# Gotta figure out how to mill some Walnut



## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

Hey guys, 

I ended up snagging some chunks of a pretty big walnut... Now - I gotta figure out what to do it with...

This stuff has been sitting on the ground for 4 years that I know of - Talked to the fellow a couple years ago and it was promised to his buddy.... All of a sudden - within the last month or so - it's pushed up into a burn pile - apparently, his buddy had a heart attack a couple years ago and now they gotta clean it up a bit....

This was a yard tree - "Highly valuable" walnut that was splitting his "Highly valuable" driveway and dropping black staining stuff all over his highly valuable cars and wrecking his highly valuable lawnmower and making his highly valuable grass not grow.....

At heart, the guy really didn't want to see it go to firewood - so we worked it out for him to deliver it for a fee, just to pay for his labor and the truck... no charge for the logs...

Anyway - Here's what I got
30" dia x 48" long
24" dia x 45" long
13" dia x 72" long
12" dia x 56" long

All of them look like they have some sort of knobby/figure to them... The one with all the little pointy things all over is the 13" diameter one... Some of the sapwood broke off - and it looks like those are little burl/stick knots...

I would appreciate some advice on milling it up - or at least the best way to break it down so it's managable (AKA so I can move it to get it to the miller...)

I want to cut some up for Guitar wood - but the majority will probably just be sawn into lumber... Maybe a table or a rocking chair down the road.. My goal is highest quality - not highest yield....

Thanks

John


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## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

thats quite a log


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Anyone with a sawmill would know what to do. Could possibly have some spalted to it. Let us know what you do.


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## wood player (Jan 21, 2011)

Sapwood is waste any way so time on ground won't hurt it. I sawed up a walnut log that had been down for 20 years and other than some splits it was as solid and wet as the day it was cut. Sap wood was all punk but who cares Find someone with a mill that will cut it and enjoy the end product. Good luck


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

TruckJohn....Nice find:thumbsup::thumbsup:!!!! This will produce some nice CHARACTER!!!! BUT DON'T let "ANYONE" saw it. I let a "sawyer whom sawed for years saw a cherry swell and stump/crotch for me without being there......MISTAKE.....he cut it as production product not character and I have some ????cherry boards:blink::huh::thumbdown: I Praise the Lord and count it ALL JOY ....and experienced hard learned wisdom.

Dominick......Just because they have a "sawmill" DOESN'T make them a sawyer OR knowledgable........I'm a Master Carpenter but because a person owns a hammer and a circular saw DOESN'T make them a "carpenter"....that's what's wrong with the world now...not taking/earning the time to get knowledge and wisdom of a trade or product. As the sawyer above....he is great/one of the best at cutting a quality production cut (grade)...but the character "we" are wanting he lacked that knowledge.

Woodplayer.....sapwood is not a waste but a character and opinion... some like it and others don't.....I understand both sides but I don't call it a waste....IT just don't work with everything AND usually is not as resistant, but I'll use it every chance I can. In this case it most likely be a waste due to the ground time and this may have been what you meant.

This is not to condemn anyone of their opinion but to open their eyes to things we (includes me) speak and say without thought.

Everyone have a Blessed and Awesome day in Jesus's Love,
Tim


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/index.php/sawmill_locater/

Find someone who will come to your yard and cut it the way you want it cut. Their woodmizer, your chainsaw, together you should be able to get any board or blank you want out of it.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Waste???:no:


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## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

Well.. That's kinda why I am asking the questions... I realize that you guys aren't here in my yard to take an up close look at the logs... and I have seen a whole lot of terrible milling in the last year... I am really not in the mood to be a learning experience for someone else...

Not to be rude - but just because the fellow on the other side of town has sawed a pile of straight grain Pine doesn't necessarily mean he knows how to get the best out of stuff like this...

In general, though - how would you approach this? 

I am thinking break the big logs down so that the branch out is on the quarter... this way they won't end up with big round knot holes in the board...

Then, I am thinking that the log sections with those funny pointy little things would look much better flat sawn - I am thinking they would look kinda like birdseye this way rather than like crossgrain knots

On the right track? 

Thanks


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Tenn Tim, most people with a sawmill that I know. Know what to do with it and I know of a few in my area. The pic he posted was a couple of logs. Not a forest of trees or some rare exotics. How much more do you need? Its a couple little logs mill it up and sticker. Good to go. Lol
So what are you saying.. your not a master carpenter?


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Dominick said:


> Tenn Tim, most people with a sawmill that I know. Know what to do with it and I know of a few in my area. The pic he posted was a couple of logs. Not a forest of trees or some rare exotics. How much more do you need? Its a couple little logs mill it up and sticker. Good to go. Lol
> So what are you saying.. your not a master carpenter?


Which one is it...."most people you know" OR "anyone with a sawmill"......Seems a wide gap in sawyers and knowledge. They're not "just a couple of little logs", they're logs that means something to him and THAT deserves the BEST. I'd rather saw a log that means something to someone as to mill thousands of anyone can make PLAIN boards.

I am saying...I am a MASTER CARPENTER AND I know the difference in "ANYONE CAN DO IT".

Daren and Texas Timbers aren't average sawyers....they know how to get the most out of a log, I would call them MASTERS!!!! not "ANYONE"'s.

Truckjohn, when sawing, line up all piths on the same plane of cut, on the average this produces the better lumber BUT there is always exceptions to the usual. The larger crotch will have some beautiful boards. 

Have a Blessed and Awesome day in Jesus's love,
Tim
(Pics not of your average sawyer)


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Tennessee Tim said:


> Which one is it...."most people you know" OR "anyone with a sawmill"......Seems a wide gap in sawyers and knowledge. They're not "just a couple of little logs", they're logs that means something to him and THAT deserves the BEST. I'd rather saw a log that means something to someone as to mill thousands of anyone can make PLAIN boards.
> 
> I am saying...I am a MASTER CARPENTER AND I know the difference in "ANYONE CAN DO IT".
> 
> ...


I already said, Quote on Quote people I know. Besides there not that big. And yes I'm sure it means something to him, or he wouldn't want them milled. You won't know what the figure is until it's milled. 
I can see the imperfections on the outside just looking at it from a picture. Figuring out where to make first cuts isn't that hard to determine. I wouldn't quarter saw it I would Flat saw walnut better figure IMO
Who said anything about daren & TT?
I've seen your milling and you do a nice job at it and produce nice slabs. So let's not get on the wrong foot. Here. Just making a statement. 
You have an awesome day as well. 
Thanks for your opinion.


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## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

It's kinda ironic about the log sizes... I suppose stuff like this always looks much bigger in person.... Certainly these are small for some folks... (I would love to have a chance to see some larger stuff milled) Myself and the other fellow who brought the logs over couldn't lift up either of the 2 bigger logs and flip them end over end. We just dumped them off the side of the flatbed trailer..... They are pretty much staying put where they are till I can figure out a way to move them off my grass... Now - the 2 smaller logs are big enough where I can't carry them around... but I could move them if I needed to....

I am seriously thinking about taking a crack at the smallest log myself... That crotch is a 3-way - but I am thinking that it would make a better bowl or vase or something - rather than lumber.... That would leave me with a manageable log that I could try cutting down on my bandsaw...

Anyway - if anyone here knows a good miller who is in the northern end of South Carolina - shoot me a PM.

Thanks


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## Inspectorwoody (Feb 4, 2012)

Call Wood-Mizer and tell them where you are located. 

They will provide you with a list of sawyers in your area. 

Than it is up to you to pick the one, if any to saw your logs. 

You can do this with Norwood, Baker, Timberking etc. 

Good Luck!


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

I was gonna say you can call wood mizer just learned this morn you needed to call instead of goin online.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Woodworking Talk

Check out my website treecyclehardwoods.com for your next lumber purchase.


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