Sawing the big walnut tree
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Recall we recently posted a picture of a large walnut we cut.
The big walnut had grown up through some thick brush and then its top blew out at about 14’ . At this point it branched out like a bush into large limbs, but with one leader continuing upward for another 10’ before it branched again, then continued on with one crooked leader. The tree was cut at 12’ to yield a 23” prime log, the multitude of crotches cut out in a 2’ section for the bowl turners, then a 10’- 18” log with two small branches midway and finally an 8’ log with some complicated branching midway.
The small section on the front of the trailer is an ash crotch. We were successful holding it on the carriage and it sawed some nice crotch figure which I will veneer after it is dry.
The tree’s history suggested the 12’ log would be knot-free almost to its center. The other logs were a crap shoot. Sawing on this tiny band mill, and sawing for someone’s personal woodworking needs, required a different sawing strategy than sawing on a large circle saw mill. We decided to make one cut to make a flat surface that would stabilize the log. The log was then turned 180 degrees and sawed straight through as 4/4 and 5/4 lumber. Better than expected, the log yielded more than 300 bdft of clear lumber except for the cut through the center of the tree. Once the sun light interacted with the wood it became an attractive chocolate brown color.
To my surprise, the 10’ log yielded all FAS lumber except one #1 Common board in the center. (because of the exceptional width of the boards 2+ cuttings were allowed to meet the grading standard, which cut away the two knots at the middle of the boards. )
The uppermost 8’ log was interesting. It was miserable to saw because of its complex shape. We took a chance on orienting it on the carriage and sawed away. Its crotches yielded some nicely figured wood. The crooked last 4’ was knot-free and yielded some arty curved pieces that would make some dandy hall tables.
