What would you do with this walnut?

[delabodge]

james,firstly thanks for the link,,,,

I agree with above comments, thats why I stock pile all my nice stuff and utilise it myself,i hate selling anything other than oak beams, have yew,elm,apple etc just waiting to make into stuff, and when I do,,its the lovely wood that sells the product on its own, nothing goes too waste here,,all the small off cuts get made into wine stopers,,,

[Rob D]

Ah nice work but still fire related!

 

 

[Rob D]

No mate, its walnut.

 

To be honest, I know Ive hammered the fun out of the firewood comments but its a reflection of how I feel about the milling market. What Ive found in our area at least, is many folk make a big noise about wanting premium hardwoods for various applications. As a result I started milling lots of it. Anything from copper beech, walnut and yew, to very big english and which elms. Also trials with stuff such as monkey, tree of heaven and maple.

 

The disappointment and sarcasm comes from the follow up lack of interest(and money) in the said boards, beams and interesting pieces. As a result I have simply either logged most of it or made various items for myself.

 

It appears, as I say there seemed to be very little real interest in it around us and simply not viable.

 

Sorry if Ive come across negative or irrative, but I do think its a shame such premium stuf has ended up on the stove.

 

I do have a huge interest in the subject though and like to see creations resulted from it, hence my regular presence.

 

 

 

To be fair all the above is true - it seems that despite the huge and varying amount of timber we have over here the actual real interest of people putting their hands in their pockets and giving you money for it is few and far between.... there are a lot out there that seem to know so much 'oh mate that stuffs worth a fortune my mate sold a load of blah blah blah...' and it's all bull.

 

 

BUT....

 

Faint heart never won fair lady - there is a market out there but it takes a while to find it and a lot of persistence.

 

I now have a pretty good system of what I do with the wood - ok it's taken 6 years and a few times on the way 'I've had ebough of this' but hey ho!

 

 

 

• Large cedar or oak - plank and turn directly into picnic benches. An indoor table has to be the right size, colour and shape and needs treating etc etc... Everyone can have an outdoor picnic bench. Make quick sell cheap and they will sell.
  
• Smaller pieces - chopping boards/charcuterie boards - I now have my boards in 14 retailers and they sell well.
  
• Beach - on the whole not worth planking unless spaulted or burred.
  
• Yew - not as much demand or worthwhile as people make out and no use for chopping boards.
  
• Walnut - great for chopping and charcuterie boards - so stable and easy to dry. Better bits plane and put on ebay
  
• Ash - good for boards, seems more popular to sell
  
• Other timbers - plank but don't go mad - if in doubt i.e. shake or size do not plank... only plank the good stuff
  
• When dry find someone who has a planer thicknesser - nice looking wood sells, grey dirty wood does not
  
• Have an area where all your wood is pre priced for wood turners and then just point - saves a lot of time.
  

 

 

You need top find the market before you start planking and then go from there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[agg221]

To be fair all the above is true - it seems that despite the huge and varying amount of timber we have over here the actual real interest of people putting their hands in their pockets and giving you money for it is few and far between.... there are a lot out there that seem to know so much 'oh mate that stuffs worth a fortune my mate sold a load of blah blah blah...' and it's all bull.

 

 

BUT....

 

Faint heart never won fair lady - there is a market out there but it takes a while to find it and a lot of persistence.

 

I now have a pretty good system of what I do with the wood - ok it's taken 6 years and a few times on the way 'I've had ebough of this' but hey ho!

 

 

 

• Large cedar or oak - plank and turn directly into picnic benches. An indoor table has to be the right size, colour and shape and needs treating etc etc... Everyone can have an outdoor picnic bench. Make quick sell cheap and they will sell.
  
• Smaller pieces - chopping boards/charcuterie boards - I now have my boards in 14 retailers and they sell well.
  
• Beach - on the whole not worth planking unless spaulted or burred.
  
• Yew - not as much demand or worthwhile as people make out and no use for chopping boards.
  
• Walnut - great for chopping and charcuterie boards - so stable and easy to dry. Better bits plane and put on ebay
  
• Ash - good for boards, seems more popular to sell
  
• Other timbers - plank but don't go mad - if in doubt i.e. shake or size do not plank... only plank the good stuff
  
• When dry find someone who has a planer thicknesser - nice looking wood sells, grey dirty wood does not
  
• Have an area where all your wood is pre priced for wood turners and then just point - saves a lot of time.
  

 

 

You need top find the market before you start planking and then go from there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with the above. The only additions I would make are that cherry and elm seem to be quite desirable.

 

If you have storage space there is steady demand for heavier section oak (6-8" square), for fireplaces, gateposts etc. This is also much more cost-effective to mill as timber is priced per cu.ft and there is much less milling in thicker bits. Keep a note as to how long it's been milled, as an air-dried 6" mantelpiece that's been down for 5yrs+ makes about double a green piece of timber the same size, but it's very easy to forget how long ago it was milled.

 

Anything else I will pretty much only do if someone specifically asks me to.

 

Alec

[muttley9050]

So its a fascinating derail here. But back to the original question, would you cut the board into 3 for planing or would you get it as flat as poss by hand and forget about the underside?

[se7enthdevil]

if i had that bit of walnut or any species that looked as good as that and it was too cupped or wonky to get a flat board from then i would simply sand as is and present it as a beautiful rustic coffee table, if needs be try and sand any really sharp bits rounder or at least round enough so you cant get a splinter give it a coat of oil and wax and "eh viola, cest magnifique".

 

i try and use good looking wood and keep it just that. such a good looking bit of walnut should have the same treatment.

 

 

 

just my opinion, keep us updated as to what you decide to do.

 

by the way where in bucks are you?

 

 

 

 

 

.

[muttley9050]

That's what I was thinking, but gos against my "perfect" grain.

Live in Winslow mate. Ya welcome for a coffee anytime your in the area.

[slackbladder]

Hi

Do you have enough thickness to take off the lump but still leave it strong enough

Lovely looking piece of wood though

[muttley9050]

There's plenty if thickness, its about 2" at mo. It is just a lump, both ends are pretty true. Might have to invest in a scrub plane, but my hand planing skills leave a little to be desired. I'm gunna have a go with an electric plane then a block plane later and see how I get on. Any tips?

[Woodworks]

There's plenty if thickness, its about 2" at mo. It is just a lump, both ends are pretty true. Might have to invest in a scrub plane, but my hand planing skills leave a little to be desired. I'm gunna have a go with an electric plane then a block plane later and see how I get on. Any tips?

 

Nice sharp blade and don't sharpen the blade straight but put a slight convex curve across the width of the blade. This stops the edge of the blade digging in when being aggressive. I would not use a block plane as you want to be able to put a bit of beef into it. A No. 5 or 6 plane would be ideal. Another tip is wipe some candle wax on the base of the plane from time to time to ease the resistance.

 

Good luck with it