Hi there can any one answer this. I have just got a large amount of walnut logs. How shall I cure this properly. It is still laying with the bark on it, it was cut about 4 days ago. What size is the minimum log dia.,minimum length. This guy was going to make fire wood out of the tree! Thanks RF
Walnut Jack Pot!!!
- Thread starter r.fallon
- Start date
You need to get it to a sawmill and slice it into usable pcs. If you leave it as a log, it will most likely split and crack as it dries. Then place it on a flat hard surface, like patio blocks, off the ground. Get some square thin pcs. of wood, (stickers as their called) and place them under and between the sliced pcs. the stickers are to permit air to flow evenly all around the cut pcs. so as to dry evenly. Place some weight on top of your stack of separated slices and wait for a long time with something to keep the rain and snow off. Do a search for drying solid wood on your favorite search engine.
David Henry
CGN Regular
- Location
- West of the big road
B.C. Walnut
B.C. Walnut, hmmm! the length of the trunk is not as important as the diameter which would want to run about 3 ft across the stump or larger. Storage in a dry location if at all possible.
If you check out some of the gunstock walnut suppliers on the net, mostly west coast U.S. you will see the size of trees that they use for stocks, lots of cool pictures of pre sawmill stuff. David.
B.C. Walnut, hmmm! the length of the trunk is not as important as the diameter which would want to run about 3 ft across the stump or larger. Storage in a dry location if at all possible.
If you check out some of the gunstock walnut suppliers on the net, mostly west coast U.S. you will see the size of trees that they use for stocks, lots of cool pictures of pre sawmill stuff. David.
r.fallon: It takes a large walnut tree to make quality gun stock blanks if that is what you are considering. Trees with butts in the 4' or larger diameter range are good candidates. Some of the best (fanciest) wood will be found right down near the root ball (so the tree should be fallen mainly by excavating the base and cutting the roots free) and also near any large branch junctions. Minimum unplaned plank thickness should be about 3" thick, but it takes a skilled sawyer to cut the log right. Common slab sawing will not always give many usable stock blanks. Quarter sawing will give the best grain layout for stock stability but the extent of wood figure may be diminished compared to slab sawn.
Once you have your planks cut use a stock pattern template and lay out the blanks considering grain flow through the grip and forearm in particular. Cut out the blanks with a band saw ( agood one) and seal the end grain with bees wax or paraffin heavily coated on the wood to prevent checking during drying. Or simply seal the ends of the whole planks with melted bee's wax or parafin. Drying of the blanks or planks should be done mainly in the dark, properly stacked to prevent warpage and over a lot of time- several years in your basement for instance assuming your house has relatively low humidity. It can be kiln dried but most stock makers think that tends to make the wood somewhat brittle. If you go this way and have a local kiln I would sure seek the advice of the smartest operator you can find there.
If you just want lumber for furniture etc. possibly cut to different dimension get the end grain sealed as quickly as possible after sawing as checking (end grain cracking) does not take long to start and can ruin the board in part or whole quite rapidly.
Once you have your planks cut use a stock pattern template and lay out the blanks considering grain flow through the grip and forearm in particular. Cut out the blanks with a band saw ( agood one) and seal the end grain with bees wax or paraffin heavily coated on the wood to prevent checking during drying. Or simply seal the ends of the whole planks with melted bee's wax or parafin. Drying of the blanks or planks should be done mainly in the dark, properly stacked to prevent warpage and over a lot of time- several years in your basement for instance assuming your house has relatively low humidity. It can be kiln dried but most stock makers think that tends to make the wood somewhat brittle. If you go this way and have a local kiln I would sure seek the advice of the smartest operator you can find there.
If you just want lumber for furniture etc. possibly cut to different dimension get the end grain sealed as quickly as possible after sawing as checking (end grain cracking) does not take long to start and can ruin the board in part or whole quite rapidly.
FFWD and stocker hit the nail on the head. You've only got a matter of a few more days to do all this as well. If for some reason you can't arrange for this before another week at most goes by at least roll the logs onto some plastic and then fold the plastic over and tuck in well to avoid any further drying until you can get it cut. This will give you an additional week or two of time. More than that with the temperatures at the moment and the wood will start to develop fungi.
I'm sure the guy didn't cut it with an eye to maximizing the figure and as mentioned size counts for a lot. Any gunstock blanks you get from it should avoid the sap wood and the heart of the trunk. The sapwood is the lighter color outer layer that is typically an inch wide. The first few inches at the heart should also be avoided as this is where the wood is the most reactive to seasonal moisture shifts. Besides the figure of the heartwood is seldom all that attractive.
Anyway, chop chop and get at 'er. The window to get it cut or at least properly split is fading with each hour you leave it.
I'm sure the guy didn't cut it with an eye to maximizing the figure and as mentioned size counts for a lot. Any gunstock blanks you get from it should avoid the sap wood and the heart of the trunk. The sapwood is the lighter color outer layer that is typically an inch wide. The first few inches at the heart should also be avoided as this is where the wood is the most reactive to seasonal moisture shifts. Besides the figure of the heartwood is seldom all that attractive.
Anyway, chop chop and get at 'er. The window to get it cut or at least properly split is fading with each hour you leave it.
You can get a head start with the checking problem by painting the ends of the logs with a heavy exterior latex paint. This will go a long way toward reducing checking between now and the time they are cut into lumber or gunstock blanks.
Thanks For the quick replies I may have jumped the gun in my excitment but I didn't want this to go to waste. I think I will pain the ends to delay the checking. I will try to post pics in a bit. The butt of the log is about 30" maybe a little small. I will keep people notified. RF
Go back and look for the stump. Thats where the best figured wood will be. These guys know their stuff. The branch crotches are the next most desirable pieces. The trees don't really have to be as large as mentioned above but they do need to be tight grained for quality dense blanks. There are several ways to stop the ends from checking, paint is OK, tar is better.
In the old days, boards were slowly cured for several years, some more than 20 years for highly figured wood, which is most likely to warp as well. Your drying procedure is extremely important. I know a furniture maker that likes to cut his own logs when he can get them. He will take hours on each log to figure out the best way to cut it to bring out the figure and avoid warpage and checking.
There is a lot more to this than is first apparent. If you have a lot of sap wood on the logs it may not be worh it at all. The last thing you want in any stock is "center ring wood". Any stock carved around it will never be stable.
In the old days, boards were slowly cured for several years, some more than 20 years for highly figured wood, which is most likely to warp as well. Your drying procedure is extremely important. I know a furniture maker that likes to cut his own logs when he can get them. He will take hours on each log to figure out the best way to cut it to bring out the figure and avoid warpage and checking.
There is a lot more to this than is first apparent. If you have a lot of sap wood on the logs it may not be worh it at all. The last thing you want in any stock is "center ring wood". Any stock carved around it will never be stable.
