Wood Stock Refinishing

[The Rattler]

Can someone explain what the rather wide dark "tiger looking stripes" are after stripping the finish. I have refinished 3 wood stocks, and at least 2 of them had these stripes that "travel" against the grain from the comb of the stock to the bottom.

The one prior stock that had these stripes can just barely be seen after 8 - 9 coats of BLO. The one I am working on now was treated 3 times with Citristrip stripper, spot treated with Formby's stripper (without success), sanded, and steamed with an iron. Yet there are still these noticeable "tiger stripes" running from the comb down to the bottom.

What are they?

 

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

If it's Walnut, the wood has been cut from a fork, or stump, and those are known as burl. The more burl, the more expensive the wood.

 

[The Rattler]

Burl

Many many thanks. I was concerned that I had done a poor stripping job the first time. The second time facing the same thing, I questioned whether the quality of my stripping caused the condition. Thank goodness that I was able to tap the expertise of this forum & you took the time to respond to my inquiry.

Thank you very much.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Does it look like something on this page: Wood Figure?
Of course, what you're seeing will likely be much less obvious (less figure) than the images on that page.