Mark Rios
02-18-2004, 12:02 AM
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.
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.