Sawing Some Walnut

[Sawyer Rob]

A friend gave me some logs, when he cut down every tree in his yard! There's white pine, blue spruce, maple and walnut in there...

The walnut is pretty nice, and as you can see in the first pict., it split part way up when the guy fell it.

Anyway, it was 25 feet to the first limb, and decent in diameter too...

I had it in my mind that just "maybe" i'd get a decent stock blank out of this crotch...

So i loaded it on the mill, and opened it...

I took 1" boards off, and left this thicker piece. There's really isn't anything that i thought would make the kind of blank i'd want on my rifle, so i peeled the bark off and stickered the whole bunch...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Then i decided to mill the split log, so i loaded it on the mill...

The grade was decent and walnut looks best flat sawn, so i started taking 5/4 boards off...

I wanted the natural edge left on the boards, so i only turned the log 180*, and kept sawing untill i had a 7/4 plank left. I also took all the bark off, as that's where the bugs like to hide and lay there eggs...

Here's the tally from the split log... Not too bad considering it was a split log!

Hope you liked the picts...

Rob

 

[RVALUE]

Did the barber chair kill him?

 

[KenneSaw]

nice walnut!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Did the barber chair kill him?

No, it didn't split until it hit the ground, actually it hit "something" on the ground, but i forget what it was...

Rob

 

[RedArrow]

Like the pics, any of the grain?

 

[hamish]

Rob,

Whats the band info you used on the walnut, mainly the set and hook angles?

Jeremy

 

[Sawyer Rob]

They are 1-1/4" Norwood bands, when i sharpen them i set them at .021".

I like the Norwood bands, because i use "one band for everything" and so far they have done that best.

Rob

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Like the pics, any of the grain?

Sorry, i don't understand your question???

Rob

 

[RedArrow]

I like all the pics, just wondering if you had any that showed that beautiful wood grain close up. Especially the feathering on that walnut!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I looked through my walnut picts., sorry, i didn't see any close up's of the crotch figure, but here's part two of sawing walnut...


Here's some more picts. of milling the walnut logs a friend gave me. This is a pretty nice log going on the mill.

So i got started with taking the slab off, and a couple 5/4 boards...

Once that was done, it's time to turn the log...

Even with the sapwood, the boards look pretty nice...

So i took more 5/4 boards, and kept working my way around the log...

Untill i had a nice "cant", that's nearly 14 inches square...

I'm sawing this walnut for "grade", so now it's a matter of turning the cant to keep getting the best lumber possible, and pulling 5/4 boards off...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a friend who loves to scrool saw, so i took a couple thin boards to surprise him with!

Then i put the first boards that came off, back on and edged them...

And here's the "tally" from this log...

As you can see, i even took a couple 10/4 boards for thicker projects...

Rob

 

[RedArrow]

That's awesome! Great pics. Thx

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That's awesome! Great pics. Thx

Thanks, glad you liked the picts...

Rob

 

[tjbier]

Good looking stuff Rob! I'd be sneezing like crazy with that walnut
That mill looks like it does a very nice job too.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Thanks tjbier,

The mill does a GREAT job, and i'm betting that the Lumbermate 2000 will go down in history as one of the best manual mills ever invented!

When the LM2000 came out, it already had GREAT quality and reliability and were still very reasonable priced. The LM2000 was easily the manual mill all else were compared to, and most couldn't even come close to it. It's a great low maintance design, that will last for many many years to come...

Rob

 

[mikeb1079]

excellent job rob. that's a nice little bandsawing tutorial for us newbies!

thanks for the pics!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Thanks Mike, here's part 3...

When i started milling this walnut tree, somehow i got started milling it from the top down! That''s the opposite way i usally saw, as i always try to mill out the "highest" grade lumber first, and that's almost always in the butt log.

Anyway, now it's "finally" time to mill the butt log!! So off i go to get the butt log that's behind some other logs. This is where the grabble really shines! It allows me to reach over other logs, and pick up just the log i want without moving the others...

So i carried the butt log to the mill, and set it into place...

As you can see, this is a really nice log, and i have it rotated to where i "think" i'll get the highest grade lumber...

Once i opened it, it was plain to see, this log is going to produce some really nice lumber!

So i took a couple 5/4 boards, and turned the log...

Then after takeing the second slab off, i took more 5/4 boards...

With that done, it was time to turn the log again... My mills cable log turner sure takes the work out of turning logs or cants!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

With the log turned, i took the last slab off...

And i started takeing more 5/4 boards off the "cant"...

This "cant" sure was putting out some niiiiiice lumber!! Check out how clear this cant is...

UNTILL i hit these nails!! So much for the sharpness and set in this band!

So i removed a bit of wood around the nail, and snapped on some visegrips, and pulled out both nails.

Here they are, the heads were still in the board, so i popped them out of the board and laid them next to the nails...

And, here's the lumber from this log...

As you can see, i'm starting to get a very nice stack of walnut, and many of the boards are clear and wide!!

I'm getting the best lumber out of this tree that i can, and i still have some limbs to deal with too...

Rob

 

[Talltom]

Nice wood. Wish I had walnut here! Too bad about the nails. Woodcraft catalog has a screw extractor which is basically a long tube with teeth on the end that lets you drill around the screw/nail and pop it out, wood and all. It easier than chipping by hand and leaves a neater hole that can easily be plugged when you use the wood. Another alternative is to use a plug cutter and chip out the "plug" wood with an old chisel until you can get the vice grips on the end. Again, it leaves a hole that can be plugged.