Itty bitty gloat...
BubbaBob
>...I paid a visit to the local stump dump the other day and there lay 5 logs of black walnut, ranging in diameter from 12"-40", with two beautiful huge crotches. These were headed for the chipper that afternoon. Drooling, I asked the dump owner how much he wanted for them and he asked what I wanted them for. I told him I turned things on a lathe, and showed him a pen I had done (only sample in truck at the time).
He said he would swap me for the pen. I told him the pen was defective (small crack in barrel, repaired with CA but visible if you look close) and he said no problem as he wouldn't have seen it had I not pointed it out to him.
I said, "Deal", we shook on it, and I reached for the POO-lan.
No, no, no", said he. "Liability will not let me let you run a saw on site."
OK...here I am, no trailer to get whole logs, when he said, "No problem. Wait a minute."
Here comes an employee with a saw, and another employee in a Cat 225 excavator (did I mention this was BIG wood?).
"Tell 'em how to cut it and load it", said the owner.
Three hours and five loads to the house and back later, I have 6 rounds 40" in dia by 40" tall, 6 rounds about 32"-36" in dia by 35" tall, 10 rounds in the 25x25 range, another 10 "small" rounds ranging from 14x14 to 20x20, one crotch section 5' tall x 40" wide x 30" thick and another slightly smaller crotch. There was also enough cut-off scrap for 200-300 bottle stoppers...
By the way...is there such a thing as curly or quilted black walnut? I saw some interesting looking grain...
My cost? A defective Berea Hardwoods Paduk perfect fit convertable pen and 2 gallons of diesel...
From the mountains of north Georgia...
In my bib overalls...
Thinking I need a bigger lathe...
BubbaBob
