black walnut home cut good idea/waste of
finebuilder | Posted in General Discussion on
I have the opportunity to get two black walnut trees from a neighbor who wants them gone, I’ve worked for the Carolina Tree Service so cutting is a piece of cake. My question is : is it worth it to cut it down, have it milled, wait for it to dry, plane it, and finally use it? Would it be cheaper/better to just buy it. The quanity is about 24 feet long by approx.18 inches across. Another question is , is it normal for only the center 10 inches or so to be dark? I have not worked w/ this particular wood yet so am just ignorant about it. Does it mill,shape well? Thanks for the help! Miami
Replies
Black Walnut is the Rolls Royce of woods. So well mannered, so easy to work with it. I love that wood.
As for the question, is it worth it? Only you can decide, It is a tremendous amount of work to fell, mill, and dry, a tree. It is a wonderful experiance and if you craft something really wonderfull out of it, it's a story that will only enhance the value of the project in the fiture.
It's one thing to buy some wood and etc. it's another thing entirely to start from the point of harvest.
Yes it is typical of Black walnut that there is a lot of juvenile wood. I think that if you don't need the decay resistance of heartwood, it can be rather attractive to use the contrast between juvenile and heart wood to add interest.
If you call woodmizer they will tell you who does milling in your area and they will give you an idea of costs involved.
Frenchy, Canadian?
How does the black walnut finish as far as color w/ a natural finish? Does it appear black or brown? The juvenile wood as far as furniture goes; is it as good as the heart as far as stability, durability? Merci, Mon Ami (sp?)
Miami
Black walnut,
Ahh my favorite wood! if I run on too long just ignore me.
While there is some brown in black walnut the color I most often think of is purple, well purple and blue with some red and black and subtle variations of that. then the starkly white/yellow color of the juvinile wood . now add some crotch flame and you begin to understand what the attraction is.
Now work with it. it carves so well and neatly. Seldom any tearout almost never splinters and it's a very stable wood. Unlike oak and some other popular woods you don't need to fill the grain with a filler in order to finish it.
If walnut wasn't so expensive and rare, I'd tell every beginning wood worker to build with black walnut untill you perfect your techniques and then move on to other more difficult woods.
I need to resharpen blades every 1000 bd. ft. or so when working with Oak. Build up and pitch clog blades when working with pines and cedar. Black walnut seems to hold up for extra thousands of bd.ft. and If I didn't just love that freshly planed surface so much I could probably do evan more and just sand it smooth. Black walnut shows the differance between a cut surface and a sanded one better than almost any wood. A sharp planer blade leaves an almost waxy smooth surface ready for finishing. Sand it and the grain gets mottled and dull, losing the subtle variation in colors that makes black walnut such a wonderful wood.
Learn the use of a scrapper to bring out the best in Black walnut.
Smell, Oh do I hate the stink of Oak and many other woods. I react to a lot of the pines and cedar. But, black walnut is a smell that has this subtle rich kinda nutty smell that holds great memories.
Nothing except maybe Mahogany is as nice for furniture. As rich and warm and as durable.
The really cool thing is that black walnut is out of currant fashion. If it were as fashionable as it was 40 to 50 years ago, instead of 8 to 9 dollars a bd.ft. for S4s FAS at retail it would be closer to 25 or 30 dollars a bd.ft.
You asked about the juvinile wood, well don't look closely at a lot of black walnut pieces. Most wood is steamed when it is dried and that steam imparts the brown into the juvinile wood. (ask Jon Arno to explain the chemistry) The loss is some of the brillance that air dried black walnut gets. If I were artistic, I'd incorporate the contrasting color to highlite the lines of the work or draw attention to something great or interesting.
Frenchy would you like some quiet time with some black walnut?.....
Now Bill,
Just because I bought over 12,000 bd.ft. of it doesn't mean I've got a problem... I mean it's been several, well a day since I last bought any. I really needed that too, I mean I didn't have any beams that were 9 inch by 4 inch and 21 feet long. so I bought two. Well, and as long as I bought those I may as well get the rest of the wood from the log.
Hello My name is Frenchy and it's been 24 hours since I've bought wood.......
Frenchy,
I'm getting the impression that you spend a lot of time alone in the shop polishing your wood! 8-) I'm sorry, but this is just too easy! I'll stop! I needed something to confess in my prayers tonight anyway.
Seriously now, would you cut it up yourself or take it to a mill? Wouldn't a chainsaw type portable mill waste a fair amount of the premo stock? How long would it have to dry? Do I just stack it w/stickers in a dry place? Is there a proper way to air dry wood? Sorry for the ignorance on my part. This is an area that I have very limited information. Thanks for the great reply. Hope you appreciated the joke. Miami
Thanx's,
I get soooo lonely! ;) any way, please have someone mill it for you. those chain saw gizmos are ...well let's not go there. Yes they waste a lot of wood, and if you don't know how to saw you will waste evan more. It's not just a matter of lining it up and makin' chips. You need to read the bark, know what is possible and what will happen when... Call woodmizer to get a list of people who will come and mill it on location for you.
a rule of thumb is it takes one year to dry one inch thick. it takes three years to dry 6/4 (inch and a half) but that's a rule not a fact. The reality is it depends on a lot of variables. If you dry indoors ( I used a guest bedroom and well, the living room, OK laugh)you can bring it down to furniture grade inside of one heating season. In a unheated building you may be able to do it in six months or less Humidity, wind, temp, all play a factor.
with a solar Kiln, you can bring it to dry in as little as 30 days.
The real " trick" is to sticker the wood properly. I have thousands of stickers that are the same thickness. On figured wood I put stickers every foot or so and make sure that all the stickers are lined up one on top of another. Make your stack level and square.
I used to put shingle bundles on the wood to level everything out. However someone on this board came up with the idea of using those rachet straps to clamp everything together and then once a month tighten everything up.
Listen when you're as wacko as I am you have to laugh at yourself or you become a wacko....HHMMMmmm is it too late?
Frenchy,
Do you let the sides of each rough-sawn plank touch when drying or stick it too? What's a solar dryer/ Can I put it all on a heavy duty cart and roll it into the drive on sunny days? Perhaps I should buy a book on this topic!? I do truely appreciate your help! Miami
Well kiddo,
Yes let them touch each other, fondle each other but draw the line when they want to get on top of each other, that leads to, well that leads to....OK I'll say it, warped wood. Always make sure they have proper protection, you know pro.. pro,,,, that's right proper stickers.
A solar kiln is one where the major source of heat gain is from the Sun rather than a heater. I doubt you'd gain that much just rolling wood out on sunny days, I haven't thought about it and I may be full of crappola. Remember that you need to get the warmth but not the actual rays. UV will cause some negative things to happen (like the wood turning grey).
There are a few good books on the subject, Check Tauntons library. If you're a cheapskate like I am go to your library and check out some books.
Frenchy,
Heard a good joke, if you're Canadian it may be humerous to you.
What do you call someone who speaks three languages?>>>>Tri-lingual
What do you call someone who speaks two languages?>>>>>Bi-lingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language?>>>>>>American!
When I tell this to people in other countries they think it is hilarious! They are also amused that I would poke fun at my own self/counrty. I thought of this joke as a result of trying to remember my french skills ( or lack of them ).I was going to ask you a question surrepptitiously cloaked in what I am assuming is your first language. Alas I need to get out the translator and brush up first. Like all this cloak and dagger stuff?
Back to walnut stuff. Your info has been very helpful, and I thank you for it!
I'll let you know what happens in the continuing saga of my quest for walnut excellence.
Miami
What's time? If you're in a hurry, you can always get some plywood. :)
Seriously, I started a couple years back doing a little milling and drying of stuff that comes my way. Sure it's work. And I think it's a little more economical for me rather than importing wood. It's nice to use native stuff. And it's great to tell the client exactly where it came from, ie. the hill behind my house, etc. To me, a piece with its own story from log to finish is better than one with a lumber receipt/pedigree from HD.
FWIW
Rev, Curious about the title...More curious on how you mill the lumber? what tools, etc. Miami
Most commercial sawyers will not cut black walnut that is less than 24" in diameter because of the relatively small amount of valuable heartwood. Sapwood has the same grain and characteristics but doesn't have the walnut color. It can be stained to whatever color you want however.
If you are going to harvest it, find out now what you need to do to begin drying it. Stacking, stickering and end sealing must be done immediately with summer coming on.
Miami,
Don't listen to these other folks. Black walnut is extremely dangerous. It is poionous and causes cancer; if you touch it your skin will break out in large weepy boils; if you breath in while within 100 yards of it your lungs will shrivel and contract like celophane in a fire; if you keep it at all you and wll your whole family will die a horrible lingering death!
I'm so worried about you and this wood I'm willing to safely remove it from your house or garage or shop or wherever you have it. Just give me your address and I'll be right there!
Alan
I cut down a walnut in the front yard. It used to be a wood lot. I had it cut into about 15/4 stock. It is really hard to find big pieces like that. I dried it for 4 or 5 years. By some mistake (I'm not smart enough to have done it on purpose) I ended up with quarter sawn stock that I have used to make some really stunning Queen Anne legs.The incredible grain pattern has made up for the mediocre carving.
It is worth doing if you like doing it. Economically, I think it is maybe a wash.
Frank
Alan, you had better bring a few semi trailers to save me from all those trees! It isn't the forrest that bothers me, it's the idea that they might have heard my plans and are now conspiring to fall on me when I bring in the chainsaw! So w/ your safety paramount in my mind, I will spare you the danger by going in myself. Hope you appreciate the sacrificial nature of my gesture.
Miammi
Miami,
Rats.
Alam
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