this pc will go back to the guy I got it from and he will make something out of it Im sure.

Thanks to all for your comments.

I had a chunk that looked like that..... With some creative cutting you should be able to get plenty of use from it.

[img width=600 height=400]http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp291/bcls430/Firearms/DSCF17070001.jpg[/img]

I have about 400 bdft of clear quarter sawn walnut in billets laying in my barn, been there 30 years. Was about to take it all to Asheville to sell on consignment. Never thought about stock makers.

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Originally Posted by pdog06

His opinion is that you will have the same cost in labor no matter what blank you start with, but if I really wanted a nicer pc of wood then start with that so I am not dissapointed with the result.

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Didn't know you were having someone make it - thought you were trying your hand at first time stock making. That would be a good blank to try your hand at, but if you are going to pay someone to make it, the wood is a fairly minor cost (unless you get into super fancy stuff) so you might as well go with a preemo piece.