Black wallnut tree

[Richard Clements]

[MPS]

I lost a black wallnut in the recent hurrican. Trunk is 20" dia and about 10 feet before first banches, branches are abour 12"-14" . I going to cut it in the longest lenghts possible and then get it off the ground and cover it. Does anyone have any idea what it is worth? I am told it it very high price wood but I have know idea who would be interested in it.

Any help, thanks

Myles

[Swingman]

Be aware that in some parts of the country, much of the valuable part of the walnut tree (burl) may be at or below ground level, so you might want to be on the safe side and check with someone locally before you go chopping it up.

[Fly-by-Night CC]

I don't think you'll be retiring any time soon. A 20" tree is going to be limited a bit in the diameter of the heartwood. It's the heartwood (the dark center) that is what people buy black walnut for. Also, though I'm not sure about this, the tree may have suffered internal damage from the high winds like wind shake (splits within the core of the tree) that will lower the useablity of the wood for lumber.

You might wish to contact a local turning group - those guys are well versed in harvesting their own stock. They also often have connections to folks who cut such "yard" trees into lumber. If you can post your town and state, I'll try to locate a turning chapter of the Am. Assoc. of Woodturners for you.

[bridger]

without being properly milled and dried it's worth it's weight in firewood.

[Mike]

Repost this, along with name of the town and state you're in at

MPS wrote:

[dave in Fairfax]

Try this link for turners in your area.

you aren't in GA, the other states are there as well.

Dave in Fairfax

[mac davis]

The guys in rec.crafts.woodturning are experts in this stuff.. try them

a member of that group would be a good contact, also.. he does a large amount of "green wood harvesting"

[Prometheus]

Spell check, PLEASE. That just hurts my eyes. Black Walnut goes for $4.25/bf in my area of Wisconsin- that is for S3S wood, random widths and lengths. In other words, it's probably worth a whole pile of money.

[firstjois]

Isn't there some funny kind of warning that goes with black walnut? the dust? something?

Jois

[Fly-by-Night CC]

Now don't go and get the guy all excited. As I mentioned in my reply to him, the useable lumber section is going to be diminished a bit by the several inches of sapwood. Then you've got the pith area that needs to be cut around. Then you've got to have it sawn and dried. Air drying will take a year or two or three, depending - or else pay to have it kiln dried by a commercial outfit. To get your S3S lumber then it needs to go to a mill for further dimensioning. All this costs time, transportation and money. The guy really doesn't have a lot of potential lumber there - a 20" tree is on the small side, especially when there's only one of them to set up and handle.

If the tree was unusually figured in some way then it may be more worthwhile - but also as someone else mentioned, the money in Black Walnuts is usually found in the root/trunk transition for gunstocks. If this tree was broken by the hurrycane, this area would be toast. If the tree was blown over then in such a young tree (indicated by the size) the highly prized and expensive gunstock quality figuring just hasn't developed yet.

Don't misunderstand. From a woodworker's point of view, it would be worthwhile to harvest what lumber is possible from it - from an income point of view it's not likely to be very lucrative.

[Charlie Self]

Prometheus responds:

Probably not. I can buy walnut around here, green and rough, for less than a quarter of that price. It may possibly be worth a whole pile of money, but only after it's turned into boards, kiln-dried (or air dried), and surfaced. The machinery to do all that is costly. The OP needs to check out Wood-Mizer and get someone in to slice that tree before it is ruined. Stack and sticker, or have kiln dried (if he can find a kiln owner). When that's done, he can either sell it rough, or surface it and sell it.

Charlie Self "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams

[George]

PLEASE do not kiln-dry the walnut. It looks sooooo much nicer air dried.

I'd look at my neighbors' losses and share the cost of that wood-mizer with them. Imagine they've got all they can handle, though.

[Charlie Self]

It is steaming that kills the color in walnut, not kiln drying. Both kiln dried and air dried walnut lose their wilder colors in a short time anyway, just as most wildly colored domestic woods do. Actually, we might say most woods. Most will tend to the brown, dark or light, given enough time. Walnut tends to lighten a bit, while cherry darkens. With enough time, they can almost match.

Charlie Self "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams

[George]

Lemme see- if you add (kiln) heat to wet wood it generates - any guesses?

I've read all that about walnut losing its color with time, and I guess what the guy sold me as walnut thirty-some years ago must not be, because it still shows the subtle purples and reds it always did. The veneer on the plywood tops, which of course was steamed in the slicing process, has lost a lot of color that merely re-coating won't get back.

Steam>

[Charlie Self]

George responds:

At what temp does water boil, forming steam? At what temp is walnut kiln dried?

Last step temps are about 200 degs. F. Now, it's a good idea to avoid walnut that has been "conditioned" which is having steam injected, but...

Charlie Self "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams

[Dave Hinz]

A very good list of various woods and their hazards can be found here:

it, it's a good reference.

Dave Hinz

[George]

True enough, 212F isn't in any but the lousiest kiln-operator's schedule, but the active evolution of moisture under heat is enough to change the wood in both color and working characteristics.