Walnut table project

[Stephen1]

I just found this post. That is a beautiful Table and the all the different skills of workmanship involved is quite mind boggling to such a simple Canuck.

[scsmith42]

That looks amazing, thanks for sharing.

I have a nice black walnut log from my wife's parents property waiting for me to mill it up. My dream is to make a table out of it, similar to what you posted above but without the bread board complication. My log is pretty straight, so I probably won't have much interesting grain to preserve. If that is the case, I'm guessing I'll have an easier time with multiple boards with less width than a couple of wide boards together? The log is probably around 20" diameter.

Also do you have a recommendation on thickness I should be cutting? I was thinking 2" would give me enough room to play with after drying, or is that too thin.

Thanks for the help!

Personally I'm a big fan of using bookmatched (sequentially milled) wide boards for table tops, so my advice would be to mill the log full width. If there are any branch locations coming off the log, align them so that the main trunk and branch pith's are parallel to the blade.

On a 20" log I would mill it at around 2-1/2"; expecting it to dry down to 2-1/4", and be able to face joint and plane to around 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" thickness after drying for the top.

With wide boards, I have found it beneficial to mill a little thicker so that they will plane out fully after drying.

In addition to the aesthetics, 20" black walnut planks are much more valuable than 8" black walnut planks, so I figure why take a high dollar log and turn it into lower dollar lumber?  You can always rip the boards down narrower after drying if needed.

One other thing to keep in mind with black walnut is that boards that have a wide sapwood band on the outside are usually more prone to splitting deeply from the ends.  This is because the sapwood dries faster than the heartwood and instills a tension along the outside of the planks - causing the splitting.  So for me, I'll remove most of the sapwood band (but not all) when milling if the sapwood band is wider than average.

Here is an example of a sequentially milled wide planks for a library table that we did.  Even though the log was fairly clear, the bookmatching adds a nice artistic effect.

[tule peak timber]

Beautiful,,,,love the sapwood touch.

[scsmith42]

Beautiful,,,,love the sapwood touch.

Thanks Rob! That means a lot coming from a true artisan like you.

[Larry]

90% of the tables I build are exactly as Scott detailed. If a live edge table I like to use the two center slabs as this gives nearly vertical edges. I'll still have enough slabs from the log to make the base's. 90% of my bases are some form of trestle construction.

Leaving a strip of sapwood in the center as Scott did is a design element and is the perfect touch on his table. Really catches the eye and interest of somebody passing by.

[memopad]

I'll give that shot, I really like the sapwood look too.

I'm paranoid about the boards cupping, twisting, bending, etc. while drying. I just air dry but I mostly cut pine. We don't have black walnut anywhere near here so I don't want to ruin it! It's a pretty straight looking log though so hope it goes smoothly. I've got some time yet before it warms up enough to thaw the log enough to mill it.

[scsmith42]

I'll give that shot, I really like the sapwood look too.

I'm paranoid about the boards cupping, twisting, bending, etc. while drying. I just air dry but I mostly cut pine. We don't have black walnut anywhere near here so I don't want to ruin it! It's a pretty straight looking log though so hope it goes smoothly. I've got some time yet before it warms up enough to thaw the log enough to mill it.

To minimize drying related wood movement, if a log does not have much taper I would mill parallel to the pith.

If it has a lot of taper, I would mill parallel to the face. You're gonna wanna find a nice Level location, outdoors, and under cover for your air drying. You need to start with a flat base to stack your planks on, and I would suggest that you sticker around 18 to 24 inch centers starting at the very end of the planks. If you can, stick aboce the top level and place around 250 pounds per square foot of weight on top of your stack. They should stay relatively flat while drying.

 Here in the south eastern United States, they sell a lot of metal carport structures that you can assemble yourself. I found that they are excellent for air drying under and when you're done if you no longer need the structure, you can almost always sell it and get most of your money back.