We recently struck Appalachian gold! We were turned on to a huge black walnut tree located on the perimeter of a forest property in Burnsville, NC. (Picture # 1) The property owner informed us that the tree had not leafed out in 3-4 years and it was showing signs of age. A tree in this condition is a gamble, it can be either woodworkers gold, or simply rot not even good enough for firewood. The tree was obviously dead and it was running the risk of damaging the property owners fence, there was no question in our minds about cutting this tree down so we called on the help of Shafer Tree Care. Brain Shafer of Shafer Tree Care is a quality minded Arborist and certified by the ISA. He makes sure that every bit of tree that has to be removed due to age or damage is saved from the landfill and recycled by putting it to good use for lumber, mulch, or firewood. When the tree was felled only about a half of an inch off Brians bulls eye I was AMAZED! No other trees were damaged in the process. I imediatly ran to the tree to see if the gamble paid off and YES! 100% solid wood, with beautiful grain, and just a 1/4" of sapwood surrounding the perimiter of the tree which is commonly about 1-2". The tree was more than I ever could have expected it to be and we transported it directly to the saw mill.
Milling:
We traveled north from our shop in Asheville to Billy Rice's saw mill in Mars Hill, NC. Billy Rice is known all over western NC. for his ability to read a tree and make the best possible use of it for lumber. High on a cleared mountain top lot I pulled down his long gravel driveway only to meet his two Australian Cattle Dog puppies (Picture # 2). My wife Amy and I have a 3 year old Australlian Cattle dog which we love to death so needles to say I played in a puppy pile for about 30 minutes. After being nibbled on by puppies we decided it was time to mill the walnut logs. Billy set up his "Woodmizer" which is a portable saw mill capable of milling 26" diameter logs ( Picture # 3) and our log was going to use every bit of that. We milled the first log( the butt log). The deeper into the tree we cut the more beautiful the grain was! The first log was filled with clean straight grain and rich nut brown tones as walnut is known for. The second log was the next 10' long section of tree above the "butt" log. The second log has a "crotch" section which is where the tree trunk branches out into two. As we milled this log we completely forgot the first log existed and our jaws dropped further and further as we milled deeper into the tree. The "crotch" section displayed the most figured and characteristic grain I have seen in a long time ( picture #5). "Crotch" grain is commonly used in gun stocks, veneered drawer fronts, Book-matched panels and table tops. It is truley natures work of art. When all the logs were milled the lumber was transported to our lumber storage building to dry.
Drying:
The drying process is one of the most important. The wood can cup, crown, twist, crack, and it is important to be meticulous about stacking and storing. We stack each board on top of another and space them with 3/4" sticks to maximize air flow inside our ventailated building ( Picture # 4). The boards are 2" thick and we have to wait a full year before they reach a 20-30% moisture content. After a years time if the moisture content of each board is between 20-30% we load them into a solar kiln to bring the moisture down to 6-7% which is standard for interior furniture, cabinets, hardwood floors, and trim. A solar kiln works with the sun like a green house, the kiln has a clear glass top angled towards the sun which collects heat and warms the kiln to 100-110 degrees. To keep dry air circulating and remove the moisture a fan is installed at the top of the kiln blowing towards the glass roof and circulated the dry hot air through the lumber pile. A small vent at the bottom removes any unwanted cool moist air when the top fan is running. Other than completely air drying lumber for 10-15 years this is the most efficent suatainable way to dry lumber.
In a years time we plan to have these once in a lifetime boards on display for customers to pic from and have made into custom furniture. We are working on a showroom space right now so stay tuned for more info.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the picture's.
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