Big Milled black walnut blank

[motolife313]

milled with my 064 and 171 both on homemade mills. I’m super happy with it. Going to put some titebond on the ends. Be nice if I had some anchorseal for this piece. 171 cut it no problem. Seems like this walnut is easy to cut but not easy to lift or split. It’s my new favorite wood next to oak. The scraps go to the cooking wood stack and thanks grizz for getting me into this walnut. I’ve got a guy already interested in my 2 other slabs I cut the other day out of a different round. Took off another 2” slab to get it little wider fun little project

 

[motolife313]

I’m planing on sanding it with the orbital sander to get any staines off8.3 board foot is what I’m getting. What do you think it’s worth?

 

[PheasantHunter]

With the pith in the big block, I would expect lots of checking. Sorry to be Debby Downer

 

[motolife313]

At the very top where there’s a chain mark or the washboard area?

 

[Bmac]

Have to agree and be another Debby Downer, that will likely crack and split with the pith in the middle. Now if you cut that in half down the pith you will have better luck and the chance for some better dried lumber.
I've learned just about all wood looks awesome right off the log. Incorrect, and even correct, drying practices always results in some losses. Knowing how to minimize those loses are key.

 

[motolife313]

Since it has the hart wood it will wanna crack?

 

[Bmac]

Yes, but it's more complex than that. The pith is the earliest wood in the log, it's basically the wood that formed the sapling. It's very unstable. Understanding the pith and it's role in drying is just the beginning.

Here's a quick article I googled, it's an ok reveiew, but there is still a lot to learn.
https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entr...t-stock-into-a-cash-crop-of-woodworking-woods

Here's another article, pay special attention to the Juvenile Wood section.
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/drying-wood-at-home/

Here are 3 great books;
https://lostartpress.com/products/cut-and-dried
https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Craftsmans-Guide-Technology/dp/1561583588
https://www.amazon.com/Selecting-Drying-Wood-Best-Woodworking/dp/156158830X


Most of what I've learned is through study plus trial and error. I've air dried thousands of BF of lumber and I'm only now beginning to get a handle on the process.

 

[motolife313]

Thanks for the helpful links. I think I’ll just leave it for now. Maybe if it doesn’t sell soon I’ll cut it. I posted it on CL and already got a guy interested. 3 guys interested in the walnut slabs also. But 75% of the guys seem to just be “curious” is what I call it so little annoying selling stuff on there. Sounds like it’s going to take this puppy 10 years plus to dry.

 

[rarefish383]

We get into this so often. In the form it sits in now it’s worth about the same as firewood. Unless just the right person sees it. If an artsy person can see “something” in that piece, it’s what ever he’ll pay. A friend bought a new band mill. I told him not to buy any logs, I could get anything he wanted free. Next time I saw him he was bragging how he answered a CL add and got a BW log for just $3000. I asked why he didn’t ask me first. He said, well yeah, you can get anything, but not BW! So I showed him a pic of several cord of BW split up for firewood. I’m in MD and in the mid Atlantic area BW is so common it’s hard to sell. When Dad was still in business we had brokers come 3-4 times a year and grade logs and make offers. We did much better selling White Oak and Tulip Poplar than BW.

Now, all that said, if you find a niche market, with turners and sculptors, it’s any mans game.

 

[rarefish383]

If you go back to your “Is this Oak or Ash” thread. I posted a pic of my throwing ax on a hand made Ash handle. One of the pics shows the ax sticking in a forked slab, that’s a piece of BW, I like it for a target because it’s soft enough you don’t have to throw hard to make it stick.

 

[motolife313]

Maybe around you it’s only worth fire wood but not here. A guy offered 80$ for it but was just dicking around I guess. I could post that for 50 and I think it would sell fast. I got it for sale at 95$. I thought bowl turners used green wood? I wanna make some 1”slabs, I think they might sell better since there is a lot of uses for thinner stuff and drys faster

 

[67L36Driver]

That has a very good chance of cracking like this did after six months.

 

[motolife313]

Did u glue it anywhere?did u keep it out of sun light? If I put it inside I think it will dry slower and not do that. It is showing checking already

You can still atleast mill a few boards out of that so not a total waste

 

[67L36Driver]

Green pine 9x9x18, twenty four hours after freehand slabbing.

Cracks showing already.

 

[motolife313]

did u leave it in the sun? I was asking you a couple questions btw. Not much help by posting pics and not giving much info and Or answering questions. Thanks for trying tho

 

[67L36Driver]

It’s just emergency fireplace wood. I slab it to get rid of the bark/sapwood and stack it under the overhang on the porch. Nothing special done.

The blocks are from testing/tuning/break in of saws I’ve repaired.

 

[rarefish383]

Maybe around you it’s only worth fire wood but not here. A guy offered 80$ for it but was just dicking around I guess. I could post that for 50 and I think it would sell fast. I got it for sale at 95$. I thought bowl turners used green wood? I wanna make some 1”slabs, Ithink they might sell better since there is a lot of uses for thinner stuff and drys faster

No disrespect intended, but, you asked the question. I've been here for about 10 years now, and this question comes up all the time. We even have a "Very Valuable BW" thread. My experience comes from 4 generations in the Tree Business. A couple years ago someone posted a pic of a BW tree, and I think it was Sawyer Rob that replied he would pay for the saw log, if he didn't have to do any clean up. So, I asked if the log were near him, how much would he pay? He said if it was clear, he would go about $300. By the pic, it looked like about a cord of wood. We were a big enough company that we sold our logs to brokers that came to our yard and graded the logs there. Every time a log changes hands the price/value goes up. A log can go through 5 different sets of hands before it hits the specialty wood shop, and pending if it's air or kiln dried, it can be years, before it hits the market. We were offered crazy money for BW stumps. But we would have to have bought something like a Case 580 hoe to dig them up. Then repairing the customers yard would eat up any profit in the stump. As I said, if you hit a niche market, the sky is the limit, and CL is your friend. My friend that paid $3000 for a log, that I would have given him free, is a perfect example. The piece you have is a very interesting piece. I could make something abstract out of it that would sell. You kind of answered your own question. You have it listed for $95 and still have it, $80 offered, and still have it, maybe it's time to try $50. What you will find, like I found, is that you have stacks of slabs stacked all over your yard air drying. I have 8', 12/4, live edge Red Oak, White Oak, Dawn Redwood, White Birch, Spalted Maple, I sell for mantles. I get $100 per slab. If I do the local home and garden shows I will finish a few and sell them for $300 with all of the mounting hardware.

 

[rarefish383]

My friend made this carving for me. It's a diving Bird with a fish in its talons. I liked this one because I thought it was kind of abstract. Most of his work is very anatomically correct. He had about 30 pieces in specialty shops priced at several hundred dollars each. He sold a couple per year. He's moving, so he took about 15 to an auction, and only got about 35 dollars each.

 

[motolife313]

It’s just emergency fireplace wood. I slab it to get rid of the bark/sapwood and stack it under the overhang on the porch. Nothing special done.

The blocks are from testing/tuning/break in of saws I’ve repaired.

No glue and in the sun lol. that’s how you speed season wood , not dry it slowly. Thanks for trying to discourage me from drying my piece

 

[Ax-man]

It would make an interesting trencher or dough bowl . I myself wouldn't cut it into 1 " slabs . I would cut it in half and hope for the best . Walnut is a fairly stable wood if it is straight grained but that piece is all burl with the grain going in all directions. Good luck.