Hello,
The electric utility moved some lines and had to cut about eight black walnuts and an enormous box elder. They sat where they fell for about 4 months because they were hard for me to get to. Now I have five logs in my pasture and another three that'll be a real pain to recover. There don't seem to be any insects or fungus to speak of but a couple have cracked. The two gnarley logs in the photos are the worst. Of course the remaining three are the best! Shortest log in the photo is about six feet long. Am I wasting my time taking these to the saw mill? Should I turn them into firewood?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26009/walnut1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26009/walnut2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26009/walnut4.jpg)
I bet they give some beautiful wood especally the crotch.
Jon
turn them into boards!!!
I've cut smaller ones than those into boards. :D
Those look like typical walnut logs to me, so I would not hesitate to mill them.
QuoteAm I wasting my time taking these to the saw mill?
Are you a woodworker? Or do you know a woodworker? Wasting time is a relative thing and depends on what you are expecting to get out of your logs. If you want big money, then yes you will probably be wasting your time. If you want some nice walnut boards for sawing costs only to build a nice peice of furniture, then you will be $$ ahead. It just depends on on your expectations. :)
The boxelder you mentioned has my curiosity peaked. That might have the prettiest boards in it. Let's see some pics of it.
I'm not a wood worker. I do know some woodworkers. Mostly I just hate to see what could be beautiful wood burned in the furnace when there's no need for it. If I break even I'll be happy. I enjoy the work.
I'll try to get a photo of the box elder. The weeds are so thick... Earlier in the year I'd already started cutting it up but there are still some logs left. While I was cutting it I was thinking it's pretty wood for such a reviled tree.
Quote from: twomules on September 06, 2011, 10:53:24 AM
I'll try to get a photo of the box elder. The weeds are so thick...
Spalted!!!
I would saw them but they do have a lot of sapwood and they do not look real big, but the pictures may deceive when it come to size, so the yield of good walnut will be low. Boxelder can be really nice esp if it has red stain in it. Try to saw it as well.
With small logs like that you are gong to get a lot of sapwood, and most boards will have a mix of light sap and darker heart.
This isn't a huge problem, the boards can still be used, but make a very distinctive visual effect in whatever you have built. Some people like it, some don't. Commercial walnut would be steamed to even out the colours. Air dried leaves the heartwood more coloured, and the sap wood still pale.
So talk to your woodworkers, the potential client, and see if they want that sort of wood, at a suitably cheap price. Walnut is easy enough to air dry, so they could even collect it green off the saw and take it home to air dry.
Small logs can also make good turning blanks where the contrast between sap and heart makes the bowl, or whatever, more interesting, so that's another potential use for them.
Ian
I would highlight the sap in those smaller logs rather than try to saw it off or hide it by sawing the logs "through and through" by live sawing. When offered for sale, the boards can be bookmatched.
Thanks everyone for the advice. I hauled the logs to the mill this week. I'll post some pics of the lumber. Might be a while... it's corn harvesting time.
I'd use them if I had a mill. I can make a lot of stuff from short boards. Even a yellow birch or butternut is gold if it's 10" or bigger. Since I don't sell lumber or sawing services I have a different perspective. Just interested in wood, not time. ;D
Yes, you even mess around with moosewood.
:D
Hey, I had a friend that made some stuff from staghorn sumac. Now that's a challenge, just to find one bigger than a broom handle. :D
Pin cherry makes nice boards to. ;)
Just weeds they say, weeds. ::)
One man's weeds is another man's wood :).
Got some black walnut lumber from the saw mill today.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26009/walnut_arrives2.jpg)
Here's a typical board. Some show more sap wood, 60% or so and some show no sap wood. A few have interesting grain.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26009/walnut_arrives3.jpg)
Got a few rounds and some odd scraps with bark attached too. Still have to stack the board to dry.
I think that would certainly be considered "Worth sawing" :)
Ian
Looks nice to me man. I could make a lot of projects from that whack. ;D
You got a nice range of thicknesses.
Variety is the spice of life. :D
Even the mule is smiling. :)