Come and cut it up...again. RESULTS!!!

[Mike Cruz]

I thought I would start a new thread on this so it didn't ge lost in the old one.
Well, Tony Di Masi came by today to cut up that big ole walnut log I had acquired. Thanks, Tony, it was a blast seeing you again, and thanks for doing so much of the work! For everyone that thought about coming, but didn’t, take a look. This first set of pics is of the log. When the sawyer pulled it out for me yesterday, it fell apart and we were left with two halves. This was a blessing and curse. Curse because one of the halves had a bunch of rot, but the other half looks quite nice. Blessing because if this had been a straight grain log, it would have been boring. But it was anything but boring! There is a ton of figure in this thing. It made for both some really interesting blanks, and a lot of waste. That is one thing I kinda learned today…ya gotta just let it go…you can’t turn EVERY piece. So take what is best, take a chance on a few pieces, but let all those scraps go.
This will take a few posts...

[Mike Cruz]

Here are some pics of some of the crosscuts. I put my glove on a couple of the logs to show size relevance.

[Donny Lawson]

Looks like it will make for some interesting turnings. Let's see what's on the inside.
Donny

[Mike Cruz]

Here is our haul! The pile on the left is mine, the pile on the right is Tony's. Heck, I had to twist his arm to take even that! The maximum swing on my lathe is 12", so I insisted that Tony take those two large slabs. One can yeild an 18 or 19" bowl.

The first (if it loaded properly) pic is of the face grain on a slab. This walnut had some really cool coloring...a lot of green, as well as the usual browns.

The close up shot is some figure on a 6" blank.

And those are the blanks that I roughed out. They range from 11 3/4" to 4".

Oh, did I mention that because of time constraints, WE ONLY GOT THROUGH 1 OF THE HALVES?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

We still have the other one to tackle. That will be over at Tony's next Sunday...not this Sunday.

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm going to need a whole roll of paper towels, I'm drooling so much! Nice!!!

[Jim Underwood]

Yup. Gotta let some of it go. And even when you do, you still can't get to all of what you did hold on to.

Nice haul! Hope you get a lot of nice stuff out of it, and get to it before the bugs and rot do.

[David E Keller]

Looks like a great haul... I see some spalting in some of the pieces which should make things even more interesting. I'm looking forward to some finished pieces.

[Cathy Schaewe]

Wow, those are absolutely great! Way to go, and nice of you to share!

[Baxter Smith]

Great pieces! I have found lots of free wood but the walnut hasn't been among it!

[James Roberts]

Nice score! Looks like a good work day was had by you and Tony. Now let's just see whats inside some of those blanks...

[charlie knighton]

way to go.....

[neil mackay]

.
That is one thing I kinda learned today…ya gotta just let it go…you can’t turn EVERY piece.


Yep. I have a friend who has built 5 sheds to accommodate his timber collection. Dunno how long he thinks he will live :D

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks everyone. Can't wait to cut up the other half. Anyone that wants to join me at Tony's is welcome!

[Rich Aldrich]

Nice wood!

The easiest way for me to part with wood is to tell my wife to throw it in the outdoor wood boiler when she fills it (normally I fill it). Not that I then blame her for getting rid of it - this is the only way I can get rid of it.

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, That is some great stuff, the longer walnut sits around the better it looks to me! I had a chunk sitting out back leaning up against the shed that I thought was a piece of pine. But when I went to move it the weight was way more than pine. I cut it in half with the chainsaw and I found some of the same things you and Tony found. Lots of great color and wold grain. It was a slab off my woodmizer so it was only about 3' long and had a big dead limb knot in it that was mostly rot. There were a few big ants and a couple of red worms living in it too, I think I upset the delicate balance of nature!

Have fun turning it,

Jeff