doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com open pored blanks??

I'm looking around at blanks and have run into a few that have good layout, good grain flow, look nice to my eye--but have very open pores. Other than being a PITA to fill the grain when finishing, is there a reason to shy away from this wood? If so, any info is appreciated.
thanks,
Dave

As a consumer of cheap blanks; open pored wood will generally end up MUCH darker after finishing than tight grained wood - analgous to end grain (you can test by wetting with alcohol), and (possibly - maybe just my bad luck) have a bigger chance of finding punky areas in the blank.

A non-punky straight grained open-pored blank will have the advantage of being lighter per cu. in. than a tight grained one.

I have found open pored blanks to be slightly less strong than closed pore blanks as a rule. They do tend to be lighter as mentioned. But to judge you have to see each blank in person. If your open pore blank can be dented by your thumb nail be very cautious. What I look for is dense wood with either quarter sawed or in some case flat sawed layout.

If the stock is too heavy when shaped you can always bore holes in the rear to make it lighter and to balance the gun.

Well, this would go an a fairly light gun and I have a 16" LOP...so light weight wood is good from my perspective or it's very difficult to balance. Color is ok to my eye--they're dark but I like that--shown below is one of the blanks soaked in alcohol. I think these are claro...not 100% sure though--but others have said that with the marbling and the open pores it's sure to be claro--but you guys probably know better than I, here's one I would consider:


If I take my thumnail to them they are definitely softer than the other blanks I've worked on--but those were very dense blanks. I can make a mark with my thumbnail on these. Strength is my main concern I think, but I have very little experience with how this wood is "supposed" to feel...thoughts?? Should I run, or is it "not ideal but it'll certainly work"??

That's a pretty piece of wood, but I think it would depend on what you planned to use it for. A non-checkered thru-bolt stock on a pump,...........sure. A really dainty, thin gripped double with fine checkering,............probably not. If it's that soft it's not going to stand up well to the checkering tool or fine inletting with sharp edges. It's going to get rounded and bruised very quickly. Whether or not an epoxy coating will help I do not know. Never tried it.

If the porosity were at the other end of the blank, I'd be less concerned with it, but it's the softness of the blank that troubles me. That's what Claro is known for, although there are good, hard blanks of Claro. Judging from your description this doesn't appear to be one. I've got aged English blanks on the rack that are so hard and sharp you have to be careful not to cut yourself while handling them.

Just out of curiosity, why not "harden" this piece of wood with any of the specialized hardner/stabilizers that are available today?

I really love that color.

Brent

I didn't know there was such an animal?? Any examples?

Yup:
I've used this one:
http://www1.epinions.com/content_171240230532

Beware of fumes - very very nasty, but short lived.

Brent

The reason softer, more open pored blanks are not a favorite, is they do not stand up to the knife very well. According to what I have read, that is the reason english is so prized. I have done stocks with some softer black walnut, it is a chore doing the inletting/checkering.

I'ved used it in architectural work, but that was always painted afterwards. What would be the process/sequence on wood that needs an oil finish? Does it interfere with color etc. I might consider it as a checkering hardener(post checkering) instead of the Super Glue method which has a strange gloss to it. Thanks for the heads up on this.