I have a buttstock blank that's been in storage for over 25 years. In that time its developed a "bow" off of true straight. I wanted to get a look at the grain to see if I want to use it or go to another blank.
I've sanded off a few thousands to get past the surface oxidation(?)/black buildup and saw marks to wet the surface and see what's underneath. During that process I discovered it's developed an approx 1/8" bow along the overall 18" length during storage.
The initial thickness is 2", and I'd need to remove about 1/8th -3/16 to get back to a flat underside. There's enough wood left to make the stock, but that's not my question.
Does this "bow" somehow effect the suitability of the wood so that the grain will not lie straight in the finished stock? Should this blank go into the handgun stocks/knife scales pile?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/YVKFElml.jpg?1[/img]

I'm just a hobbyist.
There are plenty of pro's here about's.

The reason we let blanks age in our climate is so that they do all that moving before we put 200 hours into one. I stop at about 3-4 places during roughing and wait to see.

Can you integrate the bow into your cast measurements?

I find 8/4 rough sawn to be too thin for 12 gauge usually. Guns got fatter over the years it seems.

At the price of blanks these days, if I had a good one, dried for 25 years, I'd be hard pressed not to use it.

Just my 2 cents.

All of the advice Clapper Zapper gave you is sound. After 25 years of seasoning, your blank should be quite stable, and any slight bow in the grain would be less than you'd often find in a blank with any figure at all. The overall layout of the grain in the blank, particularly at the head and wrist, is much more important, and your pic doesn't show us how suitable it is for a gun stock.

I had some locally grown English Walnut sawn up last fall into 2 5/8" thick slabs. A band-saw mill was used, so the surface is pretty smooth. Some people recommend 3" thick, or even more, but I think that leaves a lot of chips on the floor, and might even get you into wood with less figure. 2" thick is getting about minimum for most guns, and doesn't leave much to work with. But I have a Hamilton Model 27 .22 rifle on my project list that could easily be stocked with a good 1" thick blank. And 2" would be more than enough for a Marlin Model 37 pump .22 with a broken buttstock I recently picked up for cheap.

Maybe you can use it for a tip up, rolling block, or falling block boy's rifle, for a grandson.
Mike

I would go with the thought that the blank was originally sawn straight. It didn't grow that way. The chance that a blank was sawn from the log for best grain layout may be luck at best. Maybe, you can check the edge grain to estimate if the grain will run off of the finished stock in a way that you would rather it not do, but if so, it was probably already cut that way.

Here's the blank, 3.5x6.75x18x2




It looks likes there's plenty of meat to work with for the 28ga I have in mind.

...and a full length image of the "bow"

Grain flow is less than ideal for anything other than a drawbolt gun with a short wrist.

Dudley is right. The straighter the wrist grain the better and no side to side direction change in the wrist at all.

Thank you for the expert opinions. I'll find other wood for my project.

Moved to sales page to help fund new wood.

What bow! shorten it from the front, I just checked a Parker and K-80 stock and at most 16.5 is required. The farther back you trim the better the wrist grain gets. A touch of cast off will remove the bow and more.

bill

You might try putting the stock out on the grass, bowed side up, especially if it has rained the day before, and expose it to the sun. We do this with wood doors and they often do not bend back. The moisture on the concave side and the drying effect on the convex side is more powerful than most think.

With Bryan and others on this one. Grain flow is pretty bad in the wrist area. I wouldn't use on anything except something like a Low Wall.