Cheap Walnut Logs ?????

[Jjoness4]

Got these freshly logs sawed urban walnut logs cheap (I think).  $10.00 each.  600 bd ft Doyle.  Loaded with log arch.  Had to block traffic to load.  Got the Boston ivy free.  I'll let you know how cheap they are after sawed and I check blade inventory.  These might have been in a fence row. Ouch!!

[woodworker9]

I'd take them, and saw them with a bi-metal blade.  I can't even get walnut logs here to save my life.

[Larry]

I used to saw walnut every day that I harvested from my farm.  To get a better idea of which logs to sell for veneer and which to saw, I tracked every log across the mill for a month.

Seeing a picture of your logs I predict your yield will be 1,000 board feet or a little better.

I never worry about bands when sawing urban walnut trees as I know I'm in black gold.  And a walnut never ever has a bad board.

[nativewolf]

So those are nice straight logs! 8) heck of a deal.  Who minds a little metal in Walnut, just like Larry says.

Exporters will pay top dollars for those if they are 15" at the small end, just so you know.  Maybe $2000 on the trailer.

Just saying...just saying

[Crossroads]

I paid $100 for 2 pieces with crotches in them that are only about 5' long and they don't have near the dark colors that yours do. Congratulations on a good score!

[OffGrid973]

That is a score my friend, one urban logger to another.  Wand every cut for metal and take that bark off with a spoke shave or peal it (still warm enough) and sit on 2.5" and charge a $100 a slab as they come off the mill. Sit on it for 2 years and you hit the magic number at 10% which is $300 a slab

[Downstream]

WOW!  I have not seen a score like that in a long while.  It's like seeing gold nuggets in the pan.  I was lucky to get alot of walnut early, but much harder lately.  did you have to cut down tree also or was it already on the ground?

[OffGrid973]

Solicitation is not allowed on the forum but if we have a sponsored east coast pig roast (trying to push this) and our forefathers take the trip down I can have my guys stock pile and we can have a "attendance discount" but it will be BYOT...Bring Your Own Trailer.

Sorry if this gets removed, but our Canadian neighbor northerners get to have all the fun on this forum, metro guys get left un-cooked

[ToddsPoint]

I paid $200 for 24 walnut crotches left over from a logging job.  I milled them all for gunstocks.  I've had good luck finding walnut around here.  I got more walnut at a local log dump and those were free.  Gary

 

[nativewolf]

Toddspoint, that is a very very nice pile of crotch.  Again, I could sell that in log form for much more than the $200. 

Out of curiosity what did you do with that much gunstock?  We are starting to cache some smaller crotches and really special ones that just don't make sense to export. 

[Jjoness4]

WOW!  I have not seen a score like that in a long while.  It's like seeing gold nuggets in the pan.  I was lucky to get alot of walnut early, but much harder lately.  did you have to cut down tree also or was it already on the ground?

They were already cut and bucked out.  The tree was a double hanging right over the road and a power line.  I would not have cut the tree.

[Jjoness4]

That is a score my friend, one urban logger to another.  Wand every cut for metal and take that bark off with a spoke shave or peal it (still warm enough) and sit on 2.5" and charge a $100 a slab as they come off the mill. Sit on it for 2 years and you hit the magic number at 10% which is $300 a slab

I have not been diligent at taking the bark off but I have all my walnut logs off the ground.  I have about a 40 walnut logs of varying shapes and sizes.  How long will walnut logs last, bark on before degradation starts.  I just need to get to sawing!!!

[Larry]

Wood turning walnut bowls has taught me to keep the sapwood white and bright I need to process within two or three weeks of felling the tree.  After that the sapwood starts to get slightly muddy.  It was something I never really noticed when I was sawing.

I've sawn walnut logs 10 years old where the sapwood had completely rotted off.  The heartwood was still good.  Had a few more cracks in the end that I needed to work around.

[Cazzhrdwd]

Got these freshly logs sawed urban walnut logs cheap (I think).  $10.00 each.  600 bd ft Doyle.  Loaded with log arch.  Had to block traffic to load.  Got the Boston ivy free.  I'll let you know how cheap they are after sawed and I check blade inventory.  These might have been in a fence row. Ouch!!

Nice logs, I'd been at least a dollar a ft to buy them.

[Cazzhrdwd]

Here's a nice one i sawed up recently.

[thechknhwk]

Free walnut, too big to load, had to bring the mill.  Not all of it was this nice, but there was some pretty nice stuff and I never hit nail.  Probably about 20 logs.  Not bragging, just saying :D :D Should be pushing about 2mbf all said and done.  I had to cut down and clean all the brush.  Got more pics from the last batch, but I never uploaded them.  I slabbed a bunch of it 9/4 & 8/4.

[Magicman]

Oh My, that is a goodun.   8)

[Darrel]

I'd be glad to pull my trailer over the Cascades to where walnut grows and pick up a log or two like that and bring'em back over here and sawum up! Those are purdy.

[ToddsPoint]

Toddspoint, that is a very very nice pile of crotch.  Again, I could sell that in log form for much more than the $200. 

Out of curiosity what did you do with that much gunstock?  We are starting to cache some smaller crotches and really special ones that just don't make sense to export.

I'm stashing all I cut for myself.  I'll have enough for the rest of my days.  Then you can buy the rest from my widow. :D  I stocked other peoples guns for 35 yrs., now I'm retired and doing my own for a change.  Here's some drying and some I finished.  Gary

  

 

[Jjoness4]

Toddspoint, that is a very very nice pile of crotch.  Again, I could sell that in log form for much more than the $200. 

Out of curiosity what did you do with that much gunstock?  We are starting to cache some smaller crotches and really special ones that just don't make sense to export.

I'm stashing all I cut for myself.  I'll have enough for the rest of my days.  Then you can buy the rest from my widow. :D  I stocked other peoples guns for 35 yrs., now I'm retired and doing my own for a change.  Here's some drying and some I finished.  Gary

  

 

Wow.
Beautiful craftsmanship.

[btulloh]

You do some nice work.  Makes me want to send out some guns for new stocks.

[nativewolf]

Free walnut, too big to load, had to bring the mill.  Not all of it was this nice, but there was some pretty nice stuff and I never hit nail.  Probably about 20 logs.  Not bragging, just saying :D :D Should be pushing about 2mbf all said and done.  I had to cut down and clean all the brush.  Got more pics from the last batch, but I never uploaded them.  I slabbed a bunch of it 9/4 & 8/4.

Good to brag about that and thanks for sharing the pictures.

[tule peak timber]

Toddspoint, that is a very very nice pile of crotch.  Again, I could sell that in log form for much more than the $200. 

Out of curiosity what did you do with that much gunstock?  We are starting to cache some smaller crotches and really special ones that just don't make sense to export.

I'm stashing all I cut for myself.  I'll have enough for the rest of my days.  Then you can buy the rest from my widow. :D  I stocked other peoples guns for 35 yrs., now I'm retired and doing my own for a change.  Here's some drying and some I finished.  Gary

  

 

Great pics,,,beautiful work ! I'm curious , do you ever buy California walnuts for your stock business ? Rob

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Beautiful work Gary.

[DPatton]

Gary those stocks are absolutely beautiful. You have some serious skills and are quite a craftsman.

[WDH]

The gunstocks are nice.  So is the quartersawn oak cabinet in the background.  Did you make it?

[Downstream]

I agree those stocks are great.  How thick do you cut the blanks?  I have an old stevens 22/410 over under that has the bakelite stocks that are missing pieces.  I have wanted to make new walnut replacements for awhile.

[BigZ La]

Beautiful job. Such great craftsmanship

[ToddsPoint]

Toddspoint, that is a very very nice pile of crotch.  Again, I could sell that in log form for much more than the $200. 

Out of curiosity what did you do with that much gunstock?  We are starting to cache some smaller crotches and really special ones that just don't make sense to export.

I'm stashing all I cut for myself.  I'll have enough for the rest of my days.  Then you can buy the rest from my widow. :D  I stocked other peoples guns for 35 yrs., now I'm retired and doing my own for a change.  Here's some drying and some I finished.  Gary

  

 

Great pics,,,beautiful work ! I'm curious , do you ever buy California walnuts for your stock business ? Rob

Sure, I've made Claro and English walnut stocks from CA.  I have a Black Walnut blank from Yolo Co. CA that came from a 7' dia. tree.  The tree was hollow and someone was living in it!  CA has the most beautiful walnut but I like using my local wood just as well.  Gary

[ToddsPoint]

The gunstocks are nice.  So is the quartersawn oak cabinet in the background.  Did you make it?

Thanks WDH.  That's my wife's spongeware pottery cabinet.  No, I didn't make it.  I've never tried furniture and wouldn't know where to begin.  Gary

[ToddsPoint]

I agree those stocks are great.  How thick do you cut the blanks?  I have an old stevens 22/410 over under that has the bakelite stocks that are missing pieces.  I have wanted to make new walnut replacements for awhile.

Hi Mike.  I mill the wood 11/4.  That will cover any stock, like rifle stocks with a cheek piece.  More than you actually need for thinner stocks like a little .22 rifle or similar.  11/4 gives the guy that runs the duplicator machine plenty of material set up like he wants.  The duplicator changes it from a blank to a semi-finished stock and saves hours and hours of time.

I mill the crotch and then I mark the gunstock blank and cut it out immediately.  Seal the ends and the feather pattern and hang it.  You don't want to sticker slabs to make gunstocks.  You want that blank cut free and hanging so it can twist in the wind.  All internal stress will be relieved that way. 

The feather pattern will check if not sealed.  Also, it's better to mill crotches in the fall/winter.  A fresh cut crotch blank going into the heat of summer in my barn will cause checks for sure.  Some of them get checks no matter what you do.  Gary

[tule peak timber]

Thanks for the reply. The broker that I buy most of my walnut from is a gunstock and burl processor. I use all my walnut for furniture and mill work and stay clear of the whole gunstock thing as I do not understand it. The broker will typically buy entire groves of premium trees and sort out the best to veneer and high end stock cutters then sell the rest to me. This arrangement  gives me a break on the price and  my customer base just does not appreciate the super "good " stuff anyway. Rob

  

[plantman]

Just curious, where would a person go to sell wood like that if not to local craftsmen ? Are there brokers / exporters or would I call distributors outside of the area ?

[tule peak timber]

I sell to anyone , one board at a time- to truck fulls. It just takes time to build a customer base. I use a broker to buy wood.  Rob

[NWP]

Here's a little stick of walnut I cut on a job earlier this fall. The saw is a 460 with a 25" bar.