Found a stash of walnut--what should I look for.

[Matt Meiser]

While out and about I stopped at a barn sale and found a large quantity of rough sawn walnut. The seller is asking $2/bd-ft. He says it was cut at least 10 years ago and doesn't really know much about it as it was his father's who passed away a while back. The wood is stored in a pole barn with a concrete floor and is stickered. He doesn't believe it was ever kiln dried, but at this age it would obviously be pretty much dry. I looked at a couple pieces and they seem straight. One concern is that there is a white powder around the stickers. Its pretty much pure white so its not what I would think dust from bugs would look like. Any idea what this could be and whether it would be a concern?

[Fyrman Dave]

Many times when you store things on concrete you can get a white crumbly substance that gathers on the floor around the object. I have always assumed that this is a moisture related reaction with the concrete. It shouldn't affect the quality of the wood if it is well stickered.
My 2 cents.

[Dick Strauss]

Matt,
It might have been dusted with a borate powder to keep the pests away. If so, you'd do well to brush it off out in the yard while wearing a good mask. You might even consider using the shop vac w/HEPA filter to clean the wood surface. Then you should be able to work the wood as usual (using good dust collection just in case).

Nice find,
Dick

[Jamie Baalmann]

I don't think it being walnut you should be to worried about pests. It has a natural chemical that keeps them away.

[Frank Drew]

I don't think it being walnut you should be to worried about pests. It has a natural chemical that keeps them away.

Powder post beetles get into the sapwood (could that explain the white powder?) but don't seem to get too far into the heartwood, in my experience.

[Matt Meiser]

Thanks all. This is actually around each sticker, so I don't think its from the concrete. I thought of the borate which would make sense--is it a white powder? The stickers aren't walnut so they may have been/may be infested to but I'd expect to see sawdust colored powder. I've never seen it though so maybe I'm off base?

I forgot to mention that the guy has some basswood and some butternut too and they don't have this. So it could be some kind of reaction between the sticker wood and the walnut. Or it could just be that he treated the walnut. Apparently at some point years ago some of this wood was in another barn that he later tore down and he moved it here. The walnut is in back, so it probably wasn't that. If he treated all his wood, it probably would have fallen off the stuff he moved.

He does have a planer which he doesn't know how to use but he said I'm welcome to use it if I want ot get a better look. I figure if I make him an offer I'll grab a piece or two showing strong evidence of this stuff and run it through to make sure their aren't holes or staining after surfacing. I already asked--no tools for sale at least for now.

[Jim Becker]

Matt, it's actually preferable that the walnut is air dried and good that it's been stickered. Beasties do like "wet wood" better than dry. And when they do go after walnut, it's typically the sap wood as someone else indicated. Unless you see damage to the boards, it's probably a very nice buy for you and you'll enjoy working with the wood. Butternut is related to the walnut and also nice to work with. Lighter in color; a little softer, but nice.

[Michael Pauly]

May just be some sort of airborne dust that settled around the stickers. Especially if there is some airflow through the barn. Take a small brush and a block plane and clean up an area around where one of the stickers was and see if it affected the walnut.

Michael

[David Keller NC]

Matt - What to look for:

That the wood is of decent size - say 6" wide, minimum. Sometimes those that don't know will saw up big branches, and branch wood is nearly impossible to work. It's "reaction wood" and will warp, twist and behave badly while you're sawing parts out of it and after it's put into a piece of furniture.

That it's sawn reasonably thick. In my opinion, wood that's rough cut and air-dried should be at least 6/4 thick. Anything thinner may be very difficult to get flat without drastic thinning, unless you're looking for very small parts.

That there's reasonably few knots. A lot of black walnuts were palnted around homesteads in the 19th century, and they grew in the open, so lots of branches, and lots of knots and twisting grain. $2 a b.f. is very inexpensive for walnut - FAS graded and dried walnut goes for about $9 a b.f. here in N.C., but the #1 Common stuff (with lots of knots) is more like $4 b.f., retail.

Regarding the butternut - if it's of decent size and not full of worm holes, that's a real find. Butternut is being affected by a blight, and is rapidly dissappearing off of the commercial market.

[Chris Padilla]

Pictures, Matt? C'mon, you know better! ;) Sounds like a nice find!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

what should you look for?

A trailer.

[Rick Levine]

Matt,

It's probably DDT since it's been stored so long. You should probably bundle the walnut up and ship it to me here in New Mexico so I can dispose of it for you.;):)

[Matt Meiser]

I haven't bought it yet so it isn't a gloat yet. BTW, most of the boards are in the 12" range. :D

[Chip Peterson]

Matt,

what should you look for??? My address? Someone to share the wealth with (i.e. ME!)?

[Greg Cole]

I'd snag every stick of the walnut you can get your hands on... and me being well... me.... I'd take the butternut too!
I found some air dried walnut last year for dirt cheap and kick my self for not getting more. The guy had 3000 bf and I only walked off with @ 200 bf at a $1 a BF!!! But I did take all the mahogany he had for $3.00 a bf for 8/4 true mahogany.;)

Greg

[Karl Laustrup]

I haven't bought it yet so it isn't a gloat yet. BTW, most of the boards are in the 12" range. :D

At $2/bd. ft. you're still on the computer?????? :eek:

Reminds me of an auction I went to several years ago. A horse barn with 20 stalls, each filled with lumber. Most culled from the mans own property. The youngest was some oak at about 12 years. Cherry, Walnut, Butternut, Mahogany and other species I don't even recall now. I do remember there were 3 stalls with Walnut, wall to wall and stacked 5 feet high. The majority of the Walnut was 35 years old. Only thing that kept me from buying any was it went in lots. If I had to guess, each stall had around 3500-5000 bd/ft. and each stall was an auction lot.

I found out several months after the auction that one of the stalls of Cherry had sold for what amounted to .29 cents/bd. ft. It was one of the first lots to be sold and the conservator stopped the sale of the wood because of the low price.

So Matt, hitch up your trailer and go get that Walnut. And take some pictures.;):D

Karl

[Matt Meiser]

Well, I wanted to get some opinions on here on that white stuff. Plus there's the matter that a couple hundred bd-ft of lumber at $2/bd-ft is a couple hundred bd-ft * $2 :eek: Got to discuss that with LOML and we haven't had time yet.

[Phil Thien]

Well, I wanted to get some opinions on here on that white stuff. Plus there's the matter that a couple hundred bd-ft of lumber at $2/bd-ft is a couple hundred bd-ft * $2 :eek: Got to discuss that with LOML and we haven't had time yet.

Well, if I were discussing this with MY wife, I'd let her know the wood is worth at least $4 bd. ft. at a fire sale. You're getting an instant 100% return on your investment.