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My First Walnut

Started by Upper, February 03, 2017, 04:04:29 PM

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Upper

I have 3 eight foot by 16 inch logs,with 2 inches of sapwood.I don't know how long the tree has been down in a moist area,but the sapwood on the bottom wont hold a hook very well.I was thinking some live edge but I have read a little about uneven sapwood and such.My guess is no live edge and minimize the retained sapwood for just a little character.Thoughts?
Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

WV Sawmiller

   i'd go ahead and try some live edge. The sapwood will fall off but you will still have a nice natural, native shape. You can always edge them later but you can't put the edges back on.

   I had a customer come by yesterday wanting some 2" cherry and all I had was native edges and he wanted squared boards. The mill was already set up so we just tossed them on it and edged them to fill his order and we were both happy. The next guy may want them native. Maintain flexibility where possible.

   Enjoy the walnut.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

drobertson

Sap wood should not fall off, bark, yea, if steamed it takes away the sap wood coloring, air dried is fine too, just takes a while,
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

tareece

Hey Upper...
     Pics would be nice... but whats the worse that could happen? I have some rotten  oak that fell and its been laying down for 2-3 yrs... so im going to slice it and see if there is any worth left to it.. .or if its just ant and termite food
    Its always a gamble harvesting laying timber...
Todd Reece
Lover of many things. Experienced in most... expert in few

21incher

You can always cut it off later, but can't put it back on. I have never seen sap wood fall off.  :)
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Upper

Thanks for all the replies,looks like I will slab it,Girlfriend wants a table.Told her she has two years to settle up.
Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Kbeitz

I have some walnut that the sap wood fell off of.
Some I needed to give it a little nudge but not much.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

WV Sawmiller

   I haven't been doing this as long as some of the folks on this forum but I have had several live edge oak, walnut and cherry slabs where the sapwood was pithy and would rub right off and even some that looked like shake between the heartwood and sapwood where the two separated.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Darrel

I've seen the sap wood rot and fall off many different species of wood, redwood does it all the time. Black oak does too 
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

DannyLand

In my limited experience with walnut, the sap wood will rot off but the heart wont, so leaving it to lay in the dirt wont really harm it, but this may not be the case in all states and weather conditions.  I personally havent seen it separate without some help from mother nature in advance.  I have however intentionally cut and sanded the sap off to reveal the natural shape of the tree for a fireplace mantle for a customer.  Took a lot of work but it looked great and would be thrilled to have it just happen naturally.   
Woodland Mills HM126, Hudson debarker, Jonsered 2171, New Holland skid steer, 1955 International Harvester Dump 132

YellowHammer

If the sapwood is rotted or weak, I'd take it off.  If it's not structurally sound enough to take a hook, it not sound or strong enough to make a good table or board edge anyway. 

Normally, on sound walnut and cherry especially, face sapwood will almost always pull, and will cause the boards to dry poorly.  Typically, I try to get at latest a 90% sapwood free face, or the boards will bow, or at least have enough stress to want to bow or move, especially on 4/4 boards.  So the solution is to slab heavy.

However, balanced sapwood borders on the edges of a thicker live edge slab are different, and work well, and will generally not warp the slab, and they look great, only because they are pulling the slab evenly.

Of all the defects due to drying and sawing, the hardest to remove is bow, and that is generally caused by log stress or sapwood pull.  The solution to bow is jointing, or cutting low boards into short pieces, and then jointing, so long thicker defected boards turn into thinner pieces of wood real quick. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

alanh

Also got a load of walnut, mt first. I cut a 5` long crotch of a 14" diameter log, cut 4 slabs and put them on cl, sold them all to the first caller and gained a connection with a furniture guy...


 

Darrel

Those are awesome looking slabs!
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Upper

Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Upper

Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Upper

Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Upper

Should have sawn this one with the check

 
Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Magicman

Upper,  before posting pictures, I always like to click "Preview" and then scroll up to see what the reply will look like.  Also, after you make a post and do not like what happened, you can click "modify" and correct any mistakes.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Den Socling

Did you sell those slabs green alanh? That figure is probably going to develop surface checks.
Live edge walnut slabs with sapwood are sold by the gazillions. I have a couple thousand BF in a kiln at the moment.

Upper

Thanks Magicman,I too now will like to do it that way.I am so jazzed to be able to post pictures.
Stihl 661
Alaskan 36 CSM
36" guillotine splitter powered by a GMC V6
I like to build stuff
LT35HD Wood-Mizer

Magicman

And you are jazzing us with those pictures.   smiley_thumbsup
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

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