Last Sunday my new neighbor brought over a 12' piece of about 4 X 12 rough sawn Black Walnut and asked me if I could make him a 6' long 3X10 fireplace mantle from it. He just wants a solid dimensioned board with nothing fancy (no carvings, etc.), and he is going to have his mason install it. He said that I can keep any of the wood that I don't use :-). All I have to do is plane it to dimension and sand it, then finish it with several coats of clear finish. After I began planning it today I found that the grain in this thing is absolutely beautiful, just a few real small tight knots, and lots of swirling rays of grain. There's less than a foot of length that will be lost due to end checking. The rest is perfect (and all mine). Life is good ! (sometimes).
Charley