white walnut

[Mark Almeidus]

I friend of mine had a walnut tree in his backyard. Its was realy big and was making problems in 2 of his neighbours. He said to me find a man who can cut it and I will give you half of it. It was 5 m straight before it started to brench of and it had 45 cm circumference. So you can imagine how big it was .
But the dissapointment came when they cut it. The color was yellow something like pine. So probably young walnut. At the bottom was light color. and about a meter from the bottom i noticed dark circle which was about 3 cm in diameter. I dont want to think the rest is sapwood :(.
The question is should i throw more mmoney to get the 2 pieces that are 1m 70 cm long to sawmilling? Does it have any value to make something out of it (furniture etc.)? One man told me to let it dry like that for 3 months to get darker color and then take it to sawmill. I paid 50 euro for the tree to be taken down.

[Bill Houghton]

Walnut sapwood is pretty wide.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Butternut perhaps??

[John K Jordan]

45 cm around? You don't mention where you live but the reference to euro is a clue.

Around here (TN in USA) we have only Black Walnut but the sapwood is still pretty light. It does darken some with age. The white can be very wide in a young tree.

45 cm, about 18" circumference, is less than 6" in diameter which is a very small and young tree here, not even big enough to saw, at least for me. I would expect Black Walnut that size to be mostly or entirely white wood with a tiny dark core. I have had black walnut trees 75" in circumference (190 cm) which were almost entirely dark wood.

I suspect yours is not Black Walnut. I have no experience with English or other walnut trees. I do know that some English Walnut wood I get is pretty light compared to Black Walnut.

JKJ

[Mark Almeidus]

Dave I am sure its not butternut. I made search on internet about white walnut and it gave me butternut mostly :D.
I leave in Macedonia. Walnut here is different in color compared to black walnut. John the tree was really big almsot to the 3th or 4ht floor of a building, and it was doing problems on the balconies and windows of 2 houses especialy when it was windy they thought any moment it can fall. So it had to be taken down. To be honest i also felt bad for the tree when i saw it was young and what potential it had.
Here is an example picture of how big the heartwood is.
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Same like the log on the right.

[Paul Sidener]

There is more than one type of walnut tree. Here I can get English and Black Walnut. Looking at the log, I don't think it is walnut. It is difficult to tell from the photos. I have cut down a few hickory trees, they have a small dark center like that sometimes. If it is hickory it can be worth sawing. I don't know if any of that helps you.

[Warren Mickley]

Your tree kind of reminds me of Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Do you know if anyone has eaten nuts from this tree?

[Mark Almeidus]

I posted the image just to have an example of how big is the small dot or what I think its the heartwood of the young walnut. Sure its walnut, but for sure gonna check again tomorrow and take some pictures ;).

[Mark Almeidus]

Here is the image of the wood. First 2 pieces are 1.70 m long each.
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What is the best way to use it for if its not good for woodworking?

[John K Jordan]

That looks bigger than 45cm diameter! BTW, for ID questions, walnut also has a very distinctive smell, at least black walnut does.

I like to turn wood, so if I had that I would cut it into turning blanks on the bandsaw, seal the ends, and let it dry for a few years. Although the grain of walnut is not usually fine, it still looks good, white or dark, filled or open. The crotch might have some beautiful figure.

JKJ

[Dan Duperron]

I'd be worried about that off-center pith if the entire bole is like that. See how the growth rings are wide on one side and crunched together on the other? Sawn into boards it might do all sorts of interesting things as it dries, or worse as you are trying to work it later.

Turning might be a good use for it, any warpage could introduce interesting effects in the final pieces.

If you have the means it can't hurt to saw it up and see how it works once its dry, but be aware it may end up as firewood.

I could be totally wrong too, every tree is unique, but those are my thoughts when I look at the pics.

[Paul Sidener]

That still doesn't look like walnut, to me. I don't even see any nuts on the ground. If you can take a picture of the nuts and leaves. It is easier to identify a tree by the leaves.

[Warren Mickley]

The pictures are some help, Mark. The bark looks a little odd for walnut but the buds and twigs do look like walnut. All walnuts have chambered pith. If you split a twig lengthwise the pith is hollow with a membrane every millimeter or two.

Assuming there are nuts and it is walnut, the most likely possibility is Juglans regia which is native to the general region. We call it English walnut or Persian walnut. The wood has a very fine texture, the best of the walnuts. The sapwood might be more prone to decay out in the weather, but still a very fine wood to work. It gets a bit golden with age.

I think two American walnuts (butternut , Black walnut) would grow in your area, but it does not look like any of them, Nor does it look like Japanese walnut which has rougher bark and pointier buds. There is a Manchurian walnut which I am not familiar with and some other species from South America.

[Mark Almeidus]

Appreciate the info guys. You are wright Warren, Juglans regia is the main walnut species in the balkans. I will make more pics tomorrow and see if there are nuts around, (I am going nuts already). What is boggling me is why the heartwood doesnt start at the bottom as you can see on the second log, or its normal but nevermind.