I am a woodworker with a modest number of tools in the shop.
I bought a pickup truck of walnut planks of walnut super cheap, almost free. These are rough cut long planks of black walnut, some with bark on them. Very very rough cut, nothing edged or jointed. About 2-5 inches thick, each about 2 feet wide.
So I take them down to my hardwood supplier to have him gang rip and joint the edges and perhaps re-saw them into decent stock, likde 6/4 and 4/4. He tells me the stuff is “too dirty” and neither he nor another milling shop will touch the stuff. There are no nails in the stock, I did check that with a metal detector.
I either throw a pickup truck full of walnut away, or have to do this myself.
I have a 240v Unisaw; a very small free standing Delta 6″ joiner, and a cheapie but fairly good Ryobi planer. I have a 1948 Rockwell bandsaw, that has not been used much. I have no hand planes. I can buy a few things if necessary.
How do I go about milling this stuff? Because of the wavy edge, I can’t put the things through either the Unisaw or the jointer at this point. I figure I have to clamp a straight edge on it and use a skill saw for the first cut and joint the edge. What next?
Boris
“Sir, I may be drunk, but you’re crazy, and I’ll be sober tomorrow” — WC Fields, “Its a Gift” 1934
Replies
Actually, you could use your tablesaw to joint the boards with, using a straightedge attached to the board, to run along the fence. I'd be more inclined, however, to use the bandsaw. Depends on how much money you want to spend on blades.
If you rip the boards to size such that you can then use the bandsaw to remove 1/8" or so on each face to eliminate the dirt and grime, then you can joint them without piling up dozens of dead jointer knives.
The major tablesaw and bandsaw books will provide info on how to accomplish these tasks. Or, within the day, you'll probably get detailed descriptions from experienced Knotheads!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Boris -
As Jamie noted, milling the timbers with the tools you have is, of course, quite possible. But your lumber yard didn't want to mill them because they were "dirty". Just how dirty are they and how much effort will it take to clean them up so you don't ruin *your* equipment. I guess that's the question I'd ask first. If you can brush, wipe or whatever them clean, then have at it. I'm with Jamie about using the bandsaw to straighten out at least one edge and/or to rip them down to widths and thickness that you can handle on your jointer.
Personally I think they present ample rationale for updgrading your jointer to a long bed 8"-er (grin)
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
PS: If you use the tablesaw, the choice of blade will greatly influence how long it lasts. I would stay away from the "fine finish" rip blades and go with something like Freud's Thick Stock Rip Blade (LM71M), which is an 18-tooth flat-grind blade designed for ripping boards 1-1/2" - 3-1/2" thick. You should be able to get the equivalent blade from other major manufacturers, but probably not at your local Big Box store.
The 24-tooth ripping blades are recommended for stock 3/4" to 2-3/4" thick. Slower (in your situation) and more expensive to sharpen.
PPS: Another option for surfacing the boards would be to get them sanded. If I remember right, that doesn't present the materials-expense that machining dirty boards does.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Just how dirty is the lumber? If it's real bad rent a power washer! Let dry before milling. Forty five bucks for renting a power washer is a lot cheaper than new saw blades and jointer blades.
Pitt:
Thanks so much for the obvious and simple answer. I called the mill shop today, and yes, if I power wash it, use and air compressior and give the stock a good scrape (I am thinking a wire brush), they will take a look at it.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
You are welcome and good luck. BTW, let us know how it all turns out
Just how dirty is the lumber? If it's real bad rent a power washer! Let dry before milling. Forty five bucks for renting a power washer is a lot cheaper than new saw blades and jointer blades.
That was my thought, especially given the time of year. I wouldn't suggest this in January, if you wanted to use the stock anytime soon. But as hot and dry as it is this time of year in most places, it should be fine.
Several years ago I got a good size truck load of red and white oak pallets, free just haul it away. I disassembled them on site so I could get as much of it as possable in my truck. The wood was very dirty and I just used the shop vac and wire brushed it to clean it up. After cutting some of the 3x4's into 3x1's on the table saw I realized how wet the wood was and ended up putting most of it into the shop attic for several years. Ripping it up wet made for a stack of firewood for the woodstove. Dry on the outside and wet on the inside thru off the dimensional stability I guess. Resulting cracks you could see light through the 1" board. I got a great pile of wood out of it. That ungraded wood really has some interesting grain patterns and color, not select for sure. Made several projects and still have 150+bf.
Ok, enough rambling.
Shop vac and wire brush.
Screw a scrap straight board to the stock as a working edge.
Save old table saw blades that still have some life in them for just such a job. Or buy a cheap blade.
The table saw work was crude because of the 3+" thickness. 2" on one side and flip over for 2" on the other side. Clean up on jointer and planer.
I gotta move that bandsaw higher up on my want list.
Enjoy, Roy
Boris,
Rather than wetting the wood with a powerwasher (if you plan on using soon) you might think about using a floor sander. I once saw a guy go to work on a stack of really rough oak, laid out on a shop floor (end end against a wall like a giant bench dog) and run over the pieces with a belt type hardwood floor sander.
You can still rent these at many flooring shops, as well as some of the big-boxes and it did a great job cleaning up some really ugly planks. I'm sure after you did this the mill would be happy to surface them further.
Another good idea.
Thanks!!
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Boris,
I think you should just give all that walnut to me, especially the two foot wide five inch thick stuff! I won't even charge a fee for such disposal of "dirty" material!! Seriously though, it might be wise to get a moisture reading on the wood and delay milling it until it is quite dry and you have a specific project in mind. If you dislike waiting I promise I will not charge a removal fee :+)
sawick
MY friend you have an evil mind!
Boris, it sounds like you've picked up a load of walnut cants (the remaining center of the log after all the clear stock has been sliced off.) Check the end grain to see if the pith of the log is in every piece. If they're cants, they're probably pretty knotty...but you may get some nice shorts with good color and figure for use in small projects.
If the power washing routine cleans them up enough that the local mill will handle them for you...then that's probably the way to go. If not, another trick you might want to try is to use a chain saw mill. You can tack a board on one face to give the chain saw rig a nice straight guide...then split the cant. Once you have this true, freshly milled surface and the stock is only half as thick...then your other cast iron pets (tablesaw, bandsaw, etc) won't have as hard a time tackling it.
Chain saw mills are relatively cheap and nice to have on hand for jobs like this. Plus, you don't have to be genius to keep the teeth adequately sharp with an ordinary file. They're slow going...but you're just doing this for fun...right?
Hi Boris
You have the answer in your shop. You said you have a band saw. Problem solved.
Go out and buy yourself a good resaw blade and have fun.
Might I suggest that you cut yourself a piece of plywood narrower than your wood, clamp or screw the walnut to the plywood and than use the edge of the ply as your straight edge. This gets you one straight edge and you are away.
I don't know what size your bandsaw is but if not big enough, than with the one straight edge cut to size on table saw or bandsaw and than resaw to thickness desired.
Man do I wish I was you that wood is beautiful and expensive when milled and planed.
Oh, by the way the bit with the plywood also works for and edge straightner on your table saw as well.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards
Bear.
I was in the Chico area of N. California last month, and found a walnut farmer (they grow the trees for the nuts) and got a full half ton pickup truck full of wood. It cost me about a hundred bucks.
It was very rough stuff, with bark and twigs still attached, but air dried outside for the last 5 years.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Boris, I'm confused. Does your post #16 refer to a different instance? Your opening post in this thread described "rough cut planks of black walnut" (?)
What you appear to be describing in#16 are orchard trimmings...probably mostly branch stock, apparently in the round and more than likely a different species of walnut, i.e., the Persian or "English", OLd World walnut (Juglans regia.)
If so, you have an entirely different set of issues to deal with. All of the walnuts are excellent cabinet woods and ordinarily quite stable, but branch stock normally contains a great deal of reaction wood. It's useable in small projects, but it requires a lot more care in both processing and in design considerations in order to manage its instability.
This was a big a s s black walnut tree. I don't know if it was orchard stock or now, but it was in an orchard, and the planks are between 24-16 inches wide, about 4 inches thick. I wouldn't know "orchard stock" if it bit on the a s s. A whole pickemup truck full some checks at the end, but fairly clear stock. Who knows what it will finish out to, but for pocket change, I can take the risk.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
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