Originally Posted By: wingshooter16
Originally Posted By: Flintfan
It doesn't matter how the wood is cut.


Respectfully, I could not disagree with this more. It matters a great deal how the wood is cut, and it has been known for centuries that quarter sawn is, by nature, the most stable cut. There is no finish employed in typical gunstock use that can completely stop moisture migration, which is a leading cause of wood "movement." Wood absorbs and loses moisture depending on its environment, and wood moves the most in line with the growth rings. Quarter sawn puts the growth rings (ideally) 90 degrees or perpendicular to the face of the blank (60 to 90 degrees is generally classified quarter, 60 to 30 rift, 30 to 0 or parallel slab or flat sawn), and minimizes inevitable wood movement. It is also my direct experience of almost 50 years of woodworking the not only is quarter sawn preferred in most any application for strength, because movement is minimized it holds a finish better.

Run out in the wrist is of course to be avoided, and as that is generally the area of the stock with the least mass, extra attention should be paid to flow and figure in that area. But to say it does not matter how the blank is cut is simply a bridge too far for me.

Mike


The original question was specifically about wood strength through the wrist. You bring up many good facts about wood, but again, the only thing that matters on that specific point is grain run out in the wrist, regardless of how the blank is cut. A quartersawn blank with extreme run out in the wrist is simply not going to be as strong as a straight grained, slabsawn piece.

I was simply pointing out that the OP should not get hung up on quartersawn vs. slabsawn as the sole reason for picking a specific blank. I have seen piles of quartersawn blanks that would make terrible gunstocks. Obviously, one would pick a quartersawn blank if given the opportunity, but each one must still be evaluated on a piece by piece basis.

“I left long before daylight, alone but not lonely.”~Gordon Macquarrie