Official Luthiers Forum!
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/

Advice on drying walnut logs
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=34324		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  york [ Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:46 am ]
Post subject:  Advice on drying walnut logs
A friend had a walnut tree cut down and saved me two sections about 12" diameter and 32" or so long. I coated the ends with tree pruning paint/tar. I cut the bark off of one so far. What's the best way from here out to dry them:
Debark the other?
Store for the snowy winter outside or in the unheated garage/shed?
Author:  StevenWheeler [ Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
Chuck,

You don't dry logs, you dry lumber. Get those milled to size and then you can stack and sticker the resulting lumber. As far as storage area, outside works if you can keep the lumber dry. I'd put it inside if you have the room.

Steve
Author:  ernie [ Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
I have split a number of logs with a wedge and a splitting maul. use end sealer from woodcraft , works better than tar,After sealing I stand up the quartered sections . Let dry in garage 1yr per inch . Drying in the bsmt, right after felling will dry out your pieces too quickly and will check rapidly due to dry winters here , learned the hard way. Too much dryness after felling and splitting, will cause a lot of checking, thats why I keep log sections in my garage which has more humidity , too slow down the drying rate.When the log sections are thoroughly dry .I resaw the veneers on bandsaw , when they are bone dry , they go to the bsmt.
Author:  Ed Haney [ Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
StevenWheeler wrote:
Chuck,

You don't dry logs, you dry lumber. Get those milled to size and then you can stack and sticker the resulting lumber. As far as storage area, outside works if you can keep the lumber dry. I'd put it inside if you have the room.

Steve


This is what a lumber yard told me. He said that drying 1" thick boards will result in less cracking loss than thicker lumber. This seems to run true in my limited shop experience.
Author:  John Arnold [ Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
Removing the bark will only encourage the wood to dry on the outside, resulting in many cracks.
Leaving the bark on in the summer will result in borers (worm holes) in the sapwood.
My process with hardwoods is to cut the wood into thick boards, remove all the bark, and sticker outside (under cover) for a year or two. Once the moisture content is below about 11%, it is safe to resaw without fear of cupping.
Author:  Michael Smith [ Wed Nov 23, 2011 2:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
I'm sure some will consider this blasphemous but I would cut it half with a chainsaw, strip the bark off and start cutting my rough sets ASAP. I have cut a lot of black acacia, silver acacia, myrtle etc green right into rough sets. I have not done it with walnut but I would expect the results to be the same. No end checking whatsoever, dries quickly and flat when well stickered. Yes you want to rough out the wood in 1 inch or 2 inch thick billets if and only if you want 3/4" and greater finished lumber, but that isn't what we want.
Author:  Tom West [ Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
The main thing is to not leave them as logs. Either split or saw in lumber. Log tend to split, develop cracks and checks due to the difference between radial and tangential shrinkage. So open the logs one way or another to maximize the amount of good useable material.
Tom
Author:  John Arnold [ Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
Quote:
I have not done it with walnut

I have...and it is not advisable. The woods you mention have much less shrinkage during drying.
Author:  Mark Groza [ Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
I'm a sawyer who processes tens of thousand board feet of lumber a year. With that said, i would mill into boards (as soon as possible)that are close to 6/4 lumber to get the best result with minimal waste from checking and warpage with walnut. To thin, and it will cup and too thick, it will crack. In log or board form, it will endcrack if not sealed on the endgrain. Bugs will attack it any time before it dries, so cut right away to get dry sooner. Anything above 40% moister content will be more bug prone. Walnut is one of the easiest to dry but too thin when wet, it will cup without special care. ;)
Author:  dberkowitz [ Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
+1 Mark

Walnut dries really slow and tends to develop tension as it dries causing cracking. In addition to the above, wrap the whole stack in 6 mil plastic and burp it every week. This will allow it to dry slowly and not lose its moisture content too quickly.
Author:  John Arnold [ Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Advice on drying walnut logs
This is an example of what can happen when green hardwoods are cut thin:

Image

It is 3/16" to 1/4" thick by 6" wide.
This is ailanthus (tree of heaven), but I have had similar experiences with walnut, cherry, maple, poplar, persimmon, elm, etc.
This was a cutoff from boards that I cut 2" thick. I used this piece to check the density, since it is so similar in appearance to swamp ash. This piece weighs 32 pounds per cubic foot, or about 2.7 pounds per board foot.
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 5 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/