Working on the next 50 Caliber Outrider Stock.

Even the wood shavings have a great color .

Ha. They are very Deep and Rich in color Kurt.



Boy, these get mellow and rich in a few years too.

Gary

Are these pieces of wood from a stockpile you have been seasoning for 20 years? I tried to find some larger pieces of Ash a few years ago to make a pair of Tonfa for my Isshin-ryu training , it was not easy and was surprisingly expensive.

Hi Sal,

If you need Ash for your Tonfa, you need go no farther then the local Lowes. Not in the lumber department ... but in the outdoor gardening dept. You want "replacement Pick Handles". Most Ax or Pick handles will be Ash.

Look thru the blanks and pick the correct grain. If the grain runs off the edges of the linear run of the staff, pass. You want the portion that will take the most force/strike ... to look like the edges of a closed book. Thin parallel lines. If the grain looks like flames ... it's 90 degrees out.

All of my stock blanks are cut from the rough sawn plank. I went to the sawmill, years ago; and picked thru the planks. They were mostly 12' long and about 8-10" wide and around 2" thick. Rough sawn, so the grain wasn't showing. And, the neat portions and "lights" in the grain were not visible. Experience is the only thing to make that visible.

These planks were already air dry. It takes sawn wood 1 year per inch of thickness to air dry, if stacked with slats between each plank. Therefore; (drying from each side) a 2" plank will dry in 1 year. Most have had more then this.

When I chose these planks ... most were indoors. And, stacked about 15' high or more. For some reason, the owners of the lumber yard sensed that I wasn't an idiot. They let me climb around, over, and thru all of their stacks. I'd spend half a day moving extremely heavy planks 15' in the air - standing on the pile I was moving. I'd sort and restack. The people were Minneonite. They'd all take lunch together. Have a big ole picnic behind one of their homes by the mill. So; I'd be alone, in the warehouse ... moving tons of wood.

Personally, I always thought that this way was far more "involved" then just writing a check for a rifle stock blank off the net. But - I'm not so sure. It's a lot of work and flashy grain walks. I'd bring it home and plan it. Then, work out rough blanks. Then seal the end grain and inventory the blank.

Keep in mind too, for your project ... baseball bats. Wooden bats are mostly Ash.

Good Luck,
Gary

I knew there was a good story there somewhere, thanks for sharing Gary.

For some reason I thought axe handles were usually hickory. Shows you what I know.

Ya Sean the hickory handles we have in Michigan are made with Chinese hickory . At least that what the sticker says on the last on I bought .

How long do you keep it in dry shop before you use it?

Hi Dory,

The wood cures best outside, stacked with slats between planks, under a simple tin roof.

I'd be good with working dry air cured wood after it had been inside for 30 days.

Gary

I know you don't like using customer wood, but I got some I'll show you sometime and see what you think.Dory.