Walnut slabs, this seems like a really good deal...

[Tim M Tuttle]

No?

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/mat/d/stack-of-walnut-slabs/6379633474.html

[Joshua Bass]

Looks like a steal. Probably worth even payment ng the shipping fee to get in somewhere else.

[Jamie Buxton]

They’re recently milled — that is, green, sopping wet. You’ll have to dry them before you build furniture from them. If you air-dry them, they might be useable in three or four years.

[Tom Bain]

If those dimensions are correct, then it’s about 190 board feet of walnut, or $1.85 per board foot. Normally 8/4 walnut would run $8 - $10 per board foot around here ... so yes, run, don’t walk to buy the entire flitch! Air-dried walnut is gorgeous.

[Tim M Tuttle]

They’re recently milled — that is, green, sopping wet. You’ll have to dry them before you build furniture from them. If you air-dry them, they might be useable in three or four years. Holy crap, 3-4 years?

[Yonak Hawkins]

... 3-4 years?

You should be able to accelerate that with good drying conditions. Walnut normally dries fairly quickly. By storing in a dry place with good ventilation and employing fans (on the sides only) and a dehumidifier for the first month or two you should be able to cut that drying time in half, I would think.

[Jim Andrew]

Time is a little exaggerated. Rule of thumb is one inch per year, but actually runs a little less. Of course, after air drying, I put my lumber in my shop to further dry to usable moisture content. Buy a moisture meter to accurately check moisture content.

[Jamie Buxton]

On the contrary, my experience with thick walnut is that it takes substantially longer than that rule of thumb of one year per inch.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Thanks for the info all.

What's the optimal humidity level for drying? I have an unfinished basement where they could be easily stored but I am guessing it's pretty humid down there.

[Mike Cutler]

Thanks for the info all.

What's the optimal humidity level for drying? I have an unfinished basement where they could be easily stored but I am guessing it's pretty humid down there.

It should be lower than outside??? Unless it's loose stone.
I am at the end of a similar "project". I bought into a couple of walnut logs about 2 years ago. They were milled to 8/4 and have been stickered, and banded, in a shelter logic building for the past two years. The logs are about 18"-20" diameter. One about 8', the other about 12'
I am going to move them into the basement shortly, as it is wood stove heated in the winter and dehumidifier runs down the rest of the time. A year or so down there and they should be fine.
I bought them for a bow front cabinet I want to make, and need to be able to steam bend the wood, so I do not want it kiln dried.

[Edwin Santos]

If he wanted to kiln dry some or all of it, would it be possible to find a kiln owner who would dry it for a cost?

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for the info all.

What's the optimal humidity level for drying? I have an unfinished basement where they could be easily stored but I am guessing it's pretty humid down there.

Air drying lumber shouldn't be done indoors if you can avoid it...you need air flow to help move the moisture away through the stickered material. Stacking outside with just a cover over the top to keep rain/snow from accumulating on top so the prevailing winds can do that for you is more efficient than running fans and trying to dry lumber in a humid inside location is going to be frustrating.

[Stan Calow]

If you're in the KC area (where the lumber is advertised), you might get Urban Hardwood on 40 Highway to dry it for you.

[Bill McNiel]

Buy that material NOW! Good figure and very useable size at a ridiculously low price. It is not a good price, it is a GREAT price.

[Steve Demuth]

If he wanted to kiln dry some or all of it, would it be possible to find a kiln owner who would dry it for a cost?

Sure, but you'll ruin the wood. Look at the color variation across the grain he's got - walnut brown to purple to greenish brown. A kiln will muddy all that to blah. Air dry is worth waiting for in walnut, especially if, as this appears to have, it stood long enough after the tree died to lose its bark and develop some character.

[Jim Becker]

Steve, if they don't steam the walnut, the effect of KD on the color will be much, much less, if at all. It's the typical steaming that's used to make the sapwood "brown" that muddies things up with commercial black walnut.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Purchased!

[Steve Schoene]

i would think strongly about kiln drying, albeight with only the minimum steaming to avoid issues such as case hardening. The issue is TCD, thousand canker disease. This disease spreads with the movement of walnut. For example in Pennsylvania, Hearn Hardwoods says it can only sell walnut with bark removed, and kiln dried. I'd investigate this issue with local hardwood dealers and or extension services.

[Tim M Tuttle]

i would think strongly about kiln drying, albeight with only the minimum steaming to avoid issues such as case hardening. The issue is TCD, thousand canker disease. This disease spreads with the movement of walnut. For example in Pennsylvania, Hearn Hardwoods says it can only sell walnut with bark removed, and kiln dried. I'd investigate this issue with local hardwood dealers and or extension services.

Would it behoove me to remove the bark as soon as I get them? I dont want it on for any of the uses I can foresee.

Moreover, what are the steps I need to take to properly care for these slabs? I watched some videos by Matt Cremona who mills and dries a ton of lumber. He recommends sealing the end grains and drying them in a basement with a fan on them (and a dehumidifier in the warmer months).

[Bill Adamsen]

Though a Yankee pretty much all my life, I lived for awhile in Wichita, Kansas and was always amazed at the incredible large hardwoods when driving through Missouri especially west towards Kansas City.

To Steve's point, while rapidly disappearing from pests and pathogens, the US still has some of the greatest diversity of woods especially hardwoods. Moving wood that has not been treated for pests and pathogens puts that at risk, and should be avoided at all costs. Buy local. https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/

[Steve Demuth]

Steve, if they don't steam the walnut, the effect of KD on the color will be much, much less, if at all. It's the typical steaming that's used to make the sapwood "brown" that muddies things up with commercial black walnut.

Black Walnut is easily the most common tree on my place, and I cut my own. I've both air dried and had some other that I've cut kiln dried. The difference is, at least in my experience, worth the wait. I've also steamed some (for bending), and yes steam really muddies the color. With just "dry" kiln drying the color variation loss is much less, but not in my experience, minimal - particularly if the wood goes in the kiln with significant free water content. The color in walnut seems to move with the water, and the more rapidly you move the free moisture out, the more dilution of natural color variation I see.

But I'm a small hobbiest, not a professional sawyer or kiln operator, so others' mileage may vary.

[Jim Becker]

Oh, I'm very much a fan of air-dried black walnut...all of it that came off my property over the years was dried stacked on-site. :)

[Danny Hamsley]

I never kiln dry 2" thick walnut slabs green off the saw. It is best to air dry them for a year or so, then when the moisture content is 25% or below, you can kiln dry them to below 10%.