Wait to decide?

[jrhannum]

I’ve watched a fallen walnut (Juglans hindsii) down in our creek for several winters, hoping it would swing around for easy access and not wash away; couldn’t wait any longer, so we yarded it out and onto high ground. Sixteen feet straight plus a root wad; mostly 20” diameter, so I’ll use the big bar. Question is: cut 4 at 3” (more drying time, heavier to man-handle) vs 5 at 2.5” (thick enuf for gunstock blanks and mantle/bar-tops) ? Of course, we don’t know what it looks like until we go ahead and cut; maybe it’ll tell us what’s best. Comments?

 

[BlueRider]

Hard to tell what you have with that picture. It looks like the pith is way off center. If that is the case then the tree has a lot of tension in it and most likely your boards will move a bit igf you resaw them.

I'm not a big fan of splitting the pith between slabs. It rarely works perfectly and I don' care for the way it looks when it doesn't. I prefer to cut the center slab with the pith in the middle and then split that slab down the middle and you will then end up with two quarter sawn boards.

The thickness really depends on what you will do with the wood once it is dry. I never know what I will build so I tend to cut everything at 2 1/4" and it usually ends up a hair under 2" when it is dry. I cut a few at 3" or 4" but not that many, they are too heavy for me to handle easily.

As for milling the boards at 16' I would only do it if I had a use for boards that long. I would most likely cut the bole in half, much easier to handle .

You should get some nice color and grain but most likely no curl on a log that size. Curl starts to show up between 30-36". the root ball is where you will see the most spectacular grain and color. that is where you will see some nice marbleing.

I would also suggest wearing longsleaes when milling it. It is much higher in juglans oil than the eastern variety and you will eventually develop an allergy to it. I once ended up with some nasty blisters that looked like a chemical burn from milling some claro walnut.

Most refer to a single slab as a board or a slab, and a group of sequentialy sawn boards or slabs as a flitch. Have fun and post some pics. This is perfect milling weather we are having.

 

[excess650]

IMO, 2-1/2" is thick enough. If the log is straight, you'll not have much figure. Quarter sawn wood makes the best gunstocks, and your log looks a bit small for quarter sawn blanks with no sap wood.

 

[Dave Boyt]

Sounds like a great haul! Blue Rider gave a pretty complete answer. From the off-center pith, I'm guessing the tree was leaning out over the river, and it will have some stress in it. Only thing I would add is to turn the log so that the pith is centered in the slab. The boards will try to bow as you dry them (and probably as you cut them, as well). When I cut logs like that on the band saw mill, I turn them to keep the stress (centered on the pith) in the middle of the cant. That is harder to do on a chain saw mill. Keep a lot of weight on the stack as you dry them, or strap them, because they will try to bow on you. I use the "European method" to air dry flitches, which keeps them in order.
View attachment 274849


Roots can be a real headache to mill, but you'll find them worth the trouble. They are hard to clamp down, and you'll probably hit embedded rocks.
View attachment 274851View attachment 274852View attachment 274853

 

[jrhannum]

Sunday morning

Before the big game I laid out the plane of the center-of-log and made it level, then strapped-down the spliced aluminum ladder parallel to that plane. All ready for the first cut, next weekend.View attachment 277563

 

[Dave Boyt]

Cut it now. You know you want to!

 

[jrhannum]

Now we can see

This weekend I took off the slab and two 2-1/4" flitches and put them to dry. There is some nice wood here, but some surprising defects, too (bark inclusions). I used my quad's remote-controlled winch and a piece of bungee-cord as a "tugger" to apply forward assist to the CSM; worked fine and less work than up-tipping the bole. Next cut will embrace the pith-line, so I'll rip it to make quarter-sawn pieces.View attachment 281476

 

[excess650]

I cut some eastern black walnut today, and like you, was surprised at some of the defects inside. This tree blew over nearly 2 years ago, and we cut it from the stump and had it blocked up off the ground. There were a couple of smallish crotches, and I thought the larger of the two would yield some nice figure. It turned out that the larger had bark inclusions and knots vs the nice crotch figure in the smaller. There were checks in the center of the logs despite it having been left intact at 25' until last week.

I cut this all at 2-1/2"-3" thickness and 8' lengths for use a MLer stocks (potentially 2 stocks per slab). There were enough knots and checks that layout will be tricky, and for the most part it is straight grained.