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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,710 Likes: 346
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,710 Likes: 346 |
I think the resin type wood stabilizing that was mentioned earlier can make soft and spalted woods usable for gunstocks. Aside from being tougher to work, the wood becomes quite a bit heavier. I'd also think while interesting, it wouldn't look like a gunstock. I think spalting is a natural for things like knife handles and pens because it can pack a lot in a smaller space.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,893 Likes: 651
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,893 Likes: 651 |
Norfork pine has a lot of blue in it when it splats. Long needle line will turn blue with spalt if alliwed to dry to before milling. No market for it so they spray water on it to prevent the blue mood. Mills try to keep a couple weeks logs on hand but will increase that in the winter. They might not be able to cut timber for weeks due to weather so they build up a backlog to keep the mill going.
When I lived in Lexington, I rescued a large maple tree from a building site. Left it outside, under shade, with a wet tarp wet cover with heavy leaf compost. After three years I had it milled with a portable band saw mill. All but the cant was perfectly spalted with lots of black lines with great colors in the background. Not soft yet but very nice colors. I sold several hundred bowl blanks on EBay from this tree. It is as a big, big tree but it was a soft maple which was not going to work for stock blanks. It still was a money maker.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,468
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,468 |
All knife blanks except cocobolo and desert ironwood are treated or plasticized. Those two woods are heavy in oil and do not treat. The finished product is not finished. You simply fine sand the wood and buff with White Diamond. There is no warpage or shrinking. If it gets scratched, you simply resand and rebuff.
The best treaters I have found are Knife & Gun Finishing Supplies in Arizona. Their limits on length are 14" so I also use others. First, they put the wood in a vacuum to remove moisture, then they put the wood in a pressure container with an appropriate polymer. It is also heated quite hot. The finished product is plasticized throughout. The cost runs about $10/pound.
It makes fibrous end grain (like ebony and palm wood) much more usable.
Very dense woods gain little weight. Punky or porous woods can gain quite a bit.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,468
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,468 |
I am not good with posting photos but can send them in emails to anyone who wants them.
Pete
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