Replies

1. 
   woodman2263 | Nov 06, 2007 06:53pm | #1

   Black walnut is very valuable, in the right circumstances.  If the log was in a yard, its probably got metal in it and not worth the hassle.  If it came from a woods, it would make nice lumber.  As for firewood, black walnut takes a long time to dry.  If its not really dry, it doesnt burn worth a darn.

    

   Jeff

1. 
   joepez | Nov 06, 2007 11:00pm | #4

   thanks Woodman,

   as i said to Frenchy, i think i will pass it along and hope he does a neighborly favor and give it to me. not commercially valuable to him.

   thanks joe p in RI

2. 
   frenchy | Nov 06, 2007 07:58pm | #2

   joepez,

    Black walnut varies dramatically depending on many factors..  I bought well over 10,000 bd.ft and paid 17 cents per bd.ft.  This was all mature wood with either no or an absolute minimum of early wood.

     it varied in quaility from FAS thru 3B  Most would have been graded a average of a  #1.

     Black walnut dries about like most hardwoods do.   The one inch per year rule sorta applies depending on where it's stacked and how it's stacked etc..

     Today because my local sawmill has found a anxious buyer they are selling all black walnut  (mill Run for $2.65  a bd.ft) to a Chineese buyer.

    They used to slice off the early wood  (white) which can be steamed and then will turn brown like the heart wood does but in doing so the black walnut looses the brillance  and color variation it has if it's air dried.  The Chineese buyer is taking every single log and paying an absolute premium for veneer grade logs.  I've seen prices well over $6.00 a bd.ft. rough and on the bole.. That doesn't happen in this neck of the woods. 

     The majority of that tree will be early wood, nothing wrong with it except to have it steamed will cause the heart wood to become bland.  Not everybody really understands the differance but once you see it you'll know in a second if it's been steamed or not..  (most comerical black walnut is steamed) 

     As firewood I like burning black walnut. It burns well  and yields little ash but doesn't yield as much heat as does White oak or Ash do..  Like White oak the tannic acids in the wood provide a slightly acrid smoke smell which I don't enjoy as much as I do cherry or apple when they burn..

      Black walnut is the cadillac of woods for working.. In all my career I've never gotten a black walnut splinter. It carves and cuts like nothing else does.. with a sharp edge the wood comes out with an almost waxy look that is extremley pleasing. It is stable and not prone to nasty checks or cracks if properly dried..   The heartwood (brown stuff0  is impossible to loose when drying.. I've stacked it in a pile unstickered and it dries nicely without a problem.. the early wood (white part) will decay and you can get some really wicked looking spalting under just the right circumstances. 

     

1. 
   joepez | Nov 06, 2007 10:58pm | #3

   thanks Frenchy,

   I''ll take that advise and let my neighbor know. With some luck hell drop it in my driveway and call it a day.

   never know till we ask.

   thanks again

   joe p in RI

3. 
   DHAM | Nov 15, 2007 05:02pm | #5

   One 14" black walnut tree in a yard has no commercial value as a log.  However, it does have value as lumber for the small woodoworker if it is sawn.  14" is not very big for a walnut, and as has been stated, there will be a lot of white sapwood. 

   The value is in the use of the wood by local woodworkers.  The owner may consider giving it to someone that can saw it in return for some of the lumber.

4. 
   mapleman | Nov 16, 2007 12:11am | #6

   Walnut is one of the slowest trees to convert sapwood to heartwood. When your friend cuts the tree down look at the end - there will likely be 2-3 inches or more of sapwood all the way around the heartwood. Which means that your 14" diameter log will yield about 8-10 boards 4" - 10" wide if you are lucky. Not many saw mills would be willing to mess with something that small, especially if it's a yard tree.

   Just my $.02

   Lee

5. 
   danmart | Nov 16, 2007 04:57am | #7

   Joe

   Looking at your member profile I could not tell where you are writing from but I will assume RI for Rhode Island. Having cut across CT on the way to Block Island I don't recall a forest full of walnut trees?? The information posted by the other readers is pretty darn accurate for evaluating gift trees for woodwork. Its work.

   If the tree grew in the open and all by itself, it probably won't have a whole lot of straight grained timber. If you friend is going to cut the tree down and he's willing to let you have it if you buck it down and haul it away, I'd say do it. I have taken some gift walnut and split it down to manageable sections and bandsawed it to small boards.

   Now what I am telling you what I did is for banana heads: here goes. I like to dig the root stumps up on maple and walnut trees. I get the stumps and hose them off with a pressure washer and cut crooks out so I can use them for gunstocks with a natural curve in the drop. Its really nice and some Hawken lovers go crazy for the added beauty an strength of the grain. Like I said "banana head" thinking. For the less enthusiastic, split and cut can be fun and rewarding. You'll learn a bunch and appreciate the wood a little more.

   Photos: stock from maple stump/tool box from split walnut 31 years ago.

   Dan

   
   

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   Edited 11/15/2007 8:58 pm ET by danmart

   
1. 
   troys | Nov 16, 2007 09:23pm | #8

   That rifle is stunning.Troy

2. 
   JeffHeath | Nov 16, 2007 11:04pm | #9

   Nice work!  Looks like the stock for my grade VI Citori.

   Jeff

1. 
   danmart | Nov 17, 2007 12:19am | #10

   Jeff

   The CNC for the VI cuts walnut as a rule. The industry dropped maple(figured) many moons ago. I like walnut but I reach for the maple every time when it comes to my own rifles. A customer wants walnut- he gets walnut. I try to show him, like I show you, the merits of a special piece of wood. I keep the 10/4 stock up in the rafters for 5 years. 5 full seasonal cycles and she is rested. It really helps when you thin the forestock down to 1/8" on each side of the barrel. That's pretty thin.

   Its a matter of preference in the long run. Where I think the rifle builder can make a big leap in the direction of improving a stock is seeing the grain pattern and making it work to his advantage. A machine ignores this.

   The kentucky has a thin/slender wrist. When the shooter puts his hand around a nice thin cylinder like wrist, it just feels great. I have never heard a man say "Oh no this is too thin" when holding a nicely shaped longrifle. On the other hand, it needs to be strong. After all the man who will own the 50cal rifle in the picture will be ramming patched balls down a 42" barrel every time he wants to take a shot. Its not a jewelry box- so there is a balance to be considered.

   Photos:

   walnut slabs with natural "drop" in the grain bend

   maple kentucky to show the thin wrist and need for grain strength.

    

    

   
3. 
   joepez | Nov 17, 2007 05:45pm | #11

   dahn, mapleman and danmart,

   thanks for the responces.   i understand the labor/yield curve, but i am gonna go ahead anyway. it will be nice to have a small amount of walnut on-hand for later use.

   danmart, yes i am rhode island, and your right, there's no forrest of walnut that i'm aware of. oak, plenty, walnut, no.

   thanks again

   joe p in ri

   happy thanksgiving.

    

1. 
   danmart | Nov 17, 2007 10:58pm | #12

   Oh by the way Joe, when you get into that walnut, bring a face mask. I don't have much of a response/reaction to most saw dust but walnut.. that's another thing. Walnut just seems to make me sneeze like crazy. I told a friend of mine who's a forrester in the western part of NC and he just laughed. He told me to just take a look in the fall at how fast the walnut tree sheds its leaves and nuts. Look down on the ground around most walnut trees and you will find very little undergrowth. Its a unique tree in many ways.

   One other story from personal experience. My father-in-law and I were working together to get some brown dye/stain brewed up for me and the women at Old Salem Museum, NC. We got out the old iron pot that we make Brunswick stew in and put it on a tripod with a chain and proceeded to boil up the water and pile it full of those black walnut husks to get a good dark brew. Done.

   Looking good. Lets just let it cool down and we'll get into the George Dickel and such. Before we go lets put a piece of plywood over the pot(18-20"diameter) so no leaves or junk falls in. Well, hours later.. I think. We came back and the concrete driveway was covered with what seemed like 10,000 squirrel prints. Those little rascals waited till the time was right, climbed up in the bowl and got back out.

   The next day my father in law said he saw one of the squirrels with a gray head and a dark brown body. He tells that story every Thanksgiving. I guess I'll be hearing it again next week but I thought you might get a laugh out of it too.

   Yes. We got to use the dye and the ladies at the museum got their yarn colored too. All is well and the squirrels got a warm bath and supper. Didn't have a digital camera back then or you can bet I'd have a shot or two.

   later

4. 
   RW | Nov 18, 2007 03:41am | #13

   Man I just got done commenting in another thread about gunstocks . . . bang up job. That looks great.Real trucks dont have sparkplugs

1. 
   danmart | Nov 18, 2007 04:15am | #14

   RW

   Thanks. Half the time I don't know which one knotters are referring to?? I have been posting some recent "half stocks" with wood I cut or hauled back in 2003.

   I live in NC and travel back to New England in the summer. Still have friends and family scattered around Vermont, NH and Maine. To make the visits fun, I haul up a bunch of walnut and trade it for some maple for the return trip. Everybody is happy and we break a little bread and drink a few.. beers.

   In the end I get to make some things that look special. It's the wood talking more than me. I like that. Makin' the wood sing.

   photo: a visit to Garrett Hack's farm/shop. Got a piece of maple for a stock. Garrett is an amazing woodworker and a real mensch. Thats Garrett and his horse Jazz. Hoorah.

   later

   dan

   Edited 11/17/2007 8:17 pm ET by danmart