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Black Walnut question.

Tech141
Howdy Folks,
I am in the process of harvesting a LOT of Black Walnut trees (minus the trunks).
I will have the capability to produce heartwood sections up to 6"x6"x48".
Is there a market for Black Walnut Heartwood blanks?
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Comments

17 comments

Date Votes
  • jimdeere
    From another forum I’m a member of:
    https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/the-highly-valuable-black-walnut-tree-thread.312079/
    However, a woodworking friend says that the Japanese are buying all the walnut they can.
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    JUST TO NOTE; for use as gun stocks the 'blanks' have to be approx. 3"x8"  and properly 'cured'
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  • He Dog
    This is not meant to be smart a**, I am just curious, how do you harvest trees except the trunks?  Does that mean they are already committed elsewhere and you have large branches to look for a market for?  
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  • allen griggs

    I whacked this lunker in December.   A friend of mine is coming up from Georgia to get the wood.  The black walnut doesn't grow down there.  Diameter 17 inches.  The logs are 10 feet long.  Gary is going to make tables from this wood.
    I own 48 acres.  I have hundreds of trees like this.
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  • DONDALINGER
    My brother lives in Blacksburg Virginia and last Saturday I helped him drop a massive black walnut. He is going to sell the bottom 12' section to a local sawmill for $1000. Black walnut logs are worth good money. Some buyers will come to your property and give you prices for your black walnut and commit to buy while the trees are still standing. I own 55 acres in Smyth county and about 25 acres are covered with massive poplar trees. I plan on selling the poplar logs in the next few years. My advice is find someone local that buys logs and see what you can get. Should bring good money.
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  • jimdeere
    Dang, Don, you were right in my back yard.
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  • Butchdog2
    Stump may be worth even more than the log!
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  • DONDALINGER
    jimdeere said:
    Dang, Don, you were right in my back yard.
      My brother actually lives in a place called Parrot that is near Radford and Blacksburg. He found a local buyer of timber and plans on selling him a bunch of black walnut. He teaches at New River College. I may end up building a house on the 55 acres in Smyth County and retiring there. Still probably 10 years out, but love the low taxes there.

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  • arraflipper
    Stumps are where the best detail and grain patterns come from for gun stocks.
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  • Butchdog2
    A few years back a tree thief cut and hauled off a big walnut log from state forest land near me. They got wind of where the log went, dug up the stump and hauled to the log yard, a match. Pretty expensive for the thief.
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  • allen griggs
    I have heard that the stumps have the best wood.   I have whacked 8 walnut trees but can't figure out how to get the stumps without a lot of hard work with a pick axe and shove.     Need a back hoe, I guess.
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  • He Dog
    Allen, I got two cans of "stump remover" and poured it on a cottonwood stump.  I stood there all afternoon and it never budged. :s   Waste of money, don't bother. 
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  • TRAP55
    He Dog said:
    Allen, I got two cans of "stump remover" and poured it on a cottonwood stump.  I stood there all afternoon and it never budged. :s   Waste of money, don't bother. 
    If the cans said "Tannerite" on them, you were doing it wrong! :)
    The best wood with the most figure for gun stocks is "crotch wood", that's right where the tree forks out. There is also a right way, and wrong way to cut stock blanks out of it, it has to be quarter sawed. Stump and root burl is best for grip panels. It does get used for stocks, but it's hard to find a good piece with out checks in it after it's shaped. Some of it when made into a buttstock will crack, or pop a chip out from recoil.  Mineral content in the soil plays a big part on figure, grain, and colors.
    The logs Allen has pictured are prime for furniture grade planks, and/or veneer, and would make a real pretty table top.

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  • bpost
    You have a very desirable and highly sought after wood.  It is worth real money and the stump could fund a new gun or two to add to your collection.  Call around and seek loggers that specialize in furniture grade woods.
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  • allen griggs
    Here is a table my buddy in Georgia made three years ago from some of my black walnut.
    This table is 25 inches high and 27 inches wide.   A guy at a craft show offered him $450 for it but he turned him down, instead he gave it to me.
    He made two other tables just like it that he kept, he can't stand to part with them
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  • bobski
    call stock makers. they are always buying walnut logs and have contacts to those that harvest it and pay you for them.
    how do i know? i did. i live in mo. world capital of stock blank grade walnut.
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  • asop
    Did Seymour, Ct. kick you out ;)
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