# Walnut Cookies



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

I checked in with the local tree guy who previously had some tops for me for firewood before I had saw problems. Today, he had a lot of trees, one of which was walnut. There's only a 3' - 4' straight section left, but there are a couple of crotches and 24" sections which would be perfect for large bowl blanks. I'll take photos next time I'm out there because I'll need advice on how to cut the crotches (what to do with them) or just firewood them. The stump portion is 30" - 36" across and will probably tax my 24" bar, but I'd like to try and cut a couple of cookies from it. I was thinking somewhere in the 3"-4" rough cut thickness. This should give me enough room in case my saw cuts don't match very well (which I know they won't).
The question is: Do Walnut cookies dry very well with little or no cracking? Would you air dry them (winter cut) for a year or so before d/h kiln drying? Can you dry 4" cookies in a d/h kiln (I got to get off my rear and build one)? Naturally I'm going to seal both faces of the cookies with Anchor Seal (Right?). How do you d/h dry lumber coated with Anchor Seal? Do you have to remove it first? I'd like to keep the bark intact (coat edges of bark as well?), any thoughts?
I know it's a lot of questions for me. This find would probably not be too exciting for you professionals, but it's a mini gold mine to me. Lot of potential projects (got to get off my rear and do some).
And a source of all the firewood I need so I can cut in the winter instead of like last May we had.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

To answer all your questions in one....they are going to bust. We talk about cookies here all the time http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/3ft-oak-disc-16497/ . 





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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Thanks and sorry, I should have done a search first. I know you guys get tired of saying the same things over and over, I would. I've got a bad habit of wanting the quick answer and not wanting to do any research.
The readings answered most of my questions, and if I would have though about it, probably would not have had to ask about drying, other than kiln. So, when I post the pictures of the individual pieces I want advice on how to deal with, I'll ask more then.
Thanks


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## bofa (Jul 17, 2010)

Great now I need to find a bakery...


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Well I went and took another look at the small pile. Guess I over reacted a little. All I see in it is a lot of bowl blanks, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I might try and cut a couple of crotch slabs out of the larger of them.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

You can dry cookies without them checking. The key is to either air dry them very slow, or very fast in a vacuum kiln. When I come across very valuable cookies I send them to Den Socling at PCS Specialties in Pennsylvania and he dries them in one of his vacuum kilns. They don't usually crack either. 

When I dry the less valuable but still worth saving ones, I coat them so thick with wax you can't even see the rings once dry. Then I coat them again. The downside to this is that fungus mold etc. can take hold and quickly permeate the end grain and ruin the aesthetics, unless a "denim" look is desired and you end up with that blue stain instead of the more common black moldy mildewy look. 

The cookie below is from a batch of 12 that I coated green in January 2010. This particular one is 3.5" but I had some 4" to 6" cookies also. Notice I started them drying in January - that's so that the mold couldn't get a foothold (mold needs moisture, darkness, and higher temps) and so that by the time warmer weather was here they were below 20% so less prone to promote mold growth. 










I wish I'd snapped a pic before I ran this through the planer because it did have some surface mildew between the wax and the wood, but as you can see it wasn't very deep. I have also dried walnut cookies successfully like this so you can do it if you coat them very thick. Having said all that, no matter what you do some will crack. Even in Den's vacuum I have had some crack that I thought wouldn't. Some cookies have so much stress in them for whatever reason the stress has to be released some way and no matter you can control how slow or fast the stress is relieved, at some point point the stress is too great and has to manifest itself some how. Like this thin cookie that convexed into a Chinese hat. 



























That cookies was an experiment. It's 4 years old and varies in thickness from 1/4" to 1/2" - I cut it with a chainsaw on a lark one day to see how it would dry. This one still has wax on it. Some species are more prone to check and no matter what you do they are almost always going to do so, and some other species are more friendly. Mesquite cookies for example practically need an ax taken to them if you coated them thick enough and kept them out of the sun. mesquite dries radially and tangentially at the same rate so you don't see many checks other than the wind shake which is pretty common in Mesquite. White Oak and Pecan, you can do everything right and still have very few that don't crack. 

As a general rule it's best to assume every one of them is going to crack and so that once dry, the ones that didn't are a nice surprise. 








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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> As a general rule it's best to assume every one of them is going to crack and so that once dry, the ones that didn't are a nice surprise.


That is a good way to put it. Straight grained wood like walnut has a very high % of failure. Other species like your maple have more interlocking grain and your chances are better to keep them whole.



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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I guess I should add I have had better luck cutting cookies on a slight angle. They are oval not perfectly round, but they have more "long grain" for the lack of a better term, not just all endgrain. I would say my success rate is about 2X by cutting them oblique.



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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Thanks guys,
Right now my problem is cutting the darn things with a 20" bar. They are 36"+ across and are laying flat so you have to hold the saw on it's side. So my lines aren't matching up. But I'll try again next time with my 24" bar. Maybe the extra length will help me hold it more on course. If I don't have better luck, I'll give up on the idea. Anyway I should still get some nice large bowl blanks out of it. you can't just firewood walnut without trying to save some of it:yes:.


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## reberly (Jan 9, 2011)

Try standing one up, cut part way through, and rotate over it and back to create a guide line to keep the line straighter.
Rich


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Yeah normally that's what I would have done, dump it on it's side. But this one was too big for me to move. And the owner wasn't around and I didn't really want to bother him to get out the bobcat just for me.


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## reberly (Jan 9, 2011)

Understood,
No piece of walnut is worth a hernia.
Rich


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