Where can I find nice maple?

R

rolf

Guest
I`ve found the stockmaker so now it`s time for the wood. I`ve thought about maple for a long time and he thinks it will be a nice stick.

The rifle in question is my BR gun.

Over to my question, where can I find someone who sells really nice maple?

I live in Sweden so it`s a must that I can pay with CC and then have them forward it to the stockmaker.

If you have any pictures of stocks made out of maple I would be grateful if you could post them here.

//Rolf
 
Well here's where I buy a lot of my wood.


http://www.gilmerwood.com/

They have a nice website for browsing.........BTW "maple" is a little unclear. I've used "spalted maple", "quilted maple", "burled maple", "birdseye maple", "curly maple", "fiddleback maple" and "maple burl" on some of my projects. I will guess that what you're looking for will be found in "figured hard maple" category.


Quilted, curly and fiddleback are all variations of the same thing. All good stockwood.

Spalted is very different, not suitable for gunstocks and "burled maple" is different than "maple burl". Burled maple will often be suitable for a stock as it's main wood with curls or burls in it, a maple burl probably not.

Birdseye design was very popular in the '70's. I find it boring today.

What kinda' maple are you looking for?

I've bought maple stock wood from Fajen, >>> (seem to have gotten out of the stock business) <<< and Cali'co >>> http://www.calicohardwoods.com/ <<< in the past and have been happy with their wood selection.


Gilmer just happens to be close to me right now and I've been impressed with them. If I move away I will still order from them.


hth


al
 
I just realized that I was unclear concerning spalted maple. I said that it was unsuitable for gunstocks....this is not necessarily true. Some spalted maple will absolutely work for a gunstock.

al
 
I recall reading a mag years ago that recommednded going to a lumber yard & checking thru the rough construction maple for timber with lots of whiskers which indicated fancy grain........but that was long ago.
 
Thanks Al.

I haven`t seen that many pictures of riflestocks made out of maple yet but the ones that have caught my eye has been made out of either birdseye or fiddleback maple.

//Rolf
 
fanc5.jpg


This is an unfinished curly maple BR stock
 
Oh man!

That`s what I`m talking about Hal.

Where do I find wood like that and what would I`ve to pay for a stick like that?

//Rolf
 
Wood can be had off ebay as well as many other sources. I've purchased quite a few stock blanks through ebay for pretty cheap. The stock in that picture is laminated, and was made from 3 different boards. I would expect to pay no more than $200 for the wood to make a curly maple stock like that one. The guy that makes those stocks charges $350 to do the lamination and duplicate the stock. The finish work could be anywhere from maybe $150 on up depending on what finish is desired. There are several stock makers here that can put together a BR stock using the wood you supply them, and the prices vary from cheap to quite expensive.

Here is an example

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-4-EXTREME-CURLY-TIGER-MAPLE-lumber-46-LONG-11-WIDE_W0QQitemZ250229184021QQihZ015QQcategoryZ48315QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
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