Black Walnut

[Marklambert61]

I got my hands on some nice walnut logs today being new to milling I was just looking for some milling and drying tips for Black Walnut.


I would hate to waste these nice logs.

Mark

 

[topgut]

walnut logs

keep them off the ground until you are ready to mill them and for goodness sake don't let anyone cut them for fire wood..........sheeese

Beautiful wood..............

 

[woodshop]

I got my hands on some nice walnut logs today being new to milling I was just looking for some milling and drying tips for Black Walnut...

Welcome to AS

...are you looking to buy a mill or already have one? ...how big are these logs and where are they now? ...do you have plans for the wood? (that could determine how slice it).

Lots of variables... fine tune your questions a bit and we might be able to help you out.

 

[Marklambert61]

answers

Welcome to AS

...are you looking to buy a mill or already have one? ...how big are these logs and where are they now? ...do you have plans for the wood? (that could determine how slice it).

Lots of variables... fine tune your questions a bit and we might be able to help you out.

I have a 24" mill now...At this point I dont have a plan for the lumber but I plan to cut to 4/4 and 8/4 slabs....The logs are 5-8 ft long and about 20"-30" inches across I have them loaded on my trailer so there off the ground...

Mark

 

[topgut]

walnut

Private message sent

 

[woodshop]

I have a 24" mill now...At this point I dont have a plan for the lumber but I plan to cut to 4/4 and 8/4 slabs....The logs are 5-8 ft long and about 20"-30" inches across I have them loaded on my trailer so there off the ground... Mark

If you keep them off the ground so they can dry after a rain, and the beetles don't infest them, walnut, oak and cherry logs will last a long time just sitting there. I just today milled a 20" cherry log that has been sitting in the corner of my asphalt driveway since January 2007. Except for the end of the log turning a dark brown, which did not penetrate into the wood more than 1/4 inch, the wood was beautiful inside after sitting more than a year.

If the logs are not more than 8ft long, technically they can't be graded the top grade even if the wood is perfect, but that won't stop somebody from paying good money for them if they are at least 4ft long boards.

Search the forum on drying lumber if you have any questions about that or ask those of us that do air dry. You will need a flat stable place to stack your piles, and DRY stickers to separate the boards. One of the mistakes beginners make air drying is in the very beginning letting the wood dry too fast.

 

[BlueRider]

I think that walnut is probably the perfect wood to learn with. It mills nicely and you almost have to try to ruin it to end up with any drying defects. as with any wood you have to sticker it well and stack it flat, but walnut is generaly very well behaved and rarely warps or twists excessively. I have even had walnut that I never coated the ends have less end checking than other species that were end sealed imidiately after bucking into logs.

I tend to mill over size from what I want the boards to be. I usually mill everything at 2 1/4" which will shrink down to a fat 8/4. If you mill to 8/4 it will end up 7/4 after it is dry. I don't mill anything at 4/4, but if I did I would proably mil at 5/4 or maybe 1 1/8 if I knew I wanted 3/4 finised boards.

I usually try to capture the pith in one board knowing that I will cut it out when I end up using it. ocasionaly I will try to split it if that will net me more slabs out of the log. Trying to put the pith in one board also gets you the least and most consistant grain run out as well, which will make the boards more desireable.

Your walnut is a bit diferent that what we have on the west coast so take my coments with that in mind.

 

[woodshop]

I think that walnut is probably the perfect wood to learn with. It mills nicely and you almost have to try to ruin it to end up with any drying defects. as with any wood you have to sticker it well and stack it flat, but walnut is generaly very well behaved and rarely warps or twists excessively. I have even had walnut that I never coated the ends have less end checking than other species that were end sealed imidiately after bucking into logs.

I tend to mill over size from what I want the boards to be. I usually mill everything at 2 1/4" which will shrink down to a fat 8/4. If you mill to 8/4 it will end up 7/4 after it is dry. I don't mill anything at 4/4, but if I did I would proably mil at 5/4 or maybe 1 1/8 if I knew I wanted 3/4 finised boards.

I usually try to capture the pith in one board knowing that I will cut it out when I end up using it. ocasionaly I will try to split it if that will net me more slabs out of the log. Trying to put the pith in one board also gets you the least and most consistant grain run out as well, which will make the boards more desireable.

Your walnut is a bit diferent that what we have on the west coast so take my coments with that in mind.

I second all of what Bluerider says above, good advice. I mill a lot of lumber that will be 3/4 after S4S (surface 4 sides) and to get that result I mill 1 1/8 for most hardwoods like oak, cherry and walnut. If the stuff is all quartersawn or riftsawn with no defects, as when milling a large saw log, you CAN sometimes get away with milling only 1 inch. But thats only if you dry it carefully, meaning sticker every foot with weight on stack and don't let it dry too fast in the beginning. That is the exception though, most stuff I mill 3/8 inch more than I want to end up after S4S. In general, thicker boards will shrink the same as others in that species but tend to warp a little less. Also... for species that have a tendency to twist and warp like apple wood and sweetgum, those I always mill thicker and then resaw later if I want thinner boards.

 

[slabmaster]

I've noticed that some elm i milled was bad about bowing.I think i will try cutting it thicker next time,then resaw it on a bandsaw later.