Walnut Haul - Advice needed

[Yellowbeard]

I got a bunch of walnut from the mailman after he asked why I was ordering all these big chainsaw bars. There are some more logs, but these are the ones we got today. Going to look inside and see how they are before we get the rest.

Will post video later of unloading and of the damage that was done to my hitch (too much tongue weight - bent the end of my frame quite a bit on too small of a truck - that'll learn me).

I'm going to run the small 2' bar on the smallest piece tomorrow to check it out and see what some of it looks like and will post pics as well, but I would love advice as to how I should cut this stuff.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Yellowbeard]

View attachment 303461

One more pic - going to mill that small log way in the background perpendicular to the others tomorrow.

 

[kimosawboy]

I always have to laugh about perspective...
'''''big chainsaw bars''''' it all depends on where you are from!
I say this because I just spent the last 2 hours tuning up my big chain/bar. 84" cannon with a skip tooth on a 090.Now thats a big bar!
I hope that your truck was not too damaged and that your wood will be good.Walnut can be really nice.
Looking forward to pics of the finished product.
G Vavra

 

[flashhole]

opcorn:

You'll have to remove the flair from the ends so you can affix your guide rails. Slab thickness will depend on what you want to do with it. Looks like it would yield some good size boards for a large table.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Yeah yeah. To us Arkansawyers, (especially those of us who aren't professional loggers) 36-48" bars are pretty big. Most tress that would have needed a bigger bar were cut down decades or centuries ago (though there's an oak in front of my parent's 1890 Victorian in Fort Smith that I bet was standing before this nation was a nation - got to be 5-6 feet across).

Anyway, slabbing it for table tops is probably what I'll do with most of it. Figured I would have to cut some of that flare off, but will probably wait until I have a bar big enough to cut through some of the spots where the branches fork so I can cut the flare off in one chunk.

Need advice on things like best way to make a cross section and, most especially, drying. It's been down about a year according to the guy from whom I got it. I've dried some oak that was the first stuff I cut, but it still seems to be changing. I cut it after it had been dead for at least a year (likely more) and then dried the slabs another year or so, then planed it and stacked it to dry some more, but it's warped a bit since then (cupping toward the grain, mostly, so it might have caught a tiny bit of moisture on one end).

Obviously I don't want that to happen with this wood. What precautions should I take? Should I have it kiln dried? (I know that will start a fight - sorry).

Will post pics when I make some cuts.

The truck... Well, I have a Toyota pickup (just one of the little ones) and it has a hitch mounted to it. After I unloaded the wood, I noticed that the ball was no longer parallel to the ground but was about 20-25 degrees down. The hitch itself was fine. The bottom of the end of the frame of the truck, however, had been bent down and experienced some shear. Hoping I can remove the hitch and bend the metal back and weld it. Maybe put in a bit more steel for more structure. I'll post pics and ask advice about that later.

 

[flashhole]

Can you put the slabs in your attic?

 

[rarefish383]

Excited to see what's inside. I milled a small Walnut log that had been cut and set aside for several years. The white sap wood was completely gone, had turned the deepest brown all the way through, Joe.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Can you put the slabs in your attic?

Now that's one I hadn't thought about. Unfortunately I just did a lot of work to make my attic significantly cooler (also, it's full of baby crap). However, I know someone with a really large hot attic - that's a great idea.

W.C.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Milling Walnut - First Cut - YouTube

Here's the first cut. The saw got REALLY hot (the frame); way hotter than I assume it is supposed to be. I obviously need to check some more things on it. Can anyone give me any tips? Listening to it, does it sound like it's running ok?

It doesn't seem to want to idle properly. I took it to my local Stihl dealer but I am getting the idea that maybe the saw is too old for their knowledge base.

View attachment 303556View attachment 303557View attachment 303558View attachment 303559

Made one more cut and quit because I was worried about the saw. So I guess I am on hold now until I can figure out how to tune it up properly.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Please feel free to tell me everything I am doing wrong, by the way. I could use the advice.

 

[kimosawboy]

Looks pretty nice from here!!!!!!

 

[flashhole]

You did not use any wedges once you got into the cut and it appeared the top wood with the guide board was pinching the bar/chain causing it to work harder than it needed to. The excess pressure was particularly noticeable when the saw stalled. I use a minimum of 3 wedges, one on the end and one on either side of the cut. I move the side wedges forward as the cut progresses. The lack of wedges could account for excess heating.

You had a good down angle on the mill cut but you were forcing the saw into the cut more than I do. Those big old Stihls are long in the grunt department but lacking in the rpm department, take your time and let the saw do the work.

Are you using a milling chain and is it sharp?

Are you getting a good supply of bar oil applied to the bar, you might look at an auxiliary oiler, even if by hand with a squirt can. You had a two man operation so your helper could easily drip oil or another lube on the bar/chain.

The saw sounded fine to me.

Congratulations and welcome to the world of milling. Nice color to the wood. Find a crotch with good figure and save a piece for a rifle stock.

 

[golddredgergold]

Please feel free to tell me everything I am doing wrong, by the way. I could use the advice.

I mill mostly walnut for gun stocks. I will say it is very hard on the saw and really tuff when it is dry as your logs are. You must slow down a bit and sharpen the chain with a light touch up between every slab. Seems like a lot but just a light push or 2 with the file over each tooth. It really makes a difference on dry walnut. If you can add more oil at the bar tip. It really helps the chain and drag out a bunch. Also find some shade! Use less angle and there should be no need for your buddy to help pull the saw through. I think you are just cutting this hard dry wood to fast and loading the saw a bit much. I set the logs about 1 ft up on one end on a 6ft log and I let the saw drag itself through the log with one hand on the throttle with NO pushing. Nice and easy with the saw doing the work. Lots of oil. If you do not have one get a ripping chain soon. Nice walnut logs to you got some nice wood there!

 

[jrhannum]

one more hint

I noticed that you and your buddy were rocking the saw as you cut; don't get in this habit and you'll have smoother faces and less need to plane and sand to eliminate the washboard effect at the edges; keep sharp teeth and take yer time,

 

[Yellowbeard]

I noticed that you and your buddy were rocking the saw as you cut; don't get in this habit and you'll have smoother faces and less need to plane and sand to eliminate the washboard effect at the edges; keep sharp teeth and take yer time,

Yeah, I was thinking about how I was doing that and being filmed at the same time. KNEW someone would call me on it. I caught myself and stopped, but you didn't know what was going on in my head. Thanks!

 

[Yellowbeard]

I mill mostly walnut for gun stocks. I will say it is very hard on the saw and really tuff when it is dry as your logs are. You must slow down a bit and sharpen the chain with a light touch up between every slab. Seems like a lot but just a light push or 2 with the file over each tooth. It really makes a difference on dry walnut. If you can add more oil at the bar tip. It really helps the chain and drag out a bunch. Also find some shade! Use less angle and there should be no need for your buddy to help pull the saw through. I think you are just cutting this hard dry wood to fast and loading the saw a bit much. I set the logs about 1 ft up on one end on a 6ft log and I let the saw drag itself through the log with one hand on the throttle with NO pushing. Nice and easy with the saw doing the work. Lots of oil. If you do not have one get a ripping chain soon. Nice walnut logs to you got some nice wood there!

Usually I use too many wedges. The saw was cutting so fast that I didn't end up putting any in this time. It's that high angle I was cutting at, I think. I may lower the angle a bit as you say. I actually usually oil the bar tip at the same time with a little hand squeezer (or have whoever's operating the other end do so) but that first cut was really shallow and in sap wood only so we didn't there. However, I need to mount an aux oiler fore sure.

Thanks.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Are you using a milling chain and is it sharp?

Find a crotch with good figure and save a piece for a rifle stock.

I am using a standard chain ground to 10 degrees (I think - need to double check the box to see what I ended up with). No skips or anything. That cut in the video is the first cut it ever made. It's made one more since.

Once I find this crotch (and the rifle/shotgun I want it on, though I usually just always get black guns so when my wife asks about any gun I can just say "oh, you know, it's just that old black one," though I do have a Winchester 94 it might look good on), who is going to make it into a stock for me? golddredgegold? I'm looking at you (and wondering if there's a deep forum discount)

 

[Yellowbeard]

Unloading

This is a bunch of video of us unloading and what happened to my hitch in the process.

Milling Walnut - Getting Logs Off - YouTube

Going to mill a bit more this afternoon - will post pics later.

 

[golddredgergold]

You guys need to get a Cant hook or Log Peavey! Makes things much easier!
Here is a few pictures of a recent stock. This is Claro walnut with birds eye maple accent with paduak.

 

[flashhole]

This is a bunch of video of us unloading and what happened to my hitch in the process.

Milling Walnut - Getting Logs Off - YouTube

The truck frame let go when the fat guy climbed on the log and was waiving his hat.