doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Selecting the proper blank ?

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Picking a blank is like picking a woman...everyone of them is unique and every person selecting one will have a different perspective.

London guns may have some of the finest craftsmanship in the world, but their embelishments of engraving, checkering, and wood selection are generally often like their tea and crumpets: BLAH! (IMO).

Here is the gun in its current state.

The original has an old repair. It is too short and too high and also quite boring .What would you put on it ?

Another point is that the flow of grain through the wrist area is not as critical as it was thought to be in past years. Today, it is easy for the stockmaker to internally reinforce the wrist area with a steel bolt and epoxy.

Jerry

USHOOT:
It is certainly your gun, and your money. And if you have a special fondness for this firestick, read no further. Let your heart be your guide.

But if this were my gun, I'd put a price tag on the thing and sink my money into a gun that's going to return value for investment. Figure about $2000 for the kind of wood you're talking about, then another $3000+ to stock the thing. Not to mention the time involved. For $5000+ I can think of a lot of guns that are worth investing in.

My apologies if this sounds too much like JOe.

Kensal
I appreciate what you are saying. Stockman told me to plan on spending between $400-$800 for a decent piece of wood. That being said I figure to have about half the money you are talking about in this project. I just dont want to spend $800 on a piece of wood only to realize I should have spent $1000. I dont think that I am looking for Turkish Walnut for this gun.I am going for a nice looking shooter. I intend to try to wear it completely out.
Thanks
PS I kinda enjoy reading most of what j0e writes.

The first section of Fine Gunmaking - Double Shotguns by SDH has an excellent discussion on wood, blank selection, stock making, etc. If you are looking for a good source of background info on this issue, it is worth the read.

Nice ASEL, btw - they are great guns.

Why not send it to Rich Cole to stock?

I think you'll find some pretty special wood with a $1000 budget. Cecil has some really nice stuff. My choice would tend toward the California grown English walnut with a feather crotch and black mineral lines.

Thanks Ham, in FG-DS I tried to thoroughly cover the subject.
Here is a pretty fair stick of Turkish, and not terribly flashy but I have used Cal. English much more frequently. I only have wood for my own projects, none for outside sale.
In my experience Cecil has some very fine wood, but his blanks may run a bit small making layout extremely critical. This blank isn't huge but I've got some room to move the pattern around a bit. It is quarter sawn and nine years off the stump.
We will leave the price for someone who wants to commission a custom gun.

What does one look for in a blank? An art dealer on the Normandy coast of France once said to me, "If a painting speaks to you, buy it."

As has been said, it can be like taste in women or any number of personal choices. If it speaks to you, then you move to the technical, objective considerations:

What species? Juglans Regia is the king of walnut for a number of reasons (color, figure, density, elasticity, tensile strength, etc.) . What region? France is considered by a number of stockers the most desirable, but war is not tree friendly, so it is not easily obtained. NorCal often has feather and fine mineral lines, with some of the best known as "honey and smoke." When you see an exquisite example you will never forget it. Turkish can be dark, a hint of red, with broad mineral lines and a more mottled, muddy figure. But if a blank speaks to you, the region will be secondary. Slow growth is usually best, with the tightly spaced growth rings it exhibits. Quarter sawn (especially in the head) is highly esteemed, with its superior resistance to the pounding of repeated recoil. Age is important (4-6 years off the stump before many stockers will touch it), but how and where it was dried can be just as critical. Many stockers eschew kiln dried wood, as it can introduce stresses into the blank that don't show up until it's turned. Case hardening can be beautiful with metal, but is disastrous with wood.

Avoid defects such as checks, voids, inclusions and the like, but they are not necessarily deal killers in the hands of a competent stocker. And don't fall for the ole wive's tale that any figure in the wrist is to be avoided. The rhythmic undulations of fiddleback have no significant affect on strength, and are very sensuous.

Finally, much wisdom flows from those who counsel against putting too fine a stock on an average gun- fitting the grade of wood to the value of the gun: much like overbuilding for a neighborhood. But at the end of the day, it is your house and yours to enjoy. So why not put a beautiful stick on an everyday shooter? Nice sound, paint, and interior on an everyday driver? Not every return on investment is monetary or quantifiable. The most stunning blank I ever had turned went on a 5k Beretta O/U. At the time of the restocking I never intended to sell it. But a friend introduced me to side by sides, and I never looked back. But neither did I regret losing money on the Beretta, for I held in my hands and put to use for a while some of the most beautiful juglans regia to ever grace a gun.

That's how I choose a blank.