Black walnut myth or truth?

[hunz]

So an older fella I sold some locust to today, asked me if I did portable milling, as he had a couple of black walnut trees down that he'd like to turn into lumber. He asked me if I had heard to buck them up and let sit for a full year before milling to "increase grain appearance and darker color". I myself said that I had never heard of such a thing, and didn't see how allowing a log to sit for a year after being fallen would alter grain appearance or color. I have noted that dryer log ends have a darker appearance compared to fresh sawn lumber. I do know, that it doesnt take long for that lumber to turn the color of its parent dried log end.

He said a sawyer of 50 years had told him this, and he wanted a second opinion on when was a good time to saw them. I said I don't see a need to wait, although I would check with the guys who have experience, and get back to him. I did make a suggestion of anchor seal, hopefully I didn't miss the mark on that one.

[mesquite buckeye]

Sounth like a mythtery to me. ;D

[drobertson]

Maybe if they are in a pond?  saw them green and go!  some folks have lots of misconstrued ideas, and what works for some does not mean the norm. 

[WDH]

My Granny also thought that if you killed a snake and hung it on a limb before sundown, it would rain. 

[hunz]

You guys are hilarious! I got a good laugh from every post, so much so I find myself all too often sharing FF humor with my wife. I am still unsure of her true interest in logs, lumber, and mills, but she must love me enough to listen to it all while acting interested. :D

I let our Jon doe know that all engines are a go for me milling them. Thanks guys!

[landscraper]

About the snake ....

I heard a variant of that - a guy that used to work for me swore that if you killed a snake during the day and _didn't_ hang him in a tree, that the snake would resurrect himself during the night and slither off.  Only by hanging in the tree were you assured of his demise.  I said: what proof have you of this wives tale?  He said: snake is always gone the next day when you leave him on the ground.  I said: maybe a fox or possum or something comes at night and takes him away for a snack?  He said: Hmmm. 

He also used to make a "X" with his finger on the windshield of whatever vehicle he was in whenever he saw any of several items that he deemed unlucky.  Cats, firetrucks, cars with one headlight, stuff like that. 

Nice enough guy, superstitious though I guess.

Sorry that this has nothing to do with walnut but the Snakes and Rain reference made me remember this.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

.....and Beets grow REDDER if grown in a CEDAR planter.  :D

[WDH]

Hunz,

Good luck on the milling.  If you get tired and need a day off, kill a snake, hang it up before sundown, and you can take a rain day  ;D. 

[WoodenHead]

Hunz,

Good luck on the milling.  If you get tired and need a day off, kill a snake, hang it up before sundown, and you can take a rain day  ;D. 

Someone must have tried that around here today.  Tomorrow we're supposed to get an inch to an inch and a half of rain.  :

[taw6243]

So an older fella I sold some locust to today, asked me if I did portable milling, as he had a couple of black walnut trees down that he'd like to turn into lumber. He asked me if I had heard to buck them up and let sit for a full year before milling to "increase grain appearance and darker color". I myself said that I had never heard of such a thing, and didn't see how allowing a log to sit for a year after being fallen would alter grain appearance or color. I have noted that dryer log ends have a darker appearance compared to fresh sawn lumber. I do know, that it doesnt take long for that lumber to turn the color of its parent dried log end.

He said a sawyer of 50 years had told him this, and he wanted a second opinion on when was a good time to saw them. I said I don't see a need to wait, although I would check with the guys who have experience, and get back to him. I did make a suggestion of anchor seal, hopefully I didn't miss the mark on that one.

MY REGULAR WALNUT CUSTOMER has me saw his walnut after a year for the darker color also. For the darker sapwood too. So maybe not so easily discounted as myth Huh! And he regularly sells his walnut wholesale to Woodcraft of GrandRapids, Michigan.
Tim

[Ocklawahaboy]

I've heard to let magnolia logs sit, for the same reason.  I've also heard that the fish bites when the owl hoots.

[hunz]

So an older fella I sold some locust to today, asked me if I did portable milling, as he had a couple of black walnut trees down that he'd like to turn into lumber. He asked me if I had heard to buck them up and let sit for a full year before milling to "increase grain appearance and darker color". I myself said that I had never heard of such a thing, and didn't see how allowing a log to sit for a year after being fallen would alter grain appearance or color. I have noted that dryer log ends have a darker appearance compared to fresh sawn lumber. I do know, that it doesnt take long for that lumber to turn the color of its parent dried log end.

He said a sawyer of 50 years had told him this, and he wanted a second opinion on when was a good time to saw them. I said I don't see a need to wait, although I would check with the guys who have experience, and get back to him. I did make a suggestion of anchor seal, hopefully I didn't miss the mark on that one.

MY REGULAR WALNUT CUSTOMER has me saw his walnut after a year for the darker color also. For the darker sapwood too. So maybe not so easily discounted as myth Huh! And he regularly sells his walnut wholesale to Woodcraft of GrandRapids, Michigan.
Tim

Maybe not! I am still not seeing the reasoning as to why it would become darker. Have you noticed a difference in between his "sit for a year walnut", and fresh cut and milled logs in terms of distinguishable color change? Isn't black walnut sapwood undesirable regardless of shade of color?

[beenthere]

MY REGULAR WALNUT CUSTOMER has me saw his walnut after a year for the darker color also. For the darker sapwood too. So maybe not so easily discounted as myth Huh! And he regularly sells his walnut wholesale to Woodcraft of GrandRapids, Michigan.
Tim

Still a myth, but just one that some truly believe in, so best to go along with it. Leave it to the customer to decide, IMO.

[Magicman]

Fresh felled Black Walnut has a wonderful greenish purple color when freshly sawed and only us sawyers get to witness it.  When oxygen and sunlight contacts the boards they quickly darken and loose these colors.  It still happens with old dry logs but the change is not as dramatic.  In my opinion the lumber from fresh and old logs will reach the same degree of darkness.  That degree of darkness will vary from tree to tree.  Some are inherently darker/lighter than others.

Now, where is that snake??   ???

[hackberry jake]

.....and Beets grow REDDER if grown in a CEDAR planter.  :D

heck, everybody knows that... :

[OffGrid973]

My sides are hurting after this post and I am no closer to my walnut answer...thanks for the chuckle, however my other half would not understand the laughter

[reswire]

My Granny also thought that if you killed a snake and hung it on a limb before sundown, it would rain.

Yep,,, been there done that.  Actually it worked.... he he

[Brad_bb]

It's oxidation that makes it dark.  Shouldn't matter if it sits or not.  You might get more end checking by letting it sit.  If it's let sit, seal the ends and keep it in the shade.  The other downside to letting it sit, is that it will be another year before the lumber is usable or sell-able.

[SLawyer Dave]

I was taught with black walnut, (as well as oak), burls and stumps to let them sit at least a year or two before slabbing them.  That was not for color purposes, however, but because if you slabbed them when green, the slabs tended to crack and twist a lot more. 

[backwoods sawyer]

Gary Cohan build up a hardwood buisness back in the 70's that he sold after many years of working with OSU on drying Madrone and developing a wood fired solor kiln.

I spent a quite a bit of time working with Gary on his WM mill while looking for mine. One day he pulled a nice 32 walnut log out of the black berry patch he had dumped it in a year earlier because it had a six inch rind of white sap wood and was not in a hury to mill it. When we opened it up the sap wood was as dark as the rest of it, so we quarter sawded and got some wide QS boards. If the sap had been cut off the volume would not have been even close to the same.

Does every log darken, no, Gary told me he had used this method to improve the value several times over the years. Tucked out of the sun in a miost berry patch seemes to create the right conditions for the color to bleed thru out the sap wood.

And you all can keep yours snakes ;D

[Ron Wenrich]

I've sawn year old walnut.  We always waited until we had enough walnut to saw for the casket market.  All the veneer was taken off, and they were mainly second cut logs.  Since we were doing mainly woods grown timber, walnut was not a mainstay.  Logs may lay for a long time until we had enough to make a couple of lifts of lumber. 

The sapwood does turn browner.  There isn't as distinct of a line between sapwood and heartwood.  Sapwood amount also seems to be diminished.  Some logs don't take a year, as it would depend on the season.  There is little happening in a log in January in my part of the world.  I also think that the heartwood takes on a darker color when its sitting for awhile.  But, I also find that there are variations through a run of walnut. 

[BBTom]

I was under the impression that most commercially used Walnut is sawn without regard to sapwood, then steamed in a special kiln to leach the color into the entire board.  I have a distant relative that does truckload after truckload of it.  He must have the formula right because his steaming kilns are always full. 

When compared to the steamed walnut, heartwood of non-steamed walnut is darker and richer color.  Could that difference be what they be chasing?

[Jemclimber]

The sapwood does turn browner.  There isn't as distinct of a line between sapwood and heartwood.  Sapwood amount also seems to be diminished.  Some logs don't take a year, as it would depend on the season.  There is little happening in a log in January in my part of the world.  I also think that the heartwood takes on a darker color when its sitting for awhile.  But, I also find that there are variations through a run of walnut. 

+1  Sapwood does turn browner, but depending on timing it can also be blotchy.  I have no idea if letting it sit effects the heartwood because I have no way of seeing what the heartwood would be like if cut right away vs cutting it later and different logs do vary somewhat in color. Most of my walnut logs are cut a year to many years after felling because I have too much on my plate to saw everything as it comes down, and walnut is one wood the will last quite awhile.

[kelLOGg]

I sawed walnut for a customer who had let it sit for sometime to allow the "heartwood color to bleed into the sapwood", as he put it. There was less distinction between the two but in his case he let it sit too long because there was some rot.
Bob

[Ron Wenrich]

Commercial walnut is steamed.  There's a couple of reasons for that.  Fresh sawn logs saw easier.  Steamed walnut sapwood turns brown.  Customers want brown heartwood to make standardized furniture, moldings, etc.  It also reduces the need to have capital tied up in a log supply.  Quicker turnover of the dollar.

But, hobby and small time cabinet builders may have a different view of things.  If you are catering to those markets, maybe aging the logs isn't a bad thing, especially if you don't have access to a steam facility.