Resawing Quandary....

[Mark Rios]

Okay! I've been resawing up some walnut that I got from my neighbor for about the last couple of months. The trees (2) were cut up by my neighbor into 16" to 36" sections. I have been cutting them up with a chainsaw into peices with at least one 11" or 12" dimension ( diameter). I have been resawing them into 1" and 2" thick pieces for drying and have been doing all of this with my Grizzly G0555 just fine.

Here's the thing; when I started to cut up the root ball into slabs the blade wants to wander everywhere. This really doesn't seem like drift, I haven't experienced this before with any of the other cutting that I have done. I am using Timberwolf blades, of course, and I am now using Suffolk's 1/2" AS blade per the recommendation of Suffolk. I have used their 3/4" PC and 3/4" AS-S blades as well but Suffolk said to use the AS for what I have been doing. Anyway, no matter WHAT I do the blade just won't cut straight. Again, not drift in one angle that can be accounted for, but curves back and forth that bind something terrible. Could this be because of the wavy grain patterns of the root ball? I am attaching a picture of one of the pieces (I hope it posts okay) so you know what it looks like. I cleaned it up with my portable electric planer to show the grain.

By the way, I called a wood dealer about 40 miles from my area and told him what I had in the way of these two root balls and he said that they were of absolutely no value, not even for firewood (the danger of splitting and all). Is this true? Is there something wrong with the root wood of a walnut tree that makes it worthless for woodworking? After seeing the grain I can't believe that this is true. It sure looks like it would make some nices pieces.

Anyway, thanks for any light that anyone can shed on these.

[maurice biddles]

Can't help with the resawing, but I resized the pic for you. Open in whatever imaging software you have available, and resize. This is approx 400x600

[Glenn Clabo]

Check out this thread..
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?threadid=4547&highlight=pixresizer

[Alan Turner]

Mark,
Having never done what you are doing, I can't offer experience, but will offer a piece of speculation. Perhaps there is grit and such in the root ball, and this is adversely affecting your blade, dulling it out almost immediately. You might try resawing a regular piece of wood, as a test, with that same blade, and see if you accidently trashed the blade. Perhaps you knocked the sharpness of of the outside points of the set. Just a thought, and I am sure others will have the correct answer.
Alan

[Jim Becker]

There is probably more than one reason that your blade is wandering on these particular hunks of beautiful walnut. Blade tension, sharpness (what Mark wrote is absolutely spot on when working with wood that was in the ground when it was growing), motor power, extreme grain fluctuations...you name it. If you have a saw that can tension a carbide blade, that might help, but there is no guarantee.

As to the value of the wood...most turners would kill for stuff that looks like that! In fact, this spring I'm going to be firing up the 'hoe and digging out three walnut root balls and one Norway maple root ball to use for turning stock. It's good for flat work, too, primarily as a feature highlight in panels, etc. If you can kick the wandering problem, you'll have some nice thick veneer possiblities to that regard.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I think I read somewhere that certain gunsmiths prefer walnut root for making gun stocks.

That sure looks like nice stuff you have there.

I'd suggest pressure washing the root balls to get all soil off them. Probably grit is dulling the blade, as was mentioned.

If this is not the problem, try a carbide blade. I have a 1" Lennox carbide on my 20" Rockwell and am never going back!

[Arvin Brown]

Beautiful root ball - I wish I had it. My guess is that the grain is going every which way - which is good. I would think in order to get good cuts you would need to use a true resaw with a wide blade - 3" wide or so. That will take care of your problem.

[Ken Garlock]

That is what you get for listening to the salesmen. ;) The Timberwolf people tell you to tension to about 9,000 psi. Forget that and crank that baby up to over 20,000 psi. Second step is to get yourself a Lenox bi-metal blade. :)