Wood Gloat - Black Walnut

[Gary Howorka]

Ran into a guy who needed to get rid of some black walnut. Big pile but some really nice stuff in there.

Got it all for $400.

I have 10 pieces 12"-15" W X 5/4 X 8' plus a crap load other great wood. Took some dimensioning and pruning
but I think I got a really great deal.

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[Will Boulware]

Not bad! Good score on that. Any plans for it?

[Gary Howorka]

1) Going to use some for the leg vise on the Nicholson I am building and for part of the Wagon Vise.
2) Might use it to make a Dutch Tool Chest ( seems like a strange idea? ). This seems wrong to me for some reason but hey I got a bunch of it.
3) Going to make a bar counter top intermixed with some cherry and maple for the basement. Small one about 6 X 2 feet.
4) End Tables ( direct order from the wife ).
5) Bench for the entry way in the house.

[Mike Brady]

I love black walnut for the obvious beautiful appearance and the ease with which it works with hand tools. I would, however, think twice about the suitability of walnut for a vise application. That is a pretty soft wood to withstand the forces that a leg vise would generate. Maple, ash, hickory, beech would all be much better, in my opinion. You might think about a little more beef than 5/4 would provide also.

Some people make a case for bench materials that yield to the work piece; in other words, dent the bench rather than the finished product. A leather face on the vise chop avoids that and provides needed grip too. Your walnut could make a sweet Moxon vise, which has twin screws to spread the load of clamping.

[Gary Howorka]

I love black walnut for the obvious beautiful appearance and the ease with which it works with hand tools. I would, however, think twice about the suitability of walnut for a vise application. That is a pretty soft wood to withstand the forces that a leg vise would generate. Maple, ash, hickory, beech would all be much better, in my opinion. You might think about a little more beef than 5/4 would provide also.

Some people make a case for bench materials that yield to the work piece; in other words, dent the bench rather than the finished product. A leather face on the vise chop avoids that and provides needed grip too. Your walnut could make a sweet Moxon vise, which has twin screws to spread the load of clamping.


I see a lot of guys use Walnut for their leg vises but they use 8/4. I would plan on face jointing to pieces together if I use some of that. Now maybe that would be a disaster?

I am on the side of the fence that says let the bench yield. Just a personal preference. Part of why I am doing the Nicholson is for that reason as well as simple build process. Some of those Roubos I see out there online are so nice I would be afraid to use them and put a scratch on them. They look better than most of my furniture in the house. :eek:

Thanks for the heads up and I will probably move to Maple on the wagon vise ( the screws I have are maple anyway ). Will have to ponder the leg vise a bit more.

[Tony Shea]

Very nice score. I would love to get into a deal like that. I've paid close to that for one board of walnut, although a special piece. But still that seems like a great price for all that wood. Nice one.

[Mike Brady]

Sounds like you are on top of it, Gary. Bear in mind that I am speaking as the user of a twin screw face vise with chain drive and 8/4 x 24" (laminated) ash chop. Not pretty like figured walnut, but no sissy vise either. I think your design will work ok; and if it doesn't, a different chop is very easy to make.

Keep in mind that ash and walnut are at opposite ends of the scale of elasticity among common hardwoods. There are no walnut baseball bats.

[Gary Howorka]

Sounds like you are on top of it, Gary. Bear in mind that I am speaking as the user of a twin screw face vise with chain drive and 8/4 x 24" (laminated) ash chop. Not pretty like figured walnut, but no sissy vise either. I think your design will work ok; and if it doesn't, a different chop is very easy to make.

Keep in mind that ash and walnut are at opposite ends of the scale of elasticity among common hardwoods. There are no walnut baseball bats.

LOL. :D You know. I keep going back and forth between doing a twin screw versus the leg vise. How do you like the twin screws and what is the main benefit as a guy who has been using one for a while.

[Chris Griggs]

Very nice score. I would love to get into a deal like that. I've paid close to that for one board of walnut, although a special piece. But still that seems like a great price for all that wood. Nice one.

Next time do what I did. Marry a women whose parents cut down a large walnut tree 20 years ago and had it milled into boards and slabs of various sizes. Now I have all the air tried walnut a lad could wish for, and it only cost me my bachelorhood :)....Can i get a "you suck" please?

[Zach Dillinger]

Next time do what I did. Marry a women whose parents cut down a large walnut tree 20 years ago and had it milled into boards and slabs of various sizes. Now I have all the air tried walnut a lad could wish for, and it only cost me my bachelorhood :)....Can i get a "you suck" please?

I don't know if that's gloatable... what does that boil down to, per board foot? :)

[Gary Howorka]

I don't know if that's gloatable... what does that boil down to, per board foot? :)

Chris, you walked right into that one!

I am sure the 20 year amortization cost far exceeds my cost per board foot!

[Brent Ring]

Build Item #4 first - You will get more options on more $400 opportunities that way :) - Nice Gloat by the way - Black Walnut is my wife's favorite wood. I have built a dining room set, king size bed, a daughters hope chest, and some christmas serving trays out of it. Love the smell it leaves in my shop cut!

[Tom Vanzant]

Chris,
My FIL was a self-taught woodworker with a keen eye for good wood. He turned many a bowl from burls that he located in the wild and air-dried. Over the years he has gifted me with a couple hundred BF of clear air-dried cherry and one plank of quilted cherry as well as a hundred BF of air-dried black walnut from the same tree, blown down ten years ago on his neighbor's property. I make mostly boxes and jewelry trays, so I am set for a while.
My wife has gifted me with several collector-grade firearms and a set of three Steve Knight planes in cocobolo, so as for cost per BF, we're even.
Tom

[Chris Griggs]

I don't know if that's gloatable... what does that boil down to, per board foot? :)


Chris, you walked right into that one!

I am sure the 20 year amortization cost far exceeds my cost per board foot!

Touche'! Too funny guys!! :D

Actually the walnut pile at my in-laws is kinda a mixed bag. Some really nice pieces, but only some of it is really good quality and the pile has a bunch of worm eaten lumber of some other type (hickory I think) mixed in with it...so its not AS great as I initially hoped when they first told me about it.

Still...I'm not complaining. That's about 30 BF at the back of the wood pile there, in mostly 11-12" wide pieces...

Though I must confess that Gary and Tom both made out better than I did (in terms of wood, not wives :)). Definitely a great find for Gary.

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[Jim Matthews]

Thou doth suck the gnarled teat of a ferret, verily.