Black walnut ..log

[PDshooter]

A guy cut down some tress by me. One of them was a black walnut....I have some small logs (Black walnut) Is it worth trying to have them "Aged and milled" I figure maybe making a set of grips, or handles for a knife....
Where dose one go from here ?

Thanks.........

[leadeye]

Somewhere back a ways in the forum are pictures of grips on a Ruger Blackhawk made out of exactly what you have. The grip frame was non standard which was why I tried making the grips myself. The walnut had dried for about a year and shaped pretty well although this was my first attempt at making grips. I would use a band saw if I had to do it over again, all I had was a sawzall at the time. Lots of hand sanding. I got the wood the same way from a neighbor's storm damaged tree.

[DLCTEX]

I have split logs with a wedge to a manageable shape, then squared it on a sled with my table saw. I also reduced some crotch wood by putting dado blades on my radial arm saw and cutting a 1" path repeatedly by sliding the log on the table an inch at a time. Time consuming, but it works! Now I have a band saw that makes it much easier. Oh yeah, I have also used my chain saw to square a log to a manageable shape also. I have an old adze, but the motor (me) on it doesn't want to work. DALE

[waksupi]

First things first. Seal the ends!~ Paint or wax work fine.

[Just Duke]

First things first. Seal the ends!~ Paint or wax work fine.

Very good advise. Store in a cool basement type area. The long the drying time the better.

[StrawHat]

If you plan to dry the stuff yourself cut it three times the size you want to end up with. It will shrink, check split, warp and crack so have plenty of meat for it to work on.

It sounds like a good project. I have done similar and it takes quite a while for the wood to cure.

Personally, not sure I would do it again as it was a pain and I lost a couple of blanks by cutting them too close to finish size.

Good Luck with it.

[Andy_P]

You will want to do as stated, sealing the ends with either emulsified wax or a thick layer of latex paint, and store in a cool place. The quicker you get it cut into slabs the better though, as it will still suffer surface cracks if left in log form, and will not start to truly dry until slabbed.

[waydownsouth]

cut it in to 3 inch thick slabs then cut the stock blanks out stack and let them dry.
you will need them 3 inchs thick to make a rifle stock with a cheek peace.
it takes about 5 years to dry properly.

[mikenbarb]

I do alot of Black Walnut milling and you need to air dry @ 1yr. per inch of thickness for proper drying and seal both ends with wax or foundation coating. I also use Karnak roof cement but only do the end and about 1-2 inches up the sides. Its not worth messing with small pieces unless its at least 20" diameter and at least 4' long log with alot of dark heart wood because your going to lose 1/2 the log in the milling process for squaring it up and getting to where the good dark stuff is. Another thing to do is pull the stump and let it age for a while so you have the best wood thats the rootwood. Some of the best looking walnut stocks come from rootwood and worth keeping because it brings big bucks for a nice wavy piece. I have 5 stumps on my property and about 2000 board feet of nice burld and wavy but its a long process and the biggest thing to worry about is the loss of good cuts due to it checking itself when its drying. Stack it on top of another with a 1" spacer in between the boards with enough so they dont sag in the middle. I use 5 walnut 1"spacers for each 4 foot of board and it dries real good.

[waksupi]

Keep in mind if roughing out blanks to dry. They will most likely twist and warp some, so leave extra wood to allow for this. I like to have a full 2 1/8" for a stock with a cheekpiece, but you can scrape by with 2". Allow for at least an inch twist. I've seen worse.

[PatMarlin]

Another thing is the straighter the log- with even, symmetric end rings, the less warpage. Thing is some of the coolest, highly figured grain comes from stressed- warped, and deformed growing trees.

When milling, experienced sawyers "follow the pith" which means you cut off any taper, and follow the log center parallel as closely as possible.

This makes straighter lumber, with less warpage while it seasons.

[PatMarlin]

In addition to cutting your blanks much larger as suggested above- sticker your stack every foot or so, and weight it down with concrete blocks, or as much weight as you can possibly get on it.

[Just Duke]

I do alot of Black Walnut milling and you need to air dry @ 1yr. per inch of thickness for proper drying and seal both ends with wax or foundation coating. I also use Karnak roof cement but only do the end and about 1-2 inches up the sides. Its not worth messing with small pieces unless its at least 20" diameter and at least 4' long log with alot of dark heart wood because your going to lose 1/2 the log in the milling process for squaring it up and getting to where the good dark stuff is. Another thing to do is pull the stump and let it age for a while so you have the best wood thats the rootwood. Some of the best looking walnut stocks come from rootwood and worth keeping because it brings big bucks for a nice wavy piece. I have 5 stumps on my property and about 2000 board feet of nice burld and wavy but its a long process and the biggest thing to worry about is the loss of good cuts due to it checking itself when its drying. Stack it on top of another with a 1" spacer in between the boards with enough so they dont sag in the middle. I use 5 walnut 1"spacers for each 4 foot of board and it dries real good.

Take heed to this all. I have done 17th and 18th century wood working with green wood for 30 years as a hobby and this is all text book. Well, be hard to find a book with this info in it.

Oh I so heard that Black Walnut part Mike. PM me with some stock blank prices.
Now, have you been holding out on me? lol

[mikenbarb]

LOL, I will have some real nice burld and curvy ready in the springtime. REAL NICE!

[Just Duke]

LOL, I will have some real nice burld and curvy ready in the springtime. REAL NICE!

Yea Yea! You were holding out on me man. lol

[mikenbarb]

Nope, Just waiting to give it to you as your new house warming gift.LOL.

[PatMarlin]

I just bucket up a narly oak log yesterday, that I forgot I dropped 2 years ago. It's dry. Lots of knots and burls. I should try to mill up a stock blank and see what comes up.

[leadeye]

One thing I did which may be different. I cut my pieces perpendicular to the grain so they look like short firewood or discs. I did this so the growth rings would follow the coutour of a single action grip.

[mikenbarb]

They will split real easy when cut like that and try to cut on an angle instead or it will possibly fall in two pieces when you shoot it.

[Beekeeper]

I would take them ,slab then, and put them in the attic to cure for a couple of years.
No matter how small they are they can be used for pistol grips and foregrip tips and pistolgrip caps.
With the price of hard woods today I think you should take them.
As an asside I made a set of pistol grips for a guy out of Manzanita root once. They were just short of spectacular.
So don't throw up your nose at any had hard wood as it can all be used.


survivalists Dad