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Walnut

Rusty Nesmith said:
Well bad news. Termites. I took it all out to my burn pile and will be burning it this week.
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Can't you just cut off the edges? It doesn't look like they're all thru it, but maybe just in the outer sapwood.

An old firend called me and said they had to have a walnut tree in their yard cut down. He was going to split it and use it for heat, but said I could have as much of it as I wanted. I cut a few logs off it and cut them thru the middle. I might have to go back for more. I made a couple pieces to give to him.

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Wife called last week, power was out and she needed to get the garage door open. On the drive I could see a tree on the power line just down from the house. Later after the power company freed it from the line I drove by again and noticed it was a walnut tree. Left a note in the neighbor’s mailbox offering to clean the downed walnut if I could take wood. They messaged a couple of days later and said yes. Woohoo!

Told the wife I was going to go clean if up but didn’t think it was very big. She offered to help lift the logs in the truck. Ended up with a dozen logs about 18” long by 14” diameter. The biggest section of the tree is in the ditch yet. On site I mentioned they’ll be too big to get out, she suggested pulling it out with the truck. I resisted the urge to kiss her on the side of the road.

I’ve rough turned about 10 bowls so far. It’s my first walnut and is very exciting. Need to get back to the biggest part of the log too.
 
I had a friend that had several walnut trees in their "horse pasture". They had them all cut down and asked if I wanted the wood. Immediately went and started loading up my trailer. First load was way overloaded for my vehicle, it kept "pulsing" down the highway. Went back for a second load and didn't overdue it this time. They were all cut into 3' to 4' lengths so I left some of it as is to process later and just sealed the ends to help minimize the checking.
 
I got some black walnut from a tree that come down in a backyard in the Bay Area a few months ago. I just happened to go on Facebook marketplace and the guy had put an ad for free wood up just moments before, I didn't even realize this when I replied but by the time I got there he said he had like 50 or 80 (can't remember which) messages about it. My offer to make him a bowl sealed the deal. Got lucky as there's not much walnut around here.....001.jpg002.jpg
 
Darryl Fective said:
Did someone say overloaded? 😁

This was from 2004. A guy was having 7 trees in his yard cut. He was giving it away to whoever wanted it, but I was the only one who showed up. It was a 5 hour drive each way.

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My FiL has a stack like that on his property. Every time I drive my truck over there I grab a couple of pieces. :)
 
My big one is still in log form. Not a big walnut by some standards. It's about 22" diameter. When it cools off, I'll start making blanks. The main trunk is off the ground so it should be good. I'll add some support to keep it off the ground as I start carving chunks off.

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Looks like a good log. I have found walnut to be very stable when drying, as in fewer cracks and little movement. I can't turn it any more, I react....

robo hippy
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
My big one is still in log form. Not a big walnut by some standards. It's about 22" diameter. When it cools off, I'll start making blanks. The main trunk is off the ground so it should be good. I'll add some support to keep it off the ground as I start carving chunks off.
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Is the base hollow? Can’t tell from the photo may be a shadow.
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
There is about a 4-5" hole at the base. I don't know yet how far it goes up.
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You can get some interesting forms using a hollow.
One is turning a sphere so the hollow is near the middle. don’t have a photo

A couple other options
Smaller hollows make nice windows in bowls IMG_0437.jpeg

I put put the edge of the hollow in the side of this formIMG_3064.jpeg

Not happy with the curve on this one but the hollow sells the pieceIMG_0431.jpeg
 
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