Wood Gloat (future/pending)

[Lee Koepke]

OK .... earlier this year, I reloaded some firewood from a local guy. We got to talking about woodworking and I told him I was just learning the art of the lathe, and if he ever ran into wood that he didnt want to split, call me.

He told me about a walnut tree on his Churches property that needed felling, but couldn't bear to see it relegated to someone's fireplace .... so he hadnt' dropped it yet.

Well, he called me today and said the tree is down and I could come get it! He thinks the trunk was in the 36" dia range, so probably wont all fit in my F150 :D

My question is (since he offered) what lengths should I have him cut the tree up? If there are some good trunk sections, I'd like to slice and air dry a bit .... but mostly I need to feed my vortex addiction?

I tried some searching here, although I found some neat threads, nothing specifically addressed my situation ...

[Jon Nuckles]

Lee, I asked a similar question a month or so ago and got some very helpful suggestions, including answers to what you are asking. IIRC, the thread was titled "what to ask for when offered free wood."

[Dan Forman]

You must be living right, walnut is hard to get around here. Enjoy working with it, smells wonderful.

Dan

[Lee Koepke]

Lee, I asked a similar question a month or so ago and got some very helpful suggestions, including answers to what you are asking. IIRC, the thread was titled "what to ask for when offered free wood."
YES ... that was the thread.
I remember reading it, filing the info in the ol noggin for future reference, but now that REAL opportunity is here, I didnt want to simply rely on my memory.

Thats exactly what I was looking for! And .... for everyone, as soon as I get something loaded up, I will post picture proof!

[John Keeton]

Lee, with this being a "yard tree" it will be difficult to get someone to cut it up for lumber without you bearing the cost of blades, etc. that may be ruined by nails, etc. embedded in the wood. That said, it is beautiful stuff, and air dries very well if properly stickered. The trunk certainly sounds large enough to produce some good wood, notwithstanding the very thick sapwood that is usually present in walnut.

Should be enough turning wood for a loooooong time, though!!

CONGRATS!!

[David E Keller]

At three feet in diameter, the pieces are going to be pretty tough to move around regardless of the length. For the turning wood, I'd get any crotches that you can. The wood near the base of the tree may be figured as well. Since I don't have a place to store entire log sections, I'd likely cut it down into rough blanks sealing as you go. For wood that size, I can't think of any reason to keep whole log sections, so I'd likely cut the pith out to prevent splitting and make moving the chunks easier. Photos of this tree will be appreciated.

You're gonna have purple fingers for a while!

[Lee Koepke]

Thats what I was thinking too. Thats several TONS of wood. I have a decent flatbed truck/trailer at work I could use, but then finding a place to store it ??? I'd like to get a 8-6 section and let my neighbor slad some of it for me, he's got room to sticker/dry it too. The rest I'd cut 4" plus diam and hide it somewhere on my property so the LOML doesnt get on to me too terribly much!

I really like walnut, and this really outta keep me busy for awhile.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on the Walnut Lee! Hope everything goes well harvesting it! Looking forward to the photos!