Thread: English and Black Walnut wood

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

Is this timber of interest to woodworkers?

Yes, definately

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

I suspect we would have to have it milled first?

Yes. How big is gigantic - girth dia, height to first fork, branch sizes etc? Simple milling rig may do the job, but if it really is gigantic, you may have to bring in a Lucas or similar.

Good luck with it, sounds really nice. Any pics?

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

Is this timber of interest to woodworkers? One tree in particular that we have (probably a good 80 years old) is absolutely gigantic, trunk would yield table size slabs easily. (Is hidden down a back gully so although a magnificent old thing would not be missed if it could put food on the table...)

I suspect we would have to have it milled first?

Is it ever !!!!! Especially if its grafted; the figure and color is stunning and a walnut tree of that age will yield good supply if its disease free. It IS worth a fair bit. Walnut is considered very regal in the woodworking fraternity, and the best of it has been used as veneer. The crotch section of the tree produces spectacular figure and is very highly prized as are burls if any are growing on it.

The late George Nakashima used walnut exclusively for his magnificent and very sought after furniture and Sam Maloof clearly states in his book that of all the timbers he has used, walnut is the most stable and user friendly.
The rocking chairs he makes out of it are selling for around $US22,000.

You have a little gem in your backyard if it's in good health.

Cheers, Evan

Hmmm that's good news! We have quite a few of these lovely old trees and many are actually still producing (amazing considering they were planted over 80 years ago).

I'll measure the biggest ones tomorrow and repost.

Hate the thought of chopping them down but man, there's got to be a way of making some money off this farm, god knows breeding horses doesn't do it!

Don't go getting to excited just yet, it's not just a matter of dropping the tree and milling.

Have a look through this thread and the link from Journeyman Mick as well for some info.

Thanks for the link DJ's Timber. Definitely worth reading.

We are not unfamiliar to what is involved in the milling process having had all our hardwood fencing rails (150 x 50) milled on-farm by a portable mill operator.

I don't doubt there would be much wastage. Plus the necessity to stack and dry (fortunately we have a huge farm shed).

But I doubt there would be many walnut trees in Australia of the age and size that we have here.

What I wonder is, that given that we could (possibly) mill quite substantial sized slabs of this seemingly rare timber, whether the market would be there to snap it up prior to us having to stack and dry it first? And if so, how does one price for that?

Tim Ber,

buying a slab green is a fair risk for the buyer and great money for the seller. Stacking stickering, keeping them flat and waiting until they are dryenough to use is a PIA and time, money, equipment and effort is expended long before the $'s are anywhere near coming in. Also during the drying process, you won't get 100% saleable slabs from your stack.

So with this in mind, you might get some bought at a good price green, but yoiu need to be prepared to have people expecting to pay much less than a dry slab - maybe as little as a third of seasoned price.

They will definatley be worht much more when seasoned. Having said this I sell my slabs at a nice price green to save me the PIA of haning on to them, I'd rather sell them all off cheaper than hang out for some huge price down the track.

Thanks Sigidi.

Can you explain what stickering is and also if the ends have to be sealed (I read that on another post and wasn't sure what it meant).

How long a drying time would we be looking at, 12 months? More? Less? And does it depend on the size of the timber cut?

And one more question (sorry) re the slabs that you cut, do you cut them as big as possible or is there a preferred size and thickness.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

Thanks Sigidi.

Can you explain what stickering is and also if the ends have to be sealed (I read that on another post and wasn't sure what it meant).

How long a drying time would we be looking at, 12 months? More? Less? And does it depend on the size of the timber cut?

And one more question (sorry) re the slabs that you cut, do you cut them as big as possible or is there a preferred size and thickness.

Cheers.

'Stickering' is placing wooden spacers (like tomato stakes) between the slabs to allow air circulation while it's drying.
Yes, you would have to seal the end grain to minimize cracking. You can get a purpose-made log sealer like 'Mobilcer' or use a myriad of other potions like old paint or paraffin wax - search on 'sealing end grain' for a pile of remedies.

The rule of thumb for drying time is 1 year per inch of thickness - out here in the desert it only takes half that or less
Slab as big as you can but I don't know about 'preferred' thickness - there would be a lot of different ideas on that. The stability of the timber has a lot to do with it - if it's likely to warp, twist or cup a lot you need to leave it thicker to recover decent boards/slabs. I would go for 50 to 60mm - gives room for movement and still allows some resawing.

Another forumite from Vic just milled a few cubes of English walnut before he came up here to dig some sapphires for a couple of months - I'll quiz him on stability etc when I see him on the weekend.

The timber is highly valued and I would recommend establishing contact with a buyer before knocking it over as they may have specific requirements.

It would also be worth carefully digging the stump out of the ground and hitting it with a Karcher. The gun butt men go mad for good buttresses.

The Ovens Valley in Victoria and parts of the High Country grow large quantities of walnut trees and many are a fair bit older than eighty years and with spectacular girths.

I've bought quite a bit of walnut from up around there. The farmed trees are not as valuable as the individually grown ones as they are mostly grafted onto black root stock. The graft is still visible in mature trees. The sporadic Juglans Regia trees are the big money earners.

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

Thanks Sigidi.

Can you explain what stickering is and also if the ends have to be sealed (I read that on another post and wasn't sure what it meant)..

If you have it you can seal the ends with end grain sealer or old paint, but I must admit I don't bother anymore, just another thing to use up time and resources on, the DanG things still split anyway.

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

How long a drying time would we be looking at, 12 months? More? Less? And does it depend on the size of the timber cut?

As mentioned RoT is 1 year for 1" in thickness, but you have to throw in one for the pot above 4", so yeah it is dependant upon thickness, but also environment like hot dry weather versus cold humid weather

Originally Posted by Tim Ber

And one more question (sorry) re the slabs that you cut, do you cut them as big as possible or is there a preferred size and thickness.

As big as possible - as wide as possible sure; as thick as possible? no never cut a slab that thick yet, too hard to move after cutting. Normally I stick around the 2" range, but it depends on useage. Coffee tables tend to be smaller in width and length so 1.5" is a balanced slab, big large dining tables slabs can be 3" and not look out of proportion. Although if there is no specific use earmarked then go with about 2".

If you need someone down that way to do a bit of slabbing let me know, I don't go into NSW, but I have a name if you'd like.

For milling you should talk to Morris Ferguson in Bermagui. There's also an abalone fisherman there who was setting up a mill, Morris will know him. There's also a mill just off the Cobargo-Bermagui road. It's signposted.

prozac

Originally Posted by Sigidi

If you have it you can seal the ends with end grain sealer or old paint, but I must admit I don't bother anymore, just another thing to use up time and resources on, the DanG things still split anyway.

In general, I agree, although I do seal logs that are prone to stain or split or are especially valuable. I'd be sealing the walnut, I think.

On the slab thickness issue, I'm with you. I cut some flooded gum slabs a while ago for a customer at 3" and we needed a forklift to move each one. 2" is really a practical limit for big slabs.

Originally Posted by Exador

I do seal logs that are prone to stain or split or are especially valuable. I'd be sealing the walnut, I think.

Hey Craig do you find painting th eends atually works? Do you use old paint or proprietry end grain sealer? I have used both in the past and found they still split. Although I haven't given it a lot of patience - still have the first can of end grain sealer I bought 4 years ago and sh'e 3/4 full

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Hey Craig do you find painting th eends atually works? Do you use old paint or proprietry end grain sealer? I have used both in the past and found they still split. Although I haven't given it a lot of patience - still have the first can of end grain sealer I bought 4 years ago and sh'e 3/4 full

I use old acrylic paint, usually. Bunnings always have cheap tins of mistints.

My main purpose is to slow down cracking and mould in the log. It works well enough. I think a bigger factor once they've been cut is release of tension, leading to cracking regardless of the end treatment. A minor secondary benefit is that the different colours let me keep track of the age of logs quite easily.

For hobbyists, it's probably something worth doing, but I process 20 cubes of logs a month, so the time taken is simply not justifiable. Far better to cut overlength and dock.