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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Muzzleloaders & Blackpowder
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DarylSModerator
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Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26992
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Maple
      #186652 - 27/07/11 10:15 AM

Found a little piece of curly maple - fiddleback if you use that term at the local hardwood store. Thought I could make about 3 full-stock pistols with it, or perhaps a 2-piece for hammer shotgun. - not much intersted in that option. It's too short, even for an English style shotgun - one piece, that is. Couldn't turn it down, though.


--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

Edited by CptCurl (19/03/12 09:49 AM)

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tophet1
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Reged: 15/09/07
Posts: 1873
Loc: NSW, Australia
Re: Maple [Re: DarylS]
      #186658 - 27/07/11 11:24 AM

I love maple and managed to get one old english style mauser '98 stock cut from a 'log' I found at a timber merchant in Brisbane. It was very hard for the pantograph to cut out though as it 'balled' up. I find it a Very light wood with great features. A gloss finish takes me back to the 70's.

Please keep us informed of your progress.

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eljefedouble
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Reged: 23/04/06
Posts: 189
Loc: Vic, Australia
Re: Maple [Re: tophet1]
      #186670 - 27/07/11 04:54 PM


+1 Daryl

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"it dont mean a thing, if it aint got no zing"
"Toa bunduki mkubwa"

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DarylSModerator
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Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26992
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Maple [Re: eljefedouble]
      #186694 - 28/07/11 03:40 AM

I'm amazed you found it 'light'. Of course, it varies with the area where it's grown, as in Eastern Hard Rock Maple or Western 'Red' maple. This piece is probably Western (BC) maple. It also varies a great deal in hardness. Some say the Western Maple is not suitable for rifle stock - they really should not repeat something they've heard but not checked out. My brother has built a number of longrifles, smoothbores & Hawken rifles with Western Maple and Eastern Maple as well. # 100 is coming up soon.

Western maple us usually better figured than Eastern maple, but of course, the full range of figure occures in both places.

Taylor, my brother just finished building a late period "S Hawken" caplock using apiece of Eastern maple - a 1/2 stocked rifle, of course. The finished rifle weights over 11 pounds with a tapered barrel. The stock blank, not much longer than needed, weighed 11 1/2 pounds. In 2 years of storage in his basement, controlled humidity, it neigher gained, nor lost any weight. It was the heaviest, hardest piece of maple Taylor has seen.

Maple, as a rule, is very hard, much harder than walnut and requires exceptionally sharp tooling.

His latest, a late Verner of around 1810 or so - not as hard a piece as the Hawken, but hard nonetheless and very dense -
The spelling and style of engraving on the patch box is identical to A Verner's spelling on the rifle Taylor used ofr reference. Obviously, some of the greatest makes of THE day, weren't good engravers. That is evident through the Eastern States - such 'jobs' were not farmed out to 'masters' as in Europe.







--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

Edited by CptCurl (19/03/12 09:52 AM)

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AFRO408
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Reged: 21/01/09
Posts: 312
Loc: Arding NSW
Re: Maple [Re: DarylS]
      #186707 - 28/07/11 08:15 AM

Man, that is a lovely piece of work.

--------------------
Flinch ? Wot flinch ? Gunsmithing is my PASSION.

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DarylSModerator
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Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26992
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Re: Maple [Re: AFRO408]
      #186718 - 28/07/11 09:51 AM

TKS - it shoots exceptionally well. Although it's a "A" weight .50 barrel, it's 48" length makes for a exceptionally strong holding rifle - even though it is very light at around 8 pounds.
Generally we (Taylor and I) need 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 pounds to hold this well.
The barrel (and stock) is very skinny in the middle, which is parallel for quite a piece - in the middle, then flaring for the muzzle.(only teh outside dimension, of course).

The late period, all incised carving is quite nice, actually, even for those of us who love the raised carving of the 18th century. The use of lots of wire, silver and brass inlays is also of late period rifles, gaining in popularity through to the 20th century in areas where ML's were still being built.

Inlays and sheet parts, ie: patch box & hinge, along with entry pipe, pipes and inlays are hand made, of course. The humped and thusly grooved tang where it meets the barrel, are typical of Verner only, I think, along with the rounded or softened corners of the octagonal flats.










--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

Edited by CptCurl (19/03/12 09:53 AM)

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kamilaroi
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Reged: 18/12/04
Posts: 1803
Loc: sydney, new south wales, Austr...
Re: Maple [Re: DarylS]
      #186719 - 28/07/11 10:37 AM

nothing shabby about that!

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BillfromOregon
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Reged: 27/10/04
Posts: 254
Loc: Sweetwater, by God Texas
Re: Maple [Re: kamilaroi]
      #187410 - 05/08/11 11:25 PM

Daryl: I would have been hard pressed not to buy that slab of maple. Glad you took it home. Thanks for the photos of Taylor's Verner. He has so much talent!

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