wood from apple tree for rifle stock: questions for the woodworkers

cody c

cody c

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So, Im in Calgary and we recently had a snow storm here, the neighbor across the alley is in an older place on a really old lot, he lost a large chunk of his apple tree as the weight of the snow on the leafy branches broke off some large under pruned branches on the beautiful old thing.

Anyway, he said the tree is probably close to 100 years old, I got about 5+ feet of 8-10" diameter uncut wood from it, the wood has a hard medium dark wood, actually the heart wood is 80% of it and is almost as dark as walnut, the outer wood is a lighter birchy color, but it looks good, and it seems like a decent candidate for making a rifle stock with, actuallyI may get two out of it.

Anyone have experience working with apple wood? Any info regarding getting it kilned or dryed, should I cut the log in half to let it start drying and should I parafin the ends of it?

It is a really neat piece of lumber with a cool history behind it and I'm looking forward to being able to use it for something, rifle stock or otherwise.
 
Too soft. Hardwoods are not all as hard as walnut. Apple is good for pistol grips and knife handles though. Put an apple wood(came off the tree in mom's back yard) handle on a sword I have. Absolutely no grain whatsoever, but really easy to work with.
Parafin will hinder the drying. Doubt you'd be able to have it put in a kiln unless you know the guy. Just peel it and leave it in dry garage for a bunch of months. The sooner you get the peel off the better. Even a few days will dry it enough to make peeling more difficult. Not impossible. Just more work.
 
Interesting, I've been searching on the net and all I could find is that it was used a bit around the time of muskets, and a place in Calgary (Bacon veneers) and a place in Cochrane will probably kiln it. Ill probably peel the bark when I get home and parafin it this evening though.
 
Apple can be tricky to dry..I would attempt air drying trunk wood, but branch wood is already in compression and can dry in all kinds of strange shapes:)

Its unlikely I would use it for a gun stock..most of mine goes in the smoker..but I have seen some very nice colors in apple, and it will darken over time similar to other fruitwoods.
 
How the blank is layed out and cut is very important for gun stocks...most amateurs would screw that up... but apple is no good for stock wood.
 
I guess I'll peel it and air dry it, leave it be for a 4 or 5 years and see if it warps too much to be useful, if its warped all to heck or too soft it may be better suited for another project.
 
Branch wood will warp. Not while it's all still in a branch shape mind you. But once you start cutting it the pieces will curl like mad. Branches are what is known as "reaction wood" due to the branch constantly holding itself up. So it tends to grow slower along the top and more along the bottom. Often you'll see this in the annular rings if you make a smooth cut across the end. The rings will be thicker on, I believe, the lower side and closer together along the upper side.

For small stuff you can use it just fine. But I'd want a piece from the trunk for anything seriously long.
 
Interesting about the "reactionary wood" and good idea regarding laminating. I never heard that about branch wood, I enjoy learning stuff like that alot.

Some really good info from some of the folks on here, Thanks!
 
If you happen into some that has decent figure (figure down low of near the intersection of a large branch) then it might make nice material for knife handles but ultimately it's not a great wood for anything but smoking bacon.
 
Likely because as some have said the wood is rather boring. So the only parts that really will pop out are the odd areas in the branch or trunk crotches where the grain is wild and twisted. When smoothened and finished correctly this can show up as a nice figure to the wood.

I've only worked with one batch of apple wood that came from old diseased trees that were mostly held up by the moss growing on the outside. The wood had discoloured to a deep rich brown with lots of dark streaks through it. I ended up making some bowls and small bud vases from it on my wood lathe. But that was before I was into firearms. Now I'd be more likely to keep some of it for things like pistol grips. But it was already becoming a little too soft and punky to consider as a rifle stock.
 
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