# Walnut log...........



## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Since I work for the Public Works Dept. for my local city I run up on some amazing things all the time, and today was no different.I had a truck load of brush,and bagged leaves to take to our local dump around lunch time.When I pulled up I noticed a partically covered walnut log that was dumped off earlier.I hated to see the log be burried forever but no one was around to ask about it. I dumped my load and left. I returned about 3 hrs. later and noticed it was completely burried.I found someone with a Trac-hoe and told him I would like to have the log if he could find it.He said he just burried it a few minutes before and could probally dig it out. After a few minutes it was found and pulled out of its sure enough grave.I am going to take my trailor with me tomorrow and hopefully bring it home.It's about 15ft long and about 3ft through.Now I just have to figure out what to do with it when I get it home.I will get some pics when I have it home.:yes:

Donny


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

Nice.


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

It's always nice to come across a good deal,especially free.Prepare a flat spot to stack and sticker.Then take it to the mill.any extra you can send my way. Rick


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## Boardman (Sep 9, 2007)

It's amazing what great lumber cities destroy daily, and you're fortunate you live in a town that would allow you to get the log. It sounds like an amazing chunk and You'll end up with some killer lumber.

I live in St. Paul MN, and I once drove down to the city yard near the Mississippi river where they keep logs from city cuttings.  There were piles 20' high of all varieties of trees, waiting to be turned into mulch, or just plain burned. There's no way the general public can get any of them. I'm assuming it's all kind of liability issues the city is worried about. What a shame.

I remember reading about a guy in Chicago who chased down a city truck carrying some walnut logs like yours. He talked to the driver and couldn't get him to give up the log because of "city rules." I think he even offered to pay for it, and amazingly, in a city and state rife with payoffs and graft, the driver wouldn't even take money to allow the log to "fall off" the truck.

I'm sure Daren will chime in about this - he's a big proponent and practitioner of urban logging.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Cool :thumbsup:, yes pictures. It is amazing (and sometimes downright shocking) the beautiful hardwoods that come down in municipalities and are hauled off as waste. Since you work for the city you have a foot in the door for sure, snag all you can.


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Find a sawyer with a port-o-mill and have it milled. If you don't have the space take it to his shop. I would air dry it simply cause its Walnut but that is me. I like the dark color the air dry provides. If it is as large as you say I would have at least one board milled to 12/4 for leg stock should you ever want to build a table or the like. Nice find though....


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

Nice save! I have seen builders in my area bury trees so they wouldn't have to pay for them to be removed. I just wish I was able to save them now, but that was a different time. I was too busy partying and chasing women to wory about a tree.


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Well, here it is.I was tickled to death to see the log being loaded to my trailor.When I measured it it was 25" wide and 13 1/2 ft long. It's almost 8ft before the split and the smaller part is a little over 5ft.How much lumber do you think I will get out of this thing using a bandsaw mill?The smaller part is about 13" wide. I'm going to paint the ends tomorrow to help prevent checking.

Donny:yes:


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

don716 said:


> .How much lumber do you think I will get out of this thing using a bandsaw mill?


175-200 bft....what does walnut go for in your area, do you know ? Even $3 once sawed out and dried close to $600 worth, not a bad little haul Donny. If milling is $.35 bft and we go with 200 bft a $70 investment is gonna make a nice stack o' lumber. Good job :thumbsup:


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Nice log, Here is a chart Daren posted in a thread when I got some logs, hope it helps.


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

Nice score! Here's a link to a doyle scale calculator.http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

You have to use the small end diameter on my chart and that calculator, and walnut sometimes scales lower if you cut off all the sapwood. But that one looks to not have an obscene amount of sap, decent log.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

You might want to buck the log like drawn, so you can mill some crotch flitches for small tables etc. the crotch wood is always pretty.


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Well, I finally found a mill to saw my log up.I should have went there to begin with but I could not get them to answer the phone and it was about a 40 min drive.We went out of town yesterday and stopped by there on the way home and they said they would be glad to cut it.I'm going to take it over there on Monday and wait on it.They have more wood than I have ever seen.He said he just sent out a truck load of pallets that was made from "Walnut".I hated to hear that.I think all his wood is about $1.00bft for what he has cut already.It's all air dried.He showed me some pretty spalted maple yesterday.He has some Walnut boards that are 30" wide and prabally 15' long and beautiful.I drool everytime I go down there.
Oh well, I will take pics when mine is sawed.

Donny


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## woodchip (Jan 14, 2008)

where exactly is he located? $1.00 a dbft is a real good deal if you are the buyer.


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

He is located in Fairmont, GA. 30139. If you are interested let me know and I'll add a phone #.He has walnut,maple,pecan,cedar,poplar,ash,and alot of spalted types too.He has a spalted pecan table he made from 2 boards and the top is 2" thick.It's over 40" wide.It's beautiful.

Donny


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Well, its been an interesting first time with my own log at the saw mill. I was thinking that when I arrived(3:30pm) that it would be about an hour till it all was done (WRONG).:no:First after taking the log off the trailer he checked it with a metal detector and the batteries were dead.(No extra batteries).I told him I would run to the store and get new batteries(I wanted my log sawed).So 20min. later I returned with batteries.After hunting him back down we got the detector going.(I pulled 3 nails out at the house and I knew they were at least 1 more in there.)Worng again!!!!!!!!!!.:no:We butchered the bottom half of the log.I told him to stop at 17 nails.(Over an hour later). We cut the log in half just below the crotch.Found only one nail in the top half.I told him to saw the top half and I would take the bottom half home and get "ALL" the nails out and bring it back later.While sawing, he finished one cut and while pulling the board back with the saw, the blade flew off."What a sound that makes".By this time I noticed everyone else was gone 5:45pm.I helped him put another blade on and started again.We then got to the widest part of the log and found out the saw wasn't wide enough.OK, pull out the big chainsaw and climb on the mill and cut some of the crotch off.By this time I'm about fed up with everything but it's half way cut.About 20min later the final cut is being made.Thank God...6:20pm I'm loading the last piece on the trailer.He loads the lower half of the log ,pay him and take the 40min. trip home.Glad that's over.At least until I get the nails out of the bottom half.I got home too late to take any pics so I will do that tomorrow before I stack my lumber.I can say this "It's Beautiful Lumber".After all this (3 plus hours)I learned alot.Before you take any log to the mill make"SURE" your log doesn't have any nails in it.

Donny


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Donny,

I'm not being a wise guy when I say this, but you haven't gone through anything a sawyer doesn't do day in and day out. I will say 17 nails is a lot though. I would have chucked it after 7 unless it was something magbeuatimous.

You can't make a post like that though, and come back and say you forgot to take your camera! 

Pictures man!


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

I took my camera and even took it out but I had my truck in the way so I put it back in the truck and when I moved it I just didn't get it back out.I thought about it several times though.I helped do alot of the work so I didn't have alot of time for pics. I will have some pics tonight of what I have done so far.

I wanted to give up on the big end of the log but after a while it just became a challange.ALL the nails will come out now.The guy helping me said he would have gave up too but I'm no quitter.I'll post some pics tonight.

Donny


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Here are some pics of the lumber I got and the log I will work on.
Donny


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

Just a few more.
Donny


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

You can sure see the tooth set being bad on that blade. You can also see the metal stains so no mystery why the set is off. 

You never know what you'll get out of a log until you open it. I see your point now about not wanting to do it again. Although that log obviously wasn't worth all the effort and expense, don't let it discourage you. Just do a little more due diligence next time.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Boy Donny, that thing sure had alot of nails in it. To echo what TT said, don't let one bad experience sour you on trying to salvage some more logs. I can say from experience they don't get much nailer than that...so the next one oughta be better. I have an inexpensive metal detector I carry with me sometimes to scan yard trees that I get called about/find. (maybe you could get one/borrow one) A couple beeps is expected, though not great...if that thing starts playing the theme music to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I just leave it lay, there will always be another.


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## JP Sinclair (Nov 13, 2006)

don - Nice looking stuff, you got a few good boards. As these other guys will tell you, nails are the kryptonite of the sawing world. I hit this big sucker in a pine log. The little nail next to it is a 16 penny nail for scale. Man did that thing make the mill howl. :furious: Don't be afraid of yard or "scrap" trees. Sometimes the wildest patterns I've gotten are from someone's backyard. This blister maple came from a guy's backyard near my house last year. It was a monster of an old tree and the metal detector caught a couple old nails but I got about 1000bdft of real nice blister.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I shouldn't have said it wasn't worth the effort. I renig on that. I'm sure you'll put that lumber to good use, and you learned a lot of valuable things from this. I was off my game when I made that post to say it wasn't worth the effort. I usually like to highlight the good in an experience not dwell on the negative. 

It was well worth your effort and I applaud you sticking through it all the way.


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## woodchip (Jan 14, 2008)

Would a regular metal detector like the kind you see people walking around with do the same job as the hand held style?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

woodchip said:


> Would a regular metal detector like the kind you see people walking around with do the same job as the hand held style?


...it's better than nothing :yes:


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

I have 2 regular metal detectors(that's another hobby of mine)and one hand held detector I use in the shop for boards I find at work.I could have found more nails but when the log was on the trailer I didn't know if I was picking up the nails or the trailer.I knew if I took it off the trailer I couldn't get it loaded again so I took my chances.I'll do better next time.

Donny


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## Boardman (Sep 9, 2007)

Ever now and then I stop by a commercial sawmill out near my shop and in the office they have a collection of metal stuff they've hit in logs.....a horseshoe, railroad spike, chain, etc.

But hye Don - I had a couple slabs like those "L" shaped ones, and I used them on a slant front secretary. The bottom of the L was the desk part and the top were the sides of a bookcase on top. Looked great.


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