Walnut Tree, is the timber worth saving

[marku]

Hi, I do a bit of woodworking when I get time and read this forum qute often for advice.

Some one mentioned to me that a Walnut tree had been blown down in the recent gales and the property owner couldn't get it out of his garden because of its size.

I went to have a look and agreed to remove it, I now have two large trailer loads of Walnut. The question really is what to do with it, if its no good then I am quite happy to make logs from it but obviously it would be much better to use it for something a little more creative. I would be quite happy to get a sawmill to convert it or slice it up for woodturners.

The main trunk is probably about 8ft long and just under 3ft and weighs about 900kg, lots of other bits as well.

Hopefully the pictures will show the wood if I have uploaded them correctly.

I also ripped whats left of the stump out so I have that if its any use.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks Mark

 

[nev]

Walnut is extremely dangerous and should be shipped immediately to my address for safe disposal. :twisted:

I am sure if you had it slabbed/ planked or blanked it would definitely be worthwhile. Beautiful timber and British stuff getting harder to find.

 

[nicguthrie]

If you have room to season it properly, it's well worth saving as walnut is worth a lot these days. It's one of my absolute favourite woods, utterly gorgeous when it's turned - just look at some of the little boxes CHJ has been posting pictures of recently to see it used well.

If you had space to season it, then process it into bowl blanks and spindle blanks, you could probably make several hundred pounds if not more, by just selling the blanks on eBay.

If I had the space, I'd jump at the chance for just one log of that. I've wanted some good walnut for ages, but it's increasingly hard to find.

The other option may be to take it to a lumber yard, if it's disease free and good wood, they'd process it into planks etc for furniture eventually and make good money from it, so if they're not just the builders merchant type, they may be interested in buying the whole lump off you for a decent sum.

Nic.

 

[Mr T]

Hi

Why don't people offer me walnut trees for free?!! You could have some lovely wood there. If you have the stump also I understand the area near he roots is particularly prized by gun stock makers if it is unblemished.

I have just brought in from outside some walnut that was planked up about three years ago and I'm relishing the prospect of working with it.

Chris

 

[marku]

Thanks for the replies,

I was hoping to get the three or four big bits slabbed if its worthwhile and keep it to season, there are also a lot of smaller branches from probably about 6" diameter upwards and many 4-6ft long which would probably be good for wood turning I guess.

I will have to sort these out when I unload the trailers this week and see whats there, as I am not a wood turner I will have to find homes for these, I didn't really get the wood with the intention of making money from it, I wanted to get some nice wood to make something from. Usually I just use cheaper woods and it would be great to try some quality timber for a change.

And it seemed a shame to let it go for logs.

I did have to pay the man £50 for the wood but it didn't seem much for the quantity available, we did have to extract it as well which wasn't easy the large bit weighs at least 900kg.

Is it only the dark wood in the centre thats worth keeping if it is planked up.

Mark

 

[paulm]

Hi Mark,

Yes, it's mainly the dark heartwood that's sought after, for woodturning as well as other uses.

The smaller branches that have little or no heartwood are probably best for firewood, but the larger pieces well worth saving if you can.

I've sent you a pm (private message)

Cheers, Paul

 

[nicguthrie]

Turners would probably prize dual color blanks with a bit of both woods too, assuming the sap wood has similar properties for turning as the lovelier heart wood.

If you'd like a guaranteed sale of a few blanks I'll pledge to take some off you for a reasonable price and postage, could even send you a courier. I'd love a reasonable chunk of the main stem for some nice bowls. I'd even be interested in Heartwood from the branches if it doesn't split, as small planks of a couple inches wide would be lovely for the small jewelry boxes and stuff that I like to make. It's quite a prize you have there.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

[marku]

Thanks again for the replies, nice to know I haven't wasted my time collecting this.

I will take some better pics with measurements tomorrow and see what there is. I don't think I would ever use it all so some of it will be going.

Mark

 

[Jacob]

What's the smallest thing you can make? Shaker pegs perhaps? Chess men or other game pieces? Any wood too small even for that, perhaps burn it.

 

[dickm]

Out of interest, how the **** did you get 900kg of trunk on to the trailer????

Sadly, there's no walnut within a long distance of us here............

 

[Cottonwood]

have you considered hiring a chainsw mill to saw it to planks?

 

[Spindle]

Hi

I'd avoid chainsaw mills unless you have no other option - the width of cut, (kerf), means an awful lot of material is wasted - not something you want to do with good walnut. If you can get it to a saw mill they should be able to band saw it for you.

I think you should do a bit of research / phoning around to get an idea of the value of your wood - I think you would be surprised.

Regards Mick

 

[custard]

You've got yourself a real find there. I see you're from Hampshire, was it from within the New Forest boundaries by any chance? There's a woodworking competition each year at the New Forest Show and Forest timber generally commands a points advantage...and a subsequent healthy price premium!

 

[marku]

I was told by the guy who owned the tree that he had phoned some sawmills and tree surgeons but no one was interested in having a look at the wood luckily for me. This is the main reason that I was doubtful of its value.

I will be calling a couple of sawmills in the morning if anyone can recommend around hampshire.

Sadly its not from the New Forest

Getting it out was interesting luckily I have a tractor with a front loader, we couldn't get to the tree where it fell with the loader so we skidded it out and then used the front loader with pallet forks to lift it onto the trailer. I know its about 900kg because if we get over about 1000kg on the tractor without our rear weight the back wheels come off the ground. As it was raining so hard on Saturday I hadn't bothered with fitting the rear weight I did regret that a couple of times.

I'm not sure what the smallest thing to make would be but I have made some knives in the past and I was thinking a small piece could be cut up on the band saw and used for knife handles, would look amazing if I can find an interesting piece, would put my varnished shot gun butt to shame.

 

[marku]

Sorry forgot to ask there is another stump at the property that I could have its about 2'10" across and is standing about 3ft out of the ground, I didn't bother with it because it had a hole in the centre 2 or 3 inches big full of water.

Bearing in mind that it would take some digging and pulling out, would it be worth going back for, it was very black. I assumed it was useless because of the hole!

Thanks

Mark

 

[acewoodturner]

Hi Mark, I would very much doubt if any sawmills would be interested in planking it for you as it is a garden tree. There could be nails or other bits of shrapnel in it which is very expensive and dangerous if hit by the saw. To set the mill up to plank one tree, even if is walnut, is time consuming. If you google woodmizer you may find a local owner who would be willing to do it if you take the tree to them. Probably wont be worth cutting up the branches on it though. There is bound to be a local woodturning club near you and you might be able to negotiate a deal with one of the turners for cutting up some of the branches into mini planks. You will need to seal the ends of the planks, sticker them and store away for a year or 2 till they are dry enough to secondary season and then use for knife blanks etc. Its not instant but very rewarding to make something out of a tree which you have cut up instead of buying ready to use planks.

 

[marku]

Thanks, I will phone a few people in the morning and see what can be done, would be a shame not to get some planks out of it.

Mark

 

[paulm]

Sorry forgot to ask there is another stump at the property that I could have its about 2'10" across and is standing about 3ft out of the ground, I didn't bother with it because it had a hole in the centre 2 or 3 inches big full of water.

Bearing in mind that it would take some digging and pulling out, would it be worth going back for, it was very black. I assumed it was useless because of the hole!

Thanks

Mark

The stumps/root balls can have some of the best figuring Mark, due to the way the base of the tree flexes in the wind I believe and creates some interesting growth patterns and grain. Wouldn't worry too much about a small amount of rot, there is a good chance of some very nice stuff if you can get it out.

Most mills will be wary of the stumps though due to the possibility of stones/grit and wrecking of their blades, likewise in garden/field grown trees generally the risk of nails, fencing wire etc.

I'm not surprised the owner didn't have any interest in it to be honest, in commercial terms the mills have to consider the ease of extraction and transporting a tree, the risk of embedded rubbish wrecking their kit, the straightness and length of main trunk, amount of wastage in converting the timber, time and cost of storage (several years) before usable, cost of labour in all the foregoing etc.

You might get some interest from them now though given you have done the hard work of getting it out and have the means to get it to them.

Talking about knife handles, a few simple folding pocket knives rescaled with different timbers, and a scandi blade handled with some of my stash also













None in walnut though :lol:

Cheers, Paul

 

[marku]

Nice knives, I made two with fixed blades using 01 toolsteel from memory, I lost the first one while out shooting so I made another one using an australian burr for the wood which looked really nice until my wife decided to use it and then wash it up. The only snag was it stayed in the washing up bowl all day, the wood came away from the handle a bit and the metal rusted under the wood. We now use it for opening boxes at work.

I will post a pic in the morning when I unpack some boxes.

Probably time to make a nice one using some Walnut!

Mark

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Hi Marku

Definitely get the 2nd stump if you can. Where abouts in Hants are you? I might be interested in some of the more transportable pieces for turning.