Large walnut blowdown??

[irishcountry]

Ok I have a friend who's father in law has a unusually large walnut and wants to see about cutting it up to later turn into wood for home projects. He has asked me to cut it up. I relyed that walnut is a expensive wood and I am short on expirence and it may be better to call a sawyer and pay him to cut it up which he has said he is still interested in me doing it. I am wondering if it would be worth working my way around the log to make a square cant them cut boards off that still turning the log each cut. really I am open to the "BEST" way to cut it up I want him and maybe me to end up with some good lumber since it is walnut. I already know I don't have the capabliity to quarter the log if its as large as they explained can't justify buying a longer bar and a mini-mill for one log I only have a 36" bar and once mounted to my GB I lose alot of that. We'll any input is appreciated and thanks ahead of time. irishcountry

 

[woodshop]

Ok I have a friend who's father in law has a unusually large walnut and wants to see about cutting it up to later turn into wood for home projects. He has asked me to cut it up. I relyed that walnut is a expensive wood and I am short on expirence and it may be better to call a sawyer and pay him to cut it up which he has said he is still interested in me doing it. I am wondering if it would be worth working my way around the log to make a square cant them cut boards off that still turning the log each cut. really I am open to the "BEST" way to cut it up I want him and maybe me to end up with some good lumber since it is walnut. I already know I don't have the capabliity to quarter the log if its as large as they explained can't justify buying a longer bar and a mini-mill for one log I only have a 36" bar and once mounted to my GB I lose alot of that. We'll any input is appreciated and thanks ahead of time. irishcountry

well... before we can tell you the best way to cut it up, we need to at least know how large it is... 36"?... 48"? If it's less than 48 inches, you can put the dogs back on your big saw and free hand slabs off, or even use the csm to slab the outsides till you get it down to 34" or so cant at which point you can quarter it and mill it. Technically, while it will take a lot of time, you can slice up as large as a 5ft dia log with just a 36" bar in a csm (about a 32 inch slice in mine). Slab... turn log... slab... turn log etc etc. Walnut usually has lots of white sapwood anyway that you want to get past. If quartersawn is your goal, go for it after quartering. While quartersawn gives more stable boards, it doesn't always look as good as flatsawn in some woods like cherry and walnut which don't have the rays that give that beautiful quartersawn figure that oak does.

 

[irishcountry]

Ok thanks like I said I have not seen it yet but I didn't know walnut didn't have the ray flecks that oak can so stability would be the only reason the quarter it. Thank You for your reply

 

[Burlhunter13]

before you mill it into boards, look at the sapwood on the end grain of the log. If there is a lot of sapwood (like 4" or more) then you should tell him to let the walnut log sit. Over the next year to year and a half the sapwood will convert into the more desired brown heart wood. (You dont have to let if sit.....but its recommended so that you can get more out of the log.)

 

[irishcountry]

Hey thanks I forgot I had read that here before and seen it in my firewood pile last year (solid branch peices from tops only) I will ask him about that. Thanks