Black Walnut log

Hello all, first post in this forum, looking for advice. I work for a tree company and we recently took down a really nice BW. The tree was solid with no rot, I'll try and get a pic up. Found a local guy who does custom milling and already talked to him about it. Any thoughts on how to have it milled up? What about kiln drying the lumber?

 

Nice. What's holding up the truck? It looks like it's floating!

 

I saw that too! Thought I was seeing things...

 

Good eye.
Stabilizers

 

Its their crane truck...look for the outrigger jacks...about 10-15' on either side of the truck (well, I guess you can only really see the left ones...)

 

Now I see what's going on there...

 

From what I've read, quarter sawn is best, but depends on how big the log is.
I had a fairly small BW boarded out last year, and the sawyer said I'd have too much waste and not enough boardage if he quarter-sawn it.

I took him at his word, as I'm fairly illiterate in such matters.

I air dried mine, it's still stacked as a matter of fact.
It's on a porch, and I threw a tarp loosely over the top, but still allowed for airflow in the stack.

 

So the log is 14ft. I dropped thee log off and talked to the guy that is going to saw it. He said it might be best too cut in to two logs, a 6' and 8'. will prob just slab it, just need to figure out how thick.

 

That depends a lot on your plans for the boards. You'll want it boarded thicker than final use so you can plane it, and you may have some cupping to deal with as well.

Looking back, I apologise for not advising you to paint the log ends to help prevent checking, not sure if you did that or not. If there's checking at the ends you will end up with some waste to remove the checked ends.

I know LodgedTree or Shawn Curry both could give better advice on this than I can. I'm sure many others as well.

Will it be boarded by bandsaw mill?

Have you decided on drying method?

You will also need stickers (wood strips) for stacking to allow airflow through the stack.

I went with 1x2 pine firring strips because I had them on hand, not sure if I'll end up with staining on the boards yet or not.

You'll want weight on the stack to help prevent cupping as well.

 

Here's how I stacked my boards.

I have 4x4's on top and bottom wtih stickers between boards and 4x4's, then put eye loops in ends and used ratchet straps. I had to tighten the straps twice due to shrinkage, but only a click or two each time.

I also put a piece of plywood on top of the top boards to keep snow and sun off.

The topmost boards were the center Heartwood. Put them on top with additional ratchet straps.

 

If you are just going to slab it then I see no reason to cut the log in to fairly short logs. It does make it easier to handle getting it on the sawmill, but who wants 6 foot long boards?

Thickness depends on intended purposes. If it is going to be used as a table, I would slice it into 2 inch thick slabs, but if it is intended for a curio cabinet or something, I would be more inclined to saw it into 1 inch boards.

Sticker wise I have been told (2) things, and I do not have the answer from experience. The first was to always use the same sticker material as the wood you are trying to dry. So Black Walnut...black Walnut stickers. Oak...oak stickers. Now I did this with White Ash and with White Ash stickers and I got sticker-stain so my experience does not match what I was told.

The other thing I was told was that White Cedar stickers do not stain drying wood no matter what kind it is. Once again I got sticker stain on various hardwoods I was drying. So again, my experience did not match what I was told, but then again, I have been told the check is in the mail too.

As for drying, I just air dry my lumber, and if the wood is going to be used for something in my own house, stick the boards in the house somewhere to finish dry. A kiln is great for controlled drying and taking out a lot of variable of lumber drying, but it only goes so far. Wood is a sponge, taking in and releasing moisture, so even kiln dried wood, if left outside immediately begins increasing its moisture content. That is why I cringe when I see lumber yards with kiln dried lumber stored outside and carpenters buying it for framing houses.

 

What's the diameter of the log, ballpark?

1. Slab/flitch sawing at 2-2.75" would be a solid idea for black walnut. They would make nice table tops at 2-2.5 depending on width.. Gun stocks blanks would need to be 2.5-2.75"
2. Stickers need not be the same species. Mostly you just want light colored neutral wood like pine, fir, poplar, maple etc. The best, and cheapest, method I have found is to buy 1x3 lathe and split it down the middle, which gives you a 3/4 x 1 1/4 sticker. I normally make my stacks 4' wide, so I buy 8' and cut in half crosswise too.
3. Walnut is relatively easy to air-dry. If you slab saw it, then just restack it back into log shape with stickers every two feet and add a cover the top. Try to stick in a shady area but with good air flow. The base of your stack absolute needs to be as flat as possible to make your boards flat.
4. There is very little market for quartesawn walnut (more for oak) plus it wastes more than cant sawing or slab/flitch sawing. The great thing about slab/flitch sawn lumber is that you get flat grain, rift grain and quarter grain in almost every board! Very handy.
5. As far as cutting it down to 2 logs or leaving it 14' with a curve, that's a tough one. It's usually better to cut curved logs, but Scotty Overkill says, "shorts" under 8' are generally less desirable. However, 6' black walnut slabs can make some great furniture. If you can handle 14 x 2-3" slabs I'd keep them long. You can always cut them shorter later.
6. Good luck on your adventure. It's addictive!!!!

 

Here's a stack of cant sawn poplar from a few years ago. I didn't bother to weigh the top and it came out dead flat (poplar is super stable). Usually I run a row of 3 concrete blocks over each column of stickers. Cheep and easy.

As far as drying goes, it's going to take some time. Usually, slower is better (unless using an RF/vacuum kiln). If you cut 2-3 inches, you could let it air-dry for 6 mo - 2 years and then run it through a kiln for 2-3 months. Kiln-drying costs money, but adds value if you are going to sell it. However, if you kiln-dry to ~8% and then leave the wood outside, it will slowly absorb moisture up back to ~12% depending on your local climate so it depends on how fast you can sell it.

 

P.S. I did a little Googling and 3" seems to be desired thickness for gun stocks. That will take LONG time to dry, air or kiln, but may be worth it??? I've never actually sold wood for gun stocks, so take this with a grain of salt.

 

Here's a really nice example of how to dry slab/flitch sawn logs in log form (i.e. "en boule"). Image shamelessly stolen from Bucks Valley Sawmill, LLC, Bucks Valley Sawmill LLC Great local sawyer and lumber producer here in Central, PA . Super simple and ideal for a tree like yours. In some climates you can forgo the top cover, but here in PA that would never work.

 

Your sawyer is right.....Definitely cut the log.
Your sawyer will have a good idea on what's in demand as well.

Not cutting it...nott only will you loose a bunch of wood trying to mess with the sweep or "curve" but the wood will tend to warp and be a hassle due to tension. Not just while drying but while sawing.

From there you need an idea of what you want to do with it.
If resale is the idea, almost any black walnut is easy to sell... especially slabs.
It is important to saw for specific uses though!

 

Thanks to all for the advice and sorry for the delay in response. Log has not been milled yet, but should be within a week or so. Will likely be sawing some thicker pieces out of it where it makes sense. I will try and keep this updated once sawing is done and try and post some pics

 

Update, the log was sawn yesterday, we left it full length, 14' 5". We weren't too worried about losing a bit, the log was pretty straight, just had a bit of taper to it. We cut a bunch of 5/4 and took a few 2" slabs, decided on thickness as we went. Of course we hit metal, twice!! Log was probably 2' at the butt, 16" or so at the tip. Will post pics shortly. We are going to kiln dry the slabs to make sure they dry properly. Pics coming shortly