Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Green Walnut Logs
sroxberg
>Ok, I now have a stack of green Walnut logs in the back yard. I have anchor sealed both ends with several coats. I may even dip them each one more time in a pan with about an inch of sealer to seal them real good.
I have the working with green wood book but have never turned, without it cracking, green wood.
What articles or primers do you recommend?
I'd like to try a hollow vase, can you do that with green wood?
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Joe Fleming
>I don't work with green walnut, but if you have whole log sections, you may want to consider splitting them lengthwise through the pith. Green wood typically checks radially from the pith as it dries. Different varieties check faster than others. Green wood sealer may slow the process down, but the cracking will eventually happen on this walnut.
Michael and Liz O'Donnell have a book out about green wood and it is very good. Is that the one you have?
If you turn a vase, turn it without the pith. In other words, to one side of the pith.
You can turn any item from green wood as long as you plan for the wood to warp/distort after turning. I have turned vases from green wood and the pieces move from round to egg shaped to various degrees. I have also had the wood "ripple" a bit when turned green. It is a nice texture if you are accepting of it. Christian Burchard is noted for turning green madrone burl which is VERY unstable. It distorts in al sorts of funny directions.
Joe Fleming - San Diego
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Mike Schwing from Maryland
>You can do nearly anything with green wood that you can with dry wood, and usually have more fun at the same time.
Coincidentally, just yesterday I received a truckload of fresh walnut logs, too.
Wet wood turns more easily than dry, but it has less strength. It flexes more as well, so thin walled forms generally get worked once and then not again. You can certainly hollow out green walnut as you would dry. (without as much dust, too) If its a thin walled once turned item that you're OK with warping, do it all at once and wetsand to a decent grit, then set it aside for a few weeks in a few paper bags. Remove it when dry and finish sanding and finish it. There are other methods, but this one works for me.
If its a twice turned vessel, leave the walls thick enough that you can turn the warp out when it dries and still have some of your form left. I wax the entire exterior of the hollow form and set it aside to dry till who knows when.
Beware of the yellow layer just beneath the bark. When wet it will stain everything that comes into contact with it. Skin, floor, clothing, lathe bed, everything! I'll leave my walnut logs outdoors under a shade tree until the fall before I start turning them. They'll be half dry and won't soak the room as the water spins out of them.
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Brad
>I've been lucky enough to find quite a bit of walnut lately. I'll 2nd what Joe said--split (saw) the logs down the middle as soon as possible. I lost several pieces that I coated the ends on but did not split. After removing the pith they don't seem to check if stored out of the sun. I turned several bowls green, coated them inside and out with Anchorseal, haven't seen any cracks so far. By-the-way, the shavings are apparently toxic to animals and plants.
Re: Green Walnut Logs
sroxberg
>So the yellow layer stains, that sounds like fun.
If I rip them down the pith do I need to coat the exposed wood with anchor seal as well?
Do I have to build a sled to rip them with my bandsaw, can't think of another safe way to do it.
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Mike Schwing from Maryland
>I cut the yellow layer away either with the chainsaw or the bandsaw. Most folks will probably say they follow a method similar to the one Bill Grumbine depicts on his website for cutting up a log. I'd not be able to fit any of the logs I have on a bandsaw, sled or no sled.
I cut the piths out with the chainsaw, IF I'm storing them as blanks. I mostly store whole logs and don't mind a crack down the pith as they almost always get cut up into blanks with the pith removed anyway. I cut my logs very oversized before anchorsealing, planning on an inch or two of cracks/waste at harvest time. For example, if I want a 10" blank, I'll leave the log 12-14" long and seal it up good and tight with anchorseal.
After roughing them to blank size with the chainsaw I refer them to the bandsaw where they are refined into round blanks ready for turning. I probably split 50/50 between storing blanks as rounds or squares. Depends on species and stability.
As long as there is a good flat reference surface, which is easily obtained with a chainsaw, I can work them on the bandsaw, but I can't say I ever take whole logs to the bandsaw.
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>Steve,
Do not attempt to rip logs, especially green wood, on your band saw unless you've got the proper blades, set ups and jigs, and a saw with enough horses.
Pith ripping is best done with a chainsaw (as usual, go to Bill Grumbine's site to see how its really done) unless you happen to have a saw mill in your yard.
Walnut dust, green or dry, contains the anzyme "juglone" which will do a good job of retarding weeds, will kill tomato plants and horses, will stain your hands and tools black, and, as a sensitizing substance, with prolonged and repeated contact, will eventually leave you allergic to it and any other part of the tree, including the nuts.
Soaking your boles in wax sealer is a waste; the wax will not be absorbed by the wood because of the size of the wax molecule. Coat the ends to the point where they drip, and you're done. You should, however, cover them because rain will erode the wax coating. If you pith-rip the logs, paint the faces with sealer to slow drying; couldn't hoit. . .
Mark
More Questions, sorry.
sroxberg
>By yellow you don't mean all the sap wood do you?
Bill's Site
sroxberg
>Thanks, I looked at his site and now I'm depressed. Looks like I need to get about forty acres, a John Deere, and a chain saw with a 24 " blade, and a pair of suspenders.
Wow, too bad Bill doesn't live nearby.
Re: More Questions, sorry.
Mike Schwing from Maryland
>No problem. No, the sapwood is white or a little yellowish. If you have sealed logs you probably won't see it as it loses its bright color quickly after exposure to air. Below the bark but before the sapwood is a layer of material, I believe its called cambia. This layer is what I'm speaking of. It is quite bright yellow when first exposed and it stains everything. Its probably darkened on the ends of your logs but when you crack one open you'll see it.
Bill's got the place doesn't he?
Before you get depressed about needing a chainsaw, not everybody has one, it just seems like we do. There are lots of great threads on chainsaws here, do a search when you're ready. They helped me reach a good buying decision, I have a Stihl 360 Pro and a smaller backup saw.
Need to borrow a chainsaw?
Rob in Kansas
>Steve,
If you don't have, or have access to a chainsaw I have a Husquvarna 350 with an 18" bar. I won't be able to get over until maybe Friday afternoon or next week. But the offer is open if you want.
Rob
Re: Need to borrow a chainsaw?
Steve Roxberg
>Thanks for the offer Rob, but you can stop by for some Walnut. I have my neighbors 16" and if that doesn't do it then this FREE wood will cost me a chain saw.
I wouldn't mind trading a little Walnut for Sycamore. I have about 14 two foot long longs about 16 to 18 inches in diameter.
Re: Green Walnut Logs
William Duffield on the Cohansey
>If you think the staining from the bark is fun, just wait until you try to take the husks off of some nuts. That's another good use for a tractor. You just throw the nuts out on the driveway and run over them several times with the tractor. It helps to keep the weeds from growning up through the gravel, too.
Re: Need to borrow a chainsaw?
Rob in Kansas
>Sure,
I'll get you some of the sycamore. I tried to cut up a crotch that was about 20 feet up the tree, but the pith was still all rotted out clear up there. So I don't think I got what I wanted there. But the base had to be 40+ inches in diam. (I wouldn't have gotten all the way thru with my 18" bar if the center wasn't hollow.) It has some interesting pink colors in it. I've got several pieces here in Topeka I'll bring over to you. The others by the creek probably washed into a bend that will be hard to get to, but I will go back to the farm and cut some more of the trunk down.
I'm working on getting my lathe set up and ordering some tools. I think one thing I might start on is turning some mushrooms with some apple I have.
My sister may end up having emergency surgery so my trip to Omaha may or may not be a go. Depends on if Mom & Dad go to babysit the twins or if that will be my job. Send me an email (remove the 9) with what kind of schedle you have and I'll see what happens.
Rob
Re: Green Walnut Logs
Rob in Kansas
>My grandpa has me use an old hand corn sheller. Talk about a sore arm after cranking that for 4-5 hours!