American, French, Turkish ?
Looks to have been wet with water to bring out the grain?



From the images I have, I see a different background
for the "show side" and it almost looks as if varnish or some other finish has been applied ?



Could the right side be that much blacker than the left or is it the finishes and or images?

Thank you.

American. Two different backgrounds and lighting. Oil/finish added in bottom photo of public side. They will match when made into a stock.
JR

American or Claro. Certainly nothing else IMO. Lighting makes a huge different. That's looks like a lot wood you would seen in the high grade Model 21's. You also saw a lot of wood like that on some of the Parker Repro's. Far as I can remember the wood on the repro's came out of Calico Hardwoods in Ca.

I think I'm seeing a little sap wood on the 'lighter' side. With curl, a little viewing angle change will change the appearance. The darker side could have some surface mold on it that some of the darkness might machine off. If it's the same blank, one side might be a bit more flat sawn and could show as wider mineral streaks that might change as it's machined. It has a bit of the look like there might be a little bark inclusion above the wrist on the 'show' side? Who knows, maybe ask for more pictures? I'd think both side would likely have the same quick treatment for pictures, maybe a quick water or thinner wipe down. I couldn't see why a wood person would apply a finish to just one side, maybe?

Pictures were taken at a different time and location based on the different backgrounds and different levels of light. The bottom picture has a darker exposure, possibly making the grain show black. The light edges are where the water or alcohol dried while setting up for the picture. i would ask for more pics, especially if you don't want that much black in your finished product.

Pretty neat looking blank for a Model 21 or a Remington era Parker.

Fox DE

I've commonly seen blanks with only one side finished. Anyway, this one I'll take!

That requires Turkish Feather crotch, not American feather crotch to be period correct:

IMO, it's almost certainly Claro.

gaudy wood like this is inappropriate for gunstocking...it will dry out and stress crack...better use would be for decorative furniture laminate...

The Sage of Acetylene has spoken ...........

SRH

I would like to see clear pic at the wrist to see how the grain looks in attachment to the receiver.

In a case like this my dear departed Granny would normally tell ed,
"If you can't say anything nice, just shut the F#@K Up".
This time however I'm sure she'd say,"ed good = horses ass"

I sure miss my Granny.

Your granny sure had a fowl mouth....

I toured the SKB/Weatherby factory while stationed in Japan in 1983 and hand selected a Weatherby Athena that had feather crotch Claro almost identical to the above blank. Shot the whatever out of that gun. The wood held up fine. Maybe that blank wouldn't work for a Super Fox with a straight grip, but it sure would work for a lot of things. I do think while moving the pattern around to get the most strength you might be forced take out some of the feather. Hard to have it both ways.

If you've done veneer work you know that two consecutive sheets out the same flitch, when bookmatched, will not be the same shade: one will be darker. One side of the veneer will catch, respond, and reflect light differently than the other.

As to the pictured blank, the first shot does remind me of claro's colors. Then again, there is some nigra coming out of Missouri that might make you scratch your head.

The gun pictured is stocked in Turkish? I would have thought CA english, as it looks more like that region than the typical color and figure coming out of the middle east

Wood identification exercises remind me of a book I read 40 years ago- R. Bruce Hoadley's Understanding Wood. He showed pics of species that looked nothing like the typical fare, and made the point that sometimes the only way to know is scientific analysis and the microscope. He poked a little fun at the wood experts that examine a sample and begin their scholarly discourse with, "Well, it looks like..." [i][/i]

Mike

You could be right, I bought it from a fellow who said he purchased it direct from Turkey and had it sent to his stock maker for approval. He had a high end restocking project and then sold the gun that was to be restocked and this blank became available. This is one case where the stock turned out looking pretty much like the blank did before turning.

Tut that stocking is as you know outstanding

Anyone could not help but be happy with it

It was a fabulous blank, and outstanding on the gun. The mineral lines in Turkish tend to be broader and less defined than the fine lines in CA regia. That honey base color is also more common in CA, and my personal fave is often referred to as honey and smoke; throw in some feather, especially flowing comb to toe....

Wingshooter16 that stock looks to be a ten out of ten. Hope you get many, many years of enjoyment. Somebody will be drooling over that one for the next hundred years. Just wish it was me.

I seriously doubt this highly figured blank would pose any strength problems. However, it may well be quite heavy. Some wood with this structure is so dense that it can be hard to bore out enough material to get an ideal balance to the gun.

I'm not sure if Dan Rossiter had to remove wood from the buttstock to balance it or not as I've never taken off the Horn Buttplate he fabricated. Gun weighs 6 lb 3 ounces with 28" barrels and balances on the hinge pin.

Thanks for the compliment, though the blank to which I refer, and is pictured in this topic, is not mine. Here is my 30+ year old true French walnut blank waiting for a project:

Tut, I wasn't referring to your stock but to the blank in the pictures. Yours looks like I wish more of mine did.

No problem Bill. Dan Rossiter did a great job with my piece of Turkish. I originally wanted my gun to have an English stock and he felt the grain flow was more appropriate for a half grip. I always defer to Dan on these things as he has never steered me wrong.

PS. Wingshooter that is an awesome blank. Appears to me that's it quartersawn for the first half and then makes a turn and becomes more slab sawn which will really show the mineral streaks/smoke that we all love to see.

Heck Mike, I've given you plenty of direction as to what to do with that blank. You have the project in hand.....you just haven't pulled the trigger.

BTW, did you know blanks go bad if they don't get put to good use in a timely manner? You've had it too long and done nothing with it. You should send it to me!

It's going to go on a French gun, whereas you would prolly waste it on something made south of the border. I'm holding out for a Perfection or d'Art with a broken stock.

Pretty blank.