Irene downs large walnut tree

[Drew A. Dunn]

My father-in-law had a large walnut tree knocked down in recent hurricane. He asked me if I wanted any of it for woodworking. The answer is obviously "yes" but as a relatively new woodworker I have no idea what to do with a large tree. Does anyone have an suggestions? Are there tree services that could come out and cut it up in to rough planks? Is this worth trying to do or would it be prohibitively expensive?

Thanks,

Drew

[David Nelson1]

There is a couple of sawyers in your area. I'll see if I remember where I have them listed.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'd look in your local CL maybe even post a "looking for" listing. Think one of the wood milling equipment companies maintains a directory of their customers that are available for jobs... You'll either need someplace to stack and sticker the finished lumber to dry or find someone that will kiln dry it for you.

[Drew A. Dunn]

I'm in Maryland but my Father-in-law in Williamsburg, VA. Sorry, guess I left out a few details.

Thanks,

Drew

[Drew A. Dunn]

I'd look in your local CL maybe even post a "looking for" listing. Think one of the wood milling equipment companies maintains a directory of their customers that are available for jobs... You'll either need someplace to stack and sticker the finished lumber to dry or find someone that will kiln dry it for you.

"CL"? Sorry, forum newbie...

[Ted Calver]

"CL"? Sorry, forum newbie...
Craigs List. Incidentally, there is already one listing for downed Walnut in Williamsburg. I called. Three 36" diameter, 18' clear length trees. Seller wants$2,700 for all three.

[David Nelson1]

I'm in Maryland but my Father-in-law in Williamsburg, VA. Sorry, guess I left out a few details.

Thanks,

Drew

That makes a difference :eek:

[Carl Beckett]

I answered an ad locally - a guy had two 50' oaks down (one red, one white). He was advertising to clean them up for firewood. I couldnt respond fast enough (and he didnt care that I would actually pay something for them) - he just wanted a bunch of guys to come and cut them up and clear them, so they ended up as firewood :(

As you figure this out, consider that you might want to repeat the next time you get your hands on a good piece - so worth the time to find a local guy to work with (and whether it can be milled on site, or you would need transport, and how to dispose of the smaller limbs, etc)

ok ok... Im a junkie about salvaging wood that would otherwise be burnt..... yes, its an addiction.

[Cody Colston]

Craigs List. Incidentally, there is already one listing for downed Walnut in Williamsburg. I called. Three 36" diameter, 18' clear length trees. Seller wants$2,700 for all three.

People really have an exaggerated idea of how much Walnut (or any species) is worth when it's still a tree laying on the ground. $2,700 might, might, cover the tree service cost of removing the trees. That's what the owner has to PAY, not what they receive for those Walnut trees.

I suspect those Walnut trees will still be laying there this time next year if the landowner sticks to their price demands. $270 is a more realistic price.

[Scott T Smith]

People really have an exaggerated idea of how much Walnut (or any species) is worth when it's still a tree laying on the ground. $2,700 might, might, cover the tree service cost of removing the trees. That's what the owner has to PAY, not what they receive for those Walnut trees.

I suspect those Walnut trees will still be laying there this time next year if the landowner sticks to their price demands. $270 is a more realistic price.

+100.... unless it is veneer quality, then maybe just a little bit more. Professional mills wont' touch yard trees anyway, veneer grade or not.

[Peter Aeschliman]

To the original poster- just make sure you do your research on the proper drying technique (stickering, how to stack everything, etc) and make sure the sawyer knows how to cut the logs to maximize the quality of the resulting lumber. For example, figure out how many quartersawn boards you want, and how think you want them to be.

I'm making a dining table for a good buddy of mine. His dad, who has since passed away, had to take a diseased walnut tree out of his front yard. He had a guy come out with his portable sawmill to rough cut the tree into planks. He asked me to turn those boards into a table for him, and he brought them all the way to Seattle from Boise, ID.

Sadly, they did a few things horribly wrong. It seems that almost all of the boards are rift-sawn. Not sure exactly how they managed that, but there doesn't appear to be a quartersawn piece in the whole lot. Maybe his dad used them already... They also cut them too thin. Make sure to get yourself some nice thick 8/4 pieces out of there. That way if you do get some twisting and warping, you have enough material to take the warp or twist out. He also didn't sticker the lumber. He just piled the wood up in his shop. So the boards are nearly un-usable. Major twisting, warping, and cupping. I picked through the pile, cut them into smaller pieces, etc. The waste factor at this point is in the 70% range. It's really sad that so much potentially nice hardwood has to be thrown out.

For the boards I have had a chance to joint and plane, they're now about half an inch think.... So I will need to face-glue pieces together to get thick enough stock to make a table top. The only reason I'm going to this trouble is for the sentimental value the wood has to my buddy- it's something to remember his dad by.

So... do your research and do it right!

[Danny Hamsley]

Contact Richard Montel of Skyhawk Custom Sawing. He is in Williamsburg.

[Ronald Blue]

Do your research but the consensus from what I have read is there is little advantage to quartersawn walnut. I had 3 nice almost knot free logs worked up a year and one half ago and then kiln dried in a solar kiln. I had most of it made in to 5/4 stock and all plain sawn. Unless there is a specific purpose in mind that would require quartersawn then I wouldn't recommend it. To each his own however. Good luck with it. Here is a link about whether to quartersaw or not. http://lumberjocks.com/topics/24839

[Chris Mahmood]

+100.... unless it is veneer quality, then maybe just a little bit more. Professional mills wont' touch yard trees anyway, veneer grade or not.

Why?

xxxxxxxxxx

[Don Sundberg]

Why?

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Trees in yards have a much higher probability of having metal in them. Metal and saw blades do not mix.:eek: I would imagine that the knives used for veneer cutting don't like cutting metal either. There is nothing grumpier than a circle mill owner that has just stripped all of the inserted teeth from his blade from hitting a large piece of metal in a tree.

You can usually get a portable band mill guy to cut yard trees. They usually have some policies in place to deal with metal in trees and a schedule to be compensated for the extra time and ruined bands if metal is found.

[Gary Kman]

Why?

xxxxxxxxxx

Why no "Yard" trees? Hardware. I've had to listen to half-hour rants and swear on a stack of bibles to get a sawyer to cut a log for me. A horseshoe in one horror story. Of course I'm the guy with the log that wants the lumber not the guy that buys expensive blades so I get really tired of hearing it.

Fast forward to this week. Big black locust 20' from the back door blows down in a storm. Lay into it with my 36" Echo widow-maker chainsaw. Find a nail where I decide to cut? No. TWO. Ripped a 16d almost perfectly in half and cross cut the other one. Do you know how many teeth there are to sharpen on a 36" chain? About 12,496.:eek:

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have a small metal detector in my shop... but don't they make metal detectors big and sensitive enough to detect metal in a tree? I'd think that professionals would be willing to invest in something like that. But what do I know?

[Chris Mahmood]

That's interesting, I would have guessed yard trees were less likely to have metal in them. At least the only time I've ever found metal in lumber was a blob of lead but I guess they'd be more worried about nails and lag screws from treehouses and that sort of thing.

[Chris Barnett]

Think I'll pull his chain and offer him $1000, right now or forget it...and that's cut up for me in 10 ft lengths, and cleared of branches. $2700, the nerve!!!


Blob of lead !!! Might be first shot of the civil war...unless of course the tree was in CA :).

[Scott T Smith]

I have a small metal detector in my shop... but don't they make metal detectors big and sensitive enough to detect metal in a tree? I'd think that professionals would be willing to invest in something like that. But what do I know?

Peter, I have the best metal detector that I could find - it was over $1,200.00. It will only detect about 2-3" deep in the log.

People put all kind of strange things in yard trees. Earlier this year I trashed a $500.00 saw blade due to a porcelain insulator embedded in a 100 year old oak log. Metal detector missed that one.... I've cut out hooks, old coke bottles (that one only cost me a re-tipping of the blade…), even plow discs from logs, in addition to a ton of nails, spikes, barbed wire, etc. But then again, I specialize in quartersawing extremely large diameter oak logs, so I don't have much choice other than to put up with the trash and price the boards accordingly.

A set of veneer knives for a commercial veneer machine cost in the neighborhood of 30 grand. It's not worth the risk to the operator to use a yard tree.

To the OP, walnut is typically flat sawn, not quartersawn.

[David Winer]

That's interesting, I would have guessed yard trees were less likely to have metal in them. At least the only time I've ever found metal in lumber was a blob of lead but I guess they'd be more worried about nails and lag screws from treehouses and that sort of thing.During my years of insanity (the period when I collected and hauled fallen trees, had them sawed, stickered the boards, and had them kiln dried) my also crazy friend and I would guarantee the saw mill owner for damage to his blade. We lost some money on that deal.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Peter, I have the best metal detector that I could find - it was over $1,200.00. It will only detect about 2-3" deep in the log.

Interesting. I'm surprised there isn't something on the market that is more sensitive. But physics are physics I guess.

Do you use your metal detector multiple times throughout the cutting process? Meaning, cut 2-3 inches off, run the detector over it, cut 2-3 more inches off, use the metal detector again, etc?

Obviously I'm completely ignorant in these things.

[Scott T Smith]

Interesting. I'm surprised there isn't something on the market that is more sensitive. But physics are physics I guess.

Do you use your metal detector multiple times throughout the cutting process? Meaning, cut 2-3 inches off, run the detector over it, cut 2-3 more inches off, use the metal detector again, etc?

Obviously I'm completely ignorant in these things.

Peter, there might be somthing available, but odds are that it would not be affordable for most small operators.

Re the use of the detector, it depends upon what I'm milling. Since my primary business is quartersawn oak, I am fortunate in that metal inside of oak trees will leave a black stain trail all the way down through the root ball. Thus, I have a tell-tale sign when metal is present, and I can use the detector as needed.

With other logs, we will scan the outside of the log, but usually not continue to scan unless we have reason to believe that metal is present. The reason why is time. To hear the detector, we have to totally shut down the sawmill, and then take the time to scan, then restart the mill, etc. To do this ever 2" of cutting is utterly impractical and economically unsustainable. If I'm cutting 2X material from a small log, I would have to shut down the mill and rescan with every pass!

It makes much more economic sense to simply pass on yard trees....

[Peter Aeschliman]

To hear the detector, we have to totally shut down the sawmill, and then take the time to scan, then restart the mill, etc. To do this ever 2" of cutting is utterly impractical and economically unsustainable. If I'm cutting 2X material from a small log, I would have to shut down the mill and rescan with every pass!

It makes much more economic sense to simply pass on yard trees....

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

If I were an entrepreneur, I'd make a metal detector for you that uses distinct visual queues like lots of LED lights so that you wouldn't have to shut your sawmill down completely. ;)