American Black Walnut tree

wolfmann601

wolfmann601

Gone, but not forgotton. RIP Ira.
Joined
Mar 12, 2001
Messages
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Well I figured with all the knowledge and experience you guys hold, this is the best place for this former City boy to ask a question of enormous importance, and for knife content think handle material for a knife.....

My Sister-in Law is renovating part of her Barn and there is one American Black Walnut tree that sadly must be cut. The sucker is a majestic Bastid about 175-200 years old and in absolutely gorgeous health. It is mega-large and produces very large and healthy nuts.
NOW, the important stuff. AFTER the tree is felled, how do I keep it in good shape until I figure out what to do with all this beautiful wood? I am not handy, matter of fact I am not even allowed to touch a power tool without an ambulance on stand-by so I have no clue here. Also, should I have it limbed, leave the limbs on, and what is the smallest diameter of "tree limb" that is useable to make something out of Black Walnut.

I know the tree is worth some serious money because the guy doing the work offered my Sister-in-Law a $10,000 discount on the work for this umungus tree, and I know how much I have paid for a Black walnut gun stock. This tree is of better quality!!!!!!

SO, SO, SO.......what do I do before this sucker is cut and then after, cause I sure want to see this wood used and I cannot make a simple pair of slabs for handle material on a folder, let alone anything made out of walnut of this quality and quantity.........ThanKs guys..........Ira
 
I can tell you what I did and it should work for you. Cut it up into about 8 to 10 foot logs and haul it to a small sawmill. I'm sure you can call around and find one to work with. Have them cut it into boards for you. Then stack it in a garage or somewhere out of the weather. Make sure you put spacers between the layers so air can circulate. WAIT ABOUT TWO TO THREE YEARS! It is worth the wait. After that I sold some off to grip makers and basically used it for my own projects. Once it is cured it is as good as cash.
 
Moving to the Bladesmith area for more appropriate discussion.
 
Hi Ira,

Good to see you back on the forum, hope your feeling better. I'm no wood expert but what Terrill says sounds like good advice. I would contact someone and find out what they would give for the whole tree with the exception of a few pieces (boards or chuncks) cut from it in the deal. If you have a gun stock maker around or a lumber company that deals in exotic and specialty woods is who I would contact, they would probably make you a better offer and be more likely to work with you in return. I was always told that the stump and tap root was where the prettiest wood is, with the twisting and turning of the grain, so you might keep that in mind as to what to do to remove it and get that underground treasure in the deal too. But like I say I am no wood expert so I would have to make a bunch of phone calls before I decided on anything. Like Terrill said I would see what it would cost to have it cut into boards and then what it might bring after it was well dried in a couple of yrs., but then too, you need to have a good dry place to stack it, the ends should be painted or sealed with wax or something to help slow the curing and lessen the cracking, and actually the wood should probably be rotated every 6-8
months to a sure good even drying. These are all things to consider and ask questions about. ;)
One more thing, don't limit yourself to just local wood buyers, quality wood buyers will travel long and far to find high quality materials. I know that here in Missouri, Warsaw in fact, is one of the biggest gun stock makers in the world, so besure and check outside of your state.

Good Luck
Bill
 
I would find a profesinal in hard woods to handel
the project, that tree may be worth a lot more than
$10,000. Talk to hard wood lumber yards those that
sell onley hard woods, thay have a lot of contactes.
Also cutting a tree like that up to get the most out
of it without waste requires a experenced sawyer.
I cut a lot of Ironwood and there is more ot it than
meets the eye. There are people that travel all
over the contrey looking for these trees and thay
know how to do it for the best results. Gib
 
Ira, get ahold of Pachmayr Gun Works, in Los Angeles CA. 1-213-748-7271. They buy these trees all the time, in fact, they have finders all over the country looking for just this type of opportunity.
Pachmayr might have moved a little further north, after the rodney king riots. If the # is not good, call a gun dealer near you and see if they have it. Hope this helps a little.
Also, you might want to call, Judith Mattart, aka, the lumberlady, url follows. She might have some good tips for you.
http://www.lumberlady.com/index.htm
 
It's a pretty rich site : http://www.ca-walnutdesigns.com/index.html

Look at their galery, and the site over, etc. Amazing pictures! I don't know if they'd come for your tree, but if they dont they probably know someone who will.

The most beautiful parts for knife handles are burls - rare on a walnut - and crotch...

JD
 
check for guys with portable sawmills too, woodwroking clubs in your area might be good place to start.
 
Man, THANK YOU ALL!!!!! being as dumb as a stump when it comes to trees, and wood (I did not even know what Plywood was made out of until this morning) I had no idea about this tree other than it's an old, old tree and in wonderful condition and it is sadly in the way of an addition to a barn. (I also knew it had to be big bucks cuz the builder offered up ten-grand way too fast!!!)
I am going to take some photos and post them and make some calls. I am not sure what my Sis-in-Law will do in the end, but I certainly want some of the wood, and this tree is humongus and grows the largest walnuts I have ever seen. Too bad it's got to come down.
Whatever happens, If any of you guys would like some walnut, ship me an E-mail. I am certain this sucker is big enough to make everyone happy. All I want is some handgun grips and one rifle stock, and thanks to you Bill, I am gonna lay claim to the STUMP!!!!

Ira;) :)
 
I hate to see an old tree like that cut down. That tree has been standing through a lot of our history. Our country was only 26 years old if the tree is 200 years old. Hell, move the barn or make it smaller.
 
At the risk of sounding like a tree hugger, I agree with Tom. I really hate to see what's come of our country. I realize that the tree will get cut, I just hate to see it.
 
In the Southern Appalachian mountains of North Georgia and Southwestern North Carolina (Smokies and Blue Ridge) these black walnut trees are growing on almost every farm. I know the wood is quite expensive but most sawmill operators will slab out the tree for half of the lumber and that also goes for oak and some other hardwoods such as cherry. The demand for the wood here would not warrant such prices and are often used as firewood as the trees are expensive to cut and remove. Now Circassian Walnut is a different story!
 
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