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Hi All,

Having trouble uploading. I just finished writing a nice e-mail praising everyone here for helping us juniors and moving the craft forward and Poof! hit submit and it's gone. So i'll try again.Just had the luck of landing these 3 logs, black walnut, 6-7 feet long and want to make the most guitar wood i can, I'll be there for sawing and wondered how to cut.The biggest is 24 inches across.
Thank you ,
Landrover

lucky log dog.
i would find a good mill person to do it.
i think there's a way to figure out how to get what you want, quartersawn, flat, whatever.

Nice wood!

I'd advise getting some sealer on the end of the logs fairly quickly, unless it is pouring rain where you are.
The ends can check quite quickly.
A temporary 'fix' is a plastic tarp.

Cheers
John

There are a few issues you have to deal with , 1 is getting someone to mill it. another is realistic expectation of your yield . If you can get a band mill guy , they use less kerf , you will need to first split the log. Then split that to get 4 quarters. Then cut off each face. You won't get as much as you may think but you should get a few sets.
This is why tone woods are so expensive. It isn't a high yield process

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

And you might peel the bark if it will be awhile before the logs are cut up.....less chance of insect damage.

_________________
Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I have never split walnut, but some logs have interlocking grain which will tear out & waste a lot of wood at the split line.
If it were mine, I would use chalk on the ends & lay out rectangles for back sets, sides and neck stock.
Play around and try and maximize the number of sets you can get. Think about how much off-vertical grain are you willing to accept?
If the logs have very little twist, you can saw them without getting much runout. Just raise the narrow end accordingly on the mill deck to limit runout.
I have dome this with Yellow Cedar logs & gotten surprisingly good return.
Your log size is small enough, you will have quite a bit of waste, but planned & cut carefully, you should do quite well.
Take advantage of the fact that the core of the tree is off centre. Is there enough material for backs on the wide side & sides on the narrow?
Will you be incorporating sapwood into the back & sides?
The joys & frustrations of milling your own logs.
I'll tell ya one thing for sure... You'd end up with a bigger pile of lumber if you milled it into flooring. (not sayin' you should, just to expect a lot of waste.)

walnut splits clean. you will need some good wedges and work it from the butt up. You need to be able to follow the heart of that log. If you don't you will loose a lot of yield. that is a small log for luthier grade . Till you clean off the sap wood and the fall out of the heart, not to mention the unexpected knots and wind break , you will need to be as careful as possible to get the most out .
If this was near a house you may have a hard time finding a sawyer to cut if for fear of nails.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

It will be difficult getting guitar back sized pieces from those logs unless you resort to flat sawn grain.

One option is to settle for a couple of sets - back and sides, (or as many as you think you can get) and plan on cutting blanks for necks for the rest. Enjoy!