# My Neighbor's Black Walnut Tree



## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Actually she has a big Mulberry tree as well that may be more than I can handle.

The walnut was about 28" in diameter but only went up about six feet before forming large branches which I cut into saw logs as well. I did not get anything very long, averaging about 7'. 

It has been a least a decade since I've taken down a large tree. My old sack of bones has been letting me know how much hard work this is. I took my time because it was close enough to hit her house although it was weighted to easily fall away form it and into and open field. I removed a couple of branches and loose limbs that I thought might cause a problem. For extra precaution I put a rope in it to start it in the right direction. Well, all that worked a little too well, I still had five inches to go to get to my ideal 1" hinge when it started over. I made it about 75% through the butt with my cut and 25% split off. Oh well I still had 3/4 of a nice log.

I am a little disappointed in the amount of sap wood versus heart wood. Oh well up to this point I only had some chainsaw gas for expenses.

Got er all cleaned up and the logs drug over to my place and began pondering how to make it into lumber. I should note here that all the work so far had been done with my almost antique Homelite Super XL chainsaw that I purchased new in 1975. I am now thinking about this old Alaska chainsaw mill I have up in the loft having been passed over by any buyers at a few of my garage sales. Would the beat up old saw power that mill? With the 20 inch bar it would only cut about 12 inches max. and using a standard chain it cut a couple of boards OK.

Maybe the old saw could do it after all was my attitude when I was driving to the saw shop to improve my saw. I found a 30" Sthil bar and a skip tooth chain and after looking at it quickly I decided it would work somehow. Much to my surprise the new parts fit right on with only a slight enlargement to the adjuster pin hole and by the end of the day I had a dozen boards cut up to 21" at the widest. The saw worked amazingly well!

Now I just have to figure out how to cut the bigger logs

For now, Bret


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

All that and no pics Bret? Can't do that to us, no teasing. Lol


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I tried that once*

I quartered the logs first, about 5 ft long. That took a while as ripping is much different than crosscutting. Even a 1/4 of that log is heavy. Next time I made them 3 ft and 4 ft long. Then I made a roller stand to support them on my bandsaw for ripping them to thickness. It's a lot of heavy lifting.

Here's a thread on bandsaw resawing:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/resaw-sled-7552/

Yeah, some pictures would be cool! Unless you were too busy working to stop for them..... :blink:


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Sorry, no "before" pics.


























Bret


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## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

I've never in my life seen a BW with that much sap wood. Maybe because it's a branch?? Gary


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Yep there is definately a lot of sap wood. I'll end up with a few nice boards but I'm glad I haven't dumped any money into this endeavor as the quality of the lumber isn't that great.

I couldn't really justify the expense of bringing in a portable saw mill, thus the chainsaw mill.

Bret


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

There is an amazing amount of sap wood- is the butt log the same?
Kind of a cool effect though the way you have it laid out.
Lot of work getting those boards- makes my bones ache just looking at them. :thumbsup:


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

mike1950 said:


> There is an amazing amount of sap wood- is the butt log the same? Kind of a cool effect though the way you have it laid out. Lot of work getting those boards- makes my bones ache just looking at them. :thumbsup:


+1 I to like the way you have them laid out. 
Kinda spooky in a way? Or maybe it's just that time of year. Laughing!!!!! Whatever it is? It's cool!!!! Nice work on the milling.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Bret, I like the look...BUT...I'm not sold on that it's Black walnut with that much sapwood and the bark is a little different...I've always heard of white walnut (butternut) but it's not really white. With all the wood you've worked AND you seen the tree alive and bearing the nuts, I'll take your word.
Great find and congrats, I've seen enough of your work here to know it'll be some awesome pieces!!!


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## Paarker (Mar 20, 2013)

Tennessee Tim said:


> Bret, I like the look...BUT...I'm not sold on that it's Black walnut with that much sapwood and the bark is a little different...I've always heard of white walnut (butternut) but it's not really white. With all the wood you've worked AND you seen the tree alive and bearing the nuts, I'll take your word.
> Great find and congrats, I've seen enough of your work here to know it'll be some awesome pieces!!!



I got to agree with Tim on this the bark just doesn't look like black walnut to me.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

IT is walnut- at least I sure think so.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

*could possibly be an English walnut*



Tennessee Tim said:


> Bret, I like the look...BUT...I'm not sold on that it's Black walnut with that much sapwood and the bark is a little different...I've always heard of white walnut (butternut) but it's not really white. With all the wood you've worked AND you seen the tree alive and bearing the nuts, I'll take your word.
> Great find and congrats, I've seen enough of your work here to know it'll be some awesome pieces!!!


Now you got me thinking. It's definitely walnut. I assumed it was black walnut by what the neighbor told me and also all the walnuts on the ground was like walking on marbles. First thing I had to do was rake all the walnuts away from the base of the tree so I could work safely. I'll study the branch and leaf architecture tomorrow and give you my final opinion. If I can still find some limbs with fresh enough leaves I'll take a photo and show ya. 









I cut these small slabs/boards this afternoon. It took me about two hours to produce what you see.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Now I realize they're not exactly uniform slabs.....but theres gotta be something cool that could be done with those....

They look pretty awesome.....


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Bret...the more you cut and show.... the more I love!!! BEAUTIFUL pieces of lumber!!! ....NO matter what kind of wood!!! LOL


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I don't think I've cut into the best of the wood yet.

I have plenty of time to let my imagination come up with what to build with this lumber, a year or so before air drying is complete.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Very clever fix for the chainsaw. Cool that the fit-up worked out OK. Too bad you gotta get inside to see the H/wood, S/wood. But from the looks of what you cut, it can make for some interesting pieces. 








 







.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

It's definitely walnut, but I now think it's English walnut. The leaves are 2 - 5 inches long and more oval than the black walnut leaves.

I don't think I would have done anything different had I known that going in. In the future I'll be sure to take the time to identify the tree.

And here I thought I was going to make it all the way through my life without making a mistake. Ha. 

Is English walnut know to have more sapwood than the Black? 

Bret


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

I have some English walnut-20" wide boards- lots of curl and grain color in the butt log and not much sap. But I looked at some English from southern Ore. and it had an amazing amount of sap that was very very white. I like the grain patterns better in english. Here is an example of butt- I do not see this in Black. Curious to see inside of big log- I am sure you are also.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

This is turning into my little comedy of errors. Under the category of "if it's not broke don't fix it". I was trying to coax a little more power out of my old Homelite and, you guessed it, I leaned it out just a bit too far and the engine ceased. I don't know if it's repairable yet I haven't got it apart. I have located another old Homlite identical to mine so we'll see.

Bret


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Bummer


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

That sucks...hopefully you can get it back up without too much expense.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I can't remember how much I paid for that saw back in 1975 but I'm pretty sure I got my money's worth.

Bret


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

If you're milling with it, keep it running rich. Hope you get it running again. I enjoy seeing pics :icon_smile:


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I took the saw apart and cleaned everything last night and this morning I was able to get everything to move freely again. So I put it back together and it started up and was able to cut a couple of more boards. I'm using more oil in the gas than normal and I am running it fairly rich but now I can't make it all the way through one board without refilling the saw.

Bret


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## Post Oakie (Aug 20, 2013)

Could be another species of walnut. You could have encountered Carpathian walnut (J. regia), California walnut (J. californica), or Arizona walnut (J. major). Yard trees can be tricky to identify, because so many varieties get planted outside their natural range.

Sorry to hear about the old Homelite. They're great machines. I know it's a little late, but the richer you run the mixture, the cooler the saw runs. Hope you're back in business soon. Those are stunning slabs. You did a great job lining up the cuts.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Post Oakie said:


> Could be another species of walnut. You could have encountered Carpathian walnut (J. regia), California walnut (J. californica), or Arizona walnut (J. major). Yard trees can be tricky to identify, because so many varieties get planted outside their natural range.
> 
> Sorry to hear about the old Homelite. They're great machines. I know it's a little late, but the richer you run the mixture, the cooler the saw runs. Hope you're back in business soon. Those are stunning slabs. You did a great job lining up the cuts.


Thanks PO, this project would be a lot easier if I had your band saw mill.

I'm pretty satisfied with my identification as being English Walnut. I read several descriptions and looked at many photographs of the leaf structure unless one of the other species you mentioned is very similar to English.

No need for condolences regarding the Homelite, it's up and running again. It did seize up from getting too hot but decided to run again the following day. You are right, I was fiddling with the high speed jet and I leaned it out too much and in just a few seconds it seized. Like all two cycle engines, they always run the best right before they burn up! Ha.

Before I knew that the saw was going to be OK I looked on Craigslist and found an identical saw to mine, a Homelite super XL auto, for $75, and I bought it. It runs great. I've got them both running a little rich which keeps them cooler but man am I ever going through the gas and oil!.

Bret


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## Post Oakie (Aug 20, 2013)

Lola Ranch said:


> I've got them both running a little rich which keeps them cooler but man am I ever going through the gas and oil!.


I've never met anyone that thought he had too many saws (my wife thinks I do, but I know better). Judging from the photos, you are coming out ahead on the gas/oil deal. Keep that sawdust flying!


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I'm sure glad i picked up another chainsaw as the new (old) one is doing most of the work.

Now my body is protesting. All the chainsaw milling has caused a flair up of carpal tunnel and my hands keep falling asleep. I've got about 300 bd ft of lumber cut and stickered. The remainder will have to come piecemeal over time.

Bret


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## Post Oakie (Aug 20, 2013)

Carpal tunnel is nothing to fool around with! Those old saws have no real vibration isolation, and a lot of loggers have had to quit because of it. You may need to think about a mill that doesn't require you to hang onto a chain saw. Norwood has a chain saw mill called the "Porta-Mill" that lets you work while standing upright, and has a throttle cable that runs to the saw. Good luck, and take care of that wrist!


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

What I've learned is that this chainsaw milling is just too much work. Although for this job the price was right in the future I'll job it out to a portable bandsaw mill or buy boards already cut.

Bret


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