Making a stock. Is this wood ok??

[greyman441]

I am making a stock for a shotgun because the one on it is all messed up and it is hard to find another. I have a nice chunk of black oak I was thinking of using. Do you thing this would be good to make a stock out of??

Thanks
greyman441

 

[Wrong Way]

It's VERY opened pored, and inletting will be a PITA, but there's no reason you can't use it. Just make sure you use sharp tools, and depending on what kind of finish you want, check availablilty of pore fillers in your area (larger paint stores will have fillers)

WW

 

[greyman441]

Great, see that's what I was looking for. I would have put alot of work into this and then found out that the finish would be bad.

Thanks Wrong Way

 

[greyman441]

Here is the stock that I need to replace. You can see why I want to make new one.

Here is the oak with a close-up picture.

 

[762shooter]

It's VERY opened pored, and inletting will be a PITA, but there's no reason you can't use it. Just make sure you use sharp tools, and depending on what kind of finish you want, check availablilty of pore fillers in your area (larger paint stores will have fillers)

WW

Isn't oak also more prone to split than some other woods?

 

[John303]

Oak would be the last wood I wood use for a gunstock, for all the reasons above + it is heavy. Find a piece of walnut, cherry, maple, poplar with proper grain flow in the wrist, you'll be a lot happier in the end. There is quite a bit of work involved so begin with a decent stick - plain jane walnut is not that expensive. FWIW --- John303.

 

[greyman441]

Thanks for the input. I will see what I can find tomorrow. Evidently the oak was a bad idea. I think walnut is what the original stock was made out of.

 

[Mike Webb]

Yeah, looks like American black walnut with a plain grain. You will have to match it with the forend but that can be done with stain. Strongest walnut will have grain flowing in the same shape as the pistol grip. The other posters are correct, oak is difficult to work with, hard to fill the grain and too heavy.