I have 3 very large silver maples I'm going to have cut down. They are beautiful trees, but the roots are beginning to get into my house foundation. I thought about getting the tree cutters to cut the crotches out for gun stock blanks. Can a silver maple produce the figures needed for fancy/exhibition grade rifle stocks?
Silver Maple Gunstocks
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CapnMac
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Silver Maple is also known as 'soft" maple. It's not generally considered a good face furniture wood (it is used for glue blocks, braces, and the like).
The sawdust can cause skin irritation and allergies, so be careful woodworking it.
It needs to be laid up in blanks and stickered a good while to dry out. Which is a problem as it's not very resistant to rot and decay.
It's very porous, so it will soak up a lot of sealer and/or stain. It's ok with BLO, but you will need near twice as much. If you sea lthe BLO too soon, any excess will bleed into the unsealed areas (like barrel/action channel) which might undo any bedding you place. Note that you will need a lot of sanding sealer before bedding, too.
It will make a very lightweight stock, though. Lighter than birch. The wood is blond to a pale tan, so you can stain it to almost any color you want. You will want to use a matched toner for best color stain appearance. It's best suited for polyurethane finishes (pre catalyzed in a factory setting); it's some what hopeless for "French" finishing with lacquer . Shellac might work, but the flexing of the stock will likely peel or crack a shellac finish.
Dang, it's like I rained on your whole parade. They are beautiful ornamental and canopy trees. The wood can be used for structural (stud) lumber, put only if heavily protected from moisture and insects. (And not to loads easily carried by Pine or Hemlock/Fir.)
Edit to add: It can be used to make casework; especially when pale cabinetry is desired. Do not use single-thickness shelves. Edgeband all exposed endgrain.
The sawdust can cause skin irritation and allergies, so be careful woodworking it.
It needs to be laid up in blanks and stickered a good while to dry out. Which is a problem as it's not very resistant to rot and decay.
It's very porous, so it will soak up a lot of sealer and/or stain. It's ok with BLO, but you will need near twice as much. If you sea lthe BLO too soon, any excess will bleed into the unsealed areas (like barrel/action channel) which might undo any bedding you place. Note that you will need a lot of sanding sealer before bedding, too.
It will make a very lightweight stock, though. Lighter than birch. The wood is blond to a pale tan, so you can stain it to almost any color you want. You will want to use a matched toner for best color stain appearance. It's best suited for polyurethane finishes (pre catalyzed in a factory setting); it's some what hopeless for "French" finishing with lacquer . Shellac might work, but the flexing of the stock will likely peel or crack a shellac finish.
Dang, it's like I rained on your whole parade. They are beautiful ornamental and canopy trees. The wood can be used for structural (stud) lumber, put only if heavily protected from moisture and insects. (And not to loads easily carried by Pine or Hemlock/Fir.)
Edit to add: It can be used to make casework; especially when pale cabinetry is desired. Do not use single-thickness shelves. Edgeband all exposed endgrain.
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