Walnut Log

[adam prochaska]

I just had a conversation with a guy who cut down a large walnut tree about 5 months ago. Someone was supposed to buy the trunk but never showed up. Its been lying on the ground for the last five months. I am told it is about 10 feet long and three to four feet in diameter. Do you think this wood is still good? If there are cracks in the ends, couldn't i just cut off a foot or two from each side and still have good wood in the middle? I'd really like to cut it up for lumber.

Thanks!!

[Bill Cunningham]

I'm no wood expert, but 40+ years ago, we used to salvage sunken logs. We would haul them out, stack them for air circulation, and a year later, cut the split ends off and sell them to the lumber mills.. Some of these logs had been underwater for over a hundred years.. So, can't see why you can't cut the ends off a 5 year old log and saw the rest, if it's rotten in the middle you'll find out soon enough..

[Stephen Beckham]

Nope - absolutely useless... Where's it at, I'll go get it out of the way tomorrow! :D

Seriously, if it's that long - you should be able to find several nice pieces in there. I had several like that left on my property by the guy who logged it. If it's something he couldn't get top dollar for at the mill, he left it for fire wood for me. I found several trunks that had some usable parts. Still air drying down in the barn...

The guy that milled it for me gave me a piece about 14' long, 2" thick and just short of 2' wide... It's rough cut and sitting down in the barn drying also - it'll hopefully make a nice bar top some day.

Steve

[Richard M. Wolfe]

If you are going to have it milled, why cut anything off the end beforehand? The areas between any checking may be OK. If it turns out you have to cut off some of each board so be it....you can always do it later.

[Gary Garmar]

My neighbor and I milled a couple of Walnut logs last weekend that had been on the ground for over two years. Other than some pithy sap wood in spots and some end checking, the major parts of the logs were in excellent shape and well worth the effort to process.

[Mike Monroe]

It's still good. Walnut can lay around for some time and be just fine. Have it milled and be sure to paint the ends as it air dries.

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Not to hijack a thread and since Black Walnut is the subject please allow me to pose my question at this time..
My neighbor is taking down 2 trees very shortly, 1 is a monstrous Swamp Maple that is literally being torn apart by some of our NJ storms and quite frankly I am glad the big one is going, before it comes down by itself in my direction!
The other is a much younger and smaller Black Walnut, with a trunk about 12" dia and about 25' total height. I have already told him that I would like to have a few ft of the lower trunk and the spot where it first branches off.
What is the smallest diameter limb that would be practical to save, for turning or other uses?
I do have a Grizz 18" BS with a new 1-1/4-3TPI carbide impregnated blade that I would love to try my hand at sawing some flat stock.. Am definitely saving some of the lower trunk and the 1st branch off , for future use on my lathe... At least if I can screw up the courage to approach that spinning chunk of wood!!
Thank you...
GeneO

[Eric Sayre]

It is fine. The sapwood may rot after a few years, but the heartwood of a walnut log will last a long, long time.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I've processed several big walnut logs myself and I have quite a collection of it either dry or drying in my shop.

Black walnut is hell on saw blades, especially when dry. It picks up a lot of silica from the soil. The last walnut I slabbed up was a 38" diameter trunk and I wore through about half the life of a brand new rip chain and an entire gallon of gas doing it, I must have sharpened it 10 times that day. I learned after that that it is a good idea to debark it first. Walnut does tend to check a bit in the pith if it dries too fast, but other than that it will be fine, it does not rot quickly.

Go for it!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

It's not even good as firewood. Forget about it.

Oh what was the address and Phone ## ?
No reason just curious.

[Frank Drew]

I agree with the advice to paint the end grain with green wood sealer or something similar; you could do it now before the log is sawn into lumber, and that might prevent a bit of checking.

I also agree that walnut can stay in log form longer than some other woods without totally checking, but still, sooner rather than later is usually better with all logs.

On the ground unsawn over the winter is also better than over the summer.

[Allan Froehlich]

Not to hijack a thread and since Black Walnut is the subject please allow me to pose my question at this time..
My neighbor is taking down 2 trees very shortly, 1 is a monstrous Swamp Maple that is literally being torn apart by some of our NJ storms and quite frankly I am glad the big one is going, before it comes down by itself in my direction!
The other is a much younger and smaller Black Walnut, with a trunk about 12" dia and about 25' total height. I have already told him that I would like to have a few ft of the lower trunk and the spot where it first branches off.
What is the smallest diameter limb that would be practical to save, for turning or other uses?
I do have a Grizz 18" BS with a new 1-1/4-3TPI carbide impregnated blade that I would love to try my hand at sawing some flat stock.. Am definitely saving some of the lower trunk and the 1st branch off , for future use on my lathe... At least if I can screw up the courage to approach that spinning chunk of wood!!
Thank you...
GeneO

That is one heavy log you are talking about there.

Anyone think about calling a local sawyer?

[adam prochaska]

Thanks for all of the advice! I just received photos and the log is 12'6" long and 24" in diameter. I've been told that its mine for the taking. Best news is that they are going to load the log onto my trailer with a Bobcat. My plan is to take it directly to the local sawmill to be cut into boards. Any suggestions on thickness? If there is enough wood, i would like to build a dresser. Should i have it cut to 4/4 or 5/4? Thanks!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

If the log is going to be sawn on a Woodmizer bandmill, the most common of the portable mills, I would probably have it cut to the 4/4 scale. I only have experience with a Woodmizer so can't speak to other mills, but on a Woodmizer cutting on the 4/4 scale yields boards 1 1/8" thick. Cutting on the inch scale yields one inch boards. We experimented with various woods here (central Texas) and cutting green lumber one inch thick too many times gave boards that would not completely plane to a nominal 3/4".

For your case the log has been down a good while so it may not shrink as much as some. But if you are worried about movement (warping and twisting), leaving a little thicker will give room to play with those factors.

If you are going to air dry it yourself do a little research into how best to handle it and have a place for it where it can sit for the better part of a year.

[Joseph N. Myers]

Thanks for all of the advice! I just received photos and the log is 12'6" long and 24" in diameter. I've been told that its mine for the taking. Best news is that they are going to load the log onto my trailer with a Bobcat. My plan is to take it directly to the local sawmill to be cut into boards. Any suggestions on thickness? If there is enough wood, i would like to build a dresser. Should i have it cut to 4/4 or 5/4? Thanks!

Adam,

I just looked up the board footage using the Wood_Mizer "calculator". Three different scales all showing around 300 bd. ft. so that should be more than enough for a dresser. Walnut runs app. 5 lbs+ dry/bd.ft. so your looking at app. 1500 lbs+. And depending on how wet, it could be a couple hundred lbs or more heaver so I hope your trailer can handle the weight.

Question, is there a chance of any metal in the wood? If so, I would be concerned if you take it to a sawmill. You are usually responsible for damage to their blades and that could be very, very expensive. In the past, I have always used Wood-Mizer and damaged/broken blades are something like $30-$35. If sawmill, make double sure you have them run the metal detector over the wood.

Regards, Joe

[Tom Cowie]

Adam it's always great to see what"s inside when you cut up a log. I have milled several and though not all have yielded great boards there have been many beautiful ones that would have been lost to firewood .

Tom

[Frank Drew]

Adam

Have you decided how you want the log sawn? Many sawyers like to "saw for grade", first slabbing the log to roughly square it up, then cutting from the best face for a few boards, then flipping the log and cutting from another face, then flipping again, and so on. Problem with that method is that the centering of the log's natural grain pattern is quickly lost and you end up with narrower and narrower boards, which is why I'd suggest having the log sawn through and through (flitch sawn) without first slabbing. That method, in my opinion, gives the best looking, widest boards. And ask for some thick stuff (10/4, 12/4 or 16/4) from the center cuts since you might need, or want, leg stock.

I also agree to cut heavier than your intended finished size because wood both shrinks and moves (in the case of wide boards, tends to cup), so you'll need extra thickness in order to esure you'll have flat stuff once the lumber is dry and machined.

Most importantly, you need to stack and sticker the wood very carefully so that the wood dries as flat as possible, with as little degradation as possible; off the ground maybe a foot or more (my method: cinder blocks every couple of feet, then two nailed-together pairs of 2x6s on edge running the long direction, shimmed as needed to make sure their top edges are parallel with each other, then 2x4s (a bit longer that the width of your widest, or bottommost, board) on edge every 18-24 inches crossways on top of the 2x6s and on top of those your first board, then 3/4"-1" stickers between your boards lined up with the 2x4s.) And you should have everything ready and be prepared to stack your material right when you bring it home from the sawmill, not a month or two later. Somewhere with some air movement but out of the direct sunlight would be best. You can put some scrap wood or weighted-down corrugated metal sheeting on top of your stack to keep the rain off if it's not under a roof. Note: You're going to need a LOT of stickers -- one very near each board end then one every 1-1/2-2 feet, times however many boards you're stacking; they can be made from scrap, even veneer- or lumber-core plywood, and each layer's stickers need to be the same thickness and about as long as the boards are wide, but you can use 1" thick in one layer, 3/4" in another... [I'm probably telling you stuff you already know.]

Remember, your finished wood will only be as flat as that first layer.

Good luck.

[Charlie Plesums]

....
I do have a Grizz 18" BS with a new 1-1/4-3TPI carbide impregnated blade that I would love to try my hand at sawing some flat stock.. Am definitely saving some of the lower trunk and the 1st branch off , for future use on my lathe... At least if I can screw up the courage to approach that spinning chunk of wood!!
Thank you...
GeneO

The carbide bandsaw blades I know are for dry wood only - use a special blade designed for green wood if you are going to do any of the sawing on your vertical bandsaw.

[Josiah Bartlett]

From experience-
Wet walnut weighs at least twice as much as dry. I hope your trailer is stout.

I second the flitch sawing. If you have a good, big resaw bandsaw I would recommend sawing it into 6/4 or 8/4 pieces and resawing it when you need it. It takes a few years to dry that way though.