Hi All,
I am about to have some Black Walnut logs milled, and would like some input on what other wood workers consider to be the most useful rough thickness. The logs I have should yield about 1K bdft all tolled, in width from 18 to 26″ after edgeing. I am a novice woodworker, though I have been a carpenter for a long time. I am just reaching the end of an addition on the house which includes a basement shop (finally).
I already have a stack of Butternut, about 500 BF, and white oak, about 800 BF, that are dry and ready to go. Both of which are mostly quartersawn, and have some nice figure.
My questions have to do with sawing the walnut. Since this amount of lumber is probably a lifetime supply for a parttime woodworker, and my interest and current furniture tends to lean more towards Mission syle, I would probably be selling some of the walnut when it is dry.
Should walnut be flat sawn rather than quartersawn to get the best grain patterns? I seem to notice that most of the walnut I see in furniture that shows wider faces tends to look flat sawn. And what is a good thickness for most work? I had the Butternut done to 6/4 and the oak to 4/4 and 6/4 with a few 8/4 boards. I don’t think I would go thinner than 6/4 with the Walnut because I noticed that the thinner oak cupped alot between the stickers (16″ o.c.).
I look forward to the many and varied opinions out there. And if anyone is interested I came up with a pretty good solution for drying green lumber.
Andy
Replies
With walnut, flatsawn can yield great figure.Unlike oak, quartersawn walnut will not reveal "flecks",medullary rays and under the same conditions, should not warp as much as oak. The main issue is the vast color difference between heartwood and sapwood.
6/4 and 4/4 are what I'd use. I prefer to glue up anything larger than mill it later and waste stock.
8/4 and thicker would be much more likely to check.
Did you dry the wood you already have? If so, you probably have a feel for the process. Even if you've done it before, given the value of walnut I would recommend you buy or borrow a book on wood (like Hoadley's "Understanding Wood"). It could save you a bundle in the long run. 1000 bf is a few thousand dollars worth of walnut.
(edited for spelling)
Edited 12/8/2004 2:32 pm ET by Frozen
Like the Oak and the Butternut I will seal all the ends with PEG. There were no checking problems with either, or with some smaller cherry logs I had done. I think I have "Understanding Wood" somewhere. Will have to dig it up and actually read it.
Andy,
Walnut is my favorite wood by far and air dried is simply beautiful. I'm envious of your stack!
If it were me, I'd saw about half into 4/4 stock, another fourth into 5/4 stock and the balance in 6/4. If you mill the thicker cuts on narrower boards, I think you'd get the most usefulness out of it. Any resawing that would need to happen, would be on narrower boards.
Where are you located? I'm always in the market for walnut.
Kell - drooling just thinking about air dried juglans nigra.
Wappingers Falls NY. Just off the Hudson River by Poughkeepsie. Thanks for the thought about the thicker/narrower boards. Makes sense. I have a good size resaw BS. I am surprised that more people don't get their own logs milled. For the cost of 3 hrs with a flatbed from a local body shop, and about 6 hours with a portable mill, I will have a pile of pretty decent lumber. The hardest part is waiting for them to dry.
I've had the same question over the past years. I've milled several walnut logs and seem to change my mind as time goes along. The first i had milled to 5/4 rough for a 3/4 finished board. That worked O.k. I've discovered the need for extra thickness for some projects (Morris chair) so now get it mostly done in 6/4 and 8/4. Also for leg material its good to have some 12/4. I get it in 12/4 by 12" and then rip as necessary. I did get a 20" bandsaw so I can resaw to desired thickness without a lot of planer time. The bottom line for me is one needs to determine the material thickness for the project and mill accordingly--thicker is better than thinner.
I'll try to attach photos of my log pile. A couple of these will become firewood, but the larger ones ar about 30" dia or so and betwen 8 and 18 ft. At this point in the year it may have to wait untill spring but we will see what my wife has to say about that...I dry them on an open platform made of 2x8s on 16" centers that is a foot larger in each direction than the stack will be. They are stickered with 1x2 firring strips I cut to 4' long and lined up carefully over the support joists. Keeping the stack to 4'wide and no more than 6' high keeps it manageable. After stacking the pile is covered with a basic blue tarp and then clear plastic that is stapled or battened to the frame. This acts like an oven in the sun and dramatically speeds up the drying process. If anyone is really interested I can post a photo of my oak pile.
Nice looking logs.
I'd be careful of those logs that have a lot of the blemished bark, unless you are sure they were limbs.Make sure you saw that crotch log so the blade cuts through both branches, and you get a Y-shaped board, whatever thickness. 9 times out of 10, with Walnut, Cherry, and White Oak, you get a nice 'feather' below the Y.I wouldn't have it sawn less than 5/4, nor thicker than 10/4, if you are sawing with a band mill like a Wood-Mizer, make sure you have fresh,sharp blades, and make sure to maintain proper tension(of the blade ;^}) during sawing. A loose, dull band will not produce flat lumber, and give you nothing but headaches when you finally try to work it.
HTH
BTW,I'm not far away, in the Catskills, if you have too much, and want to sell some of the premium grade.
Oh sure! Tease me.......
I'm in Richmond VA, kind of a long drive. Beautiful walnut.
Kell
In this area logs are not hard to find, with the way they are putting up houses. The trick is to get them before someone else chops it into firewood. I lost a few nice red oak trees from a lot down the street cuz the contractor didn't tell his septic guy I was taking them. Easy come easy go... just have to be careful to scan them for nails and wire before cutting.
I only buy 8/4 lumber (about 2-1/8" rough sawn but dry.)
I resaw to what I need. It also keeps the bookmatched boards together and safe from damage.
saw a little bit of 12/4 too for candle stand bases or even a bed.
-Mike
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