How thick are you guys sawing flitches when cutting crotch walnut?
End use is jewelry boxes, inlay, re-sale, and small veneer.
Got a few ready to mill but thought I would ask for suggestions before I cut.
I;vie been cutting it four qt, and five qt. if you are going to plane it out to one in. ;D
I don't cut walnut but have cut hickory, oak and other hardwoods for folks building boxes and drawer bottoms, etc. I cut it 5/4 (or sometimes a little less) and it makes drying a little easier because it seems to be more stable. Then the craftsman resaws it on a shop bandsaw to the thickness he wants.
If you cut it too thin, initially, it will split and crack and warp and generally degrade. ....unless you're awfully lucky. :)
For me it all depends on how big in diameter the crotch is.
I prefer to work with 8/4 and 12/4 for resawing bookmatched panels.
If your aiming to resaw, I wouldn't cut anything less than 5/4.
I cut it at 8/4 and 12/4. Seems that the thicker pieces sell easier but no matter what you cut it at someone will want to buy whatever thickness you don't have. ;D
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Finally got around to a few crotches today and sawed them all 8/4. Got some more to saw later this week that are going to 12/4. I'll re-saw all the 8/4 after it drys and the 12/4 gives me the choice to re-saw or make a gunstock blank.
Took a few pictures for the unfortunates that don't have any walnut timber. :D
I had this one all trimmed up for the mill but of course they never clamp right or lay right so I had to do a little more trimming on the bed.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wc101.jpg)
Starting to look good. I left a lot of extra wood on the ears and was cutting 28" wide.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wc102.jpg)
This is what I'm after.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wc103.jpg)
That's some nice looking walnut you sawed there Larry. Hopefully when I get a mill I can get alot of those off of the log landing around here .I see them laying all over the place . I also have some contacts to get short logs that the mills won't buy . One of these days . ;)
Dan,
Start bringing home the best crotches...they will keep or ya can attack em with the chainsaw. There sorta hard to cut on a mill anyway.
Cut a few more today after I got done with my stinkin cottonwood logs.
Bark inclusions in this one. If the crotch is a "V" this is expected. "U" crotches usually don't have many inclusions.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wcc.jpg)
Cut for gun stocks.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wcd.jpg)
And a blue green crotch. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/wca.jpg)
Those are really nice Larry . The ones with bark inclusions could be cut up to make some real nice pen blanks if they aren't any good for boards .
I 'm startin to accummlate a log pile from various places . I think I will start on getting more crotches though . I made a few calls last night about a couple of landings I have seen lately .
That is some awesome looking wood . I have to go back and look at those pictures every night now. I can see why a bandmill would be nice to lay a chunk like that on as it almost looks impossible to get that locked in on a circle mill.
Nothing worse than a sawyer that cuts beautiful wood and then won't sell any of it :D
I was talking to Larry last night and ask him about those walnut crotches. He basically said "What crotches"........nothing quite like a woodworking sawyer. Interferes with my business :D
Mike I have never publically admitted this but I have a serious addiction to figured wood. Kathy busted me last month just because I bought some fancy persimmon from a little Arkansas mill. She has seriously suggested I start attending "Sawyers Anonymous". ;D
Larry,
If your buying it and not milling it I think 'Wood Hoarders Anonymous' would be more correct :D
Thankfully this is a forestry discussion. I could see getting in alot of trouble with the women-folk talking about figured-crotches.
Seriously though, has anyone got photo's of walnut root-ball slabs? I would have to think the figure in these is extrodinary, even though painful to saw.
:o Rocks, dirt, nasty stuff to cut with good blades I would think :D
Somebody mention rootball?? :D
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/rootball.jpg)
I picked up this little one bout 2 months ago just because it was a blow down. Picked up a couple bigger ones falling off creek banks about a week ago. One is a little punky but the other looks like a keeper. Course ya never know for sure what your gonna get until it's opened up.
I'm a equal opportunity sawyer....anything laid on the bed gets sliced up. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/Picture%201879A1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/Picture%20729a.jpg)
Flame Figured Woods usually has pictures of root slabs:
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~guepetto/index.htm
Arky yer killin' me. Every time someone mentions an "exotic" domestic species or cut, you post the most amazing pictures! Thanks for keeping the camera around!
dumb question, but how do you guys normally get the root ball out of the ground?
do you winch them out? (I could see this being a nightmare) or do you dig them up with a backhoe? or do you just wait until you find one blown over?
You get one of these. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/root%20digger.jpg)
Yeah, uh huh Norm, I've got a couple of those just for that reason. ::)
;D
Dan_Shade,
Finding one blown over or getting one from someplace that is being cleared for building, is probly the easiest way, unless ya have the equipment handy like Norm. The backhoe, hand digging, winching, are all a lot of work with plenty of dangers involved. Having said that........some people will get them any way they can. ;)
since the new forum, is anyone else having trouble viewing pics? all i get is an x in a box. nothing happens when i left click on it. rt click and i get a login window but when i fill in my login and password and click ok i just get the login window again. am i missing something? thanks 1953greg
Network problems...... they'll go away eventually. Everybody is suffering in one way or another. It's not the faulst of the forum software. :)
Every year about the first of December and there after there is an earthquake that will hit a walnut orchard and all the trees will be laying on the ground. It seems to only hit certain older stands mostly 50+ year old stands. NICE big trees with Nice big root balls, trunks and limbs, most of time if you ask, you can cut some of this up for firewood but youknow I am kind of shy so I drag some home to be cut up later. It sure seems strange though, all the ground has these straight lines around the trees about 16" wide and all in a row.
Did a little crotchity sawing today.
Oh my! Those are pretty.
I have 30-40 crotches mostly walnut and cherry and a few oak, hickory, poplar. My questions are can they be used for turning blanks and if so should I sell green or dry first. ( I can only air dry) If not for blanks should I dry before selling. Only sold a few boards in the past and dont have any markets for the figured stuff. Have any of you had any luck with selling the shorter stuff on ebay? The longer boards would probably be too high to ship but shorts may work out. Thanks for any info, John.
My limited experience on eBay is not encouraging for walnut crotch blanks. You might actually get a decent $/bf price, but the effort in cutting, coating (need not be dry for turners), listing, selling, and shipping outweighed the $ for me. Might be best to cut (rip in half) and coat and let them sit until you do find a buyer. Make sure you get the pith out and they'll keep.
As a woodworker, I like to use them for panels in raised panel doors and sides, so I cut them a little longer than just the figuring (~3' long). If you want to air some for this purpose, 4/4 - 8/4 or even thicker would be okay, except the buyer will prefer dry.