steamed walnut internal tension and fractures


Pwk5017

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I have been working through a bit of walnut the last month and a half, and am noticing a few attributes that I have not run into before. First off, this is my first batch of steamed walnut, so I am not sure if what I am experiencing is specific to the supplier or to the process. I have gone through 300bf of 8/4 #1 common walnut, and it has really been a semi-crappy experience. One, the wood seems much more brittle and flaky at times than all the non-steamed kiln dried walnut that I have worked with in the past. Second, as I cut into the wood, the face of the board will be fine, but the edges of some boards have a ton of fractures running through the board. They are like 1/32-1/16" wide, but they snake all over the place. Lastly, I cant say I have ever really experienced tension release in wood before while ripping on a table saw, but I am having the kerf close up about 50% of the time with this wood. 15% of that time it has really pinched on my splitter and severely bogged down my saw. It doesn't make for a very pleasurable experience to say the least. I experienced this same amount of tension while working with this same supplier's 8/4 FAS cherry. I have heard that improper drying can create this tension, but what about the fracturing in the walnut? Is it just to be expected that a lot of #1 common walnut will have internal crap to deal with? I haven't experienced tension in wood prior to this, but I might not have noticed it as much in all the 4/4 stock I was working with previously. Then again, should I begin to question the quality of the lumber I am buying from this regional wholesaler?

 

Patrick

 

p.s. the cherry very well could be steamed as well. I have heard some suppliers steam cherry as well.

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-->Is it just to be expected that a lot of #1 common walnut will have internal crap to deal with?

 

Yes.    Keep in mind walnut grading standards are lower than other species.  #1 common walnut will likely have more knots, defects, and tension than #1 common cherry.  

 

I suppose with steamed walnut it will be more difficult to see those defects, or sap/heart deliniation.  So you are flying blind a bit.  With unsteamed walnut you can see more defects and more easily work around them.  

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Then again, should I begin to question the quality of the lumber I am buying from this regional wholesaler?

 

Yes.  The fact that they are graded as commons has nothing to do with the tension and cracking boards.  Lumber is graded according to a board's size and appearance.  Your lumber is giving you fits because it was improperly dried.

 

It could just be a bad batch or it could be your dealer sells a lot of garbage.  The next time you go to buy 300 bf of something, I'd take a couple test boards home first and cut into them.

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Yes.    Keep in mind walnut grading standards are lower than other species.  #1 common walnut will likely have more knots, defects, and tension than #1 common cherry.  

 

Knots and defects, yes.  The tension is a result of poor drying processes, and this is not exclusive to lower-graded lumber.  You can get a batch of FAS that was improperly dried.

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Knots and defects, yes.  The tension is a result of poor drying processes, and this is not exclusive to lower-graded lumber.  You can get a batch of FAS that was improperly dried.

 

Got it, any lumber can be poorly dried.  But would you agree that cutting through or near a knot or other defect will release more tension?  

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I missed the part where you said the same supplier's cherry gives you problems.  I really don't think it is the steaming.  I think the problem is either the quality of the lumber, the quality of the drying, or your milling process.    

 

What are you doing before you rip the boards?  Have you flattened a face and jointed an edge?  Let it rest overnight and rejoint if necessary?  I say this because I do see lots of people (myself included, before I knew any better) going straight from the lumberyard to the table saw and that will give you some problems.   

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I missed the part where you said the same supplier's cherry gives you problems.  I really don't think it is the steaming.  I think the problem is either the quality of the lumber, the quality of the drying, or your milling process.    

 

What are you doing before you rip the boards?  Have you flattened a face and jointed an edge?  Let it rest overnight and rejoint if necessary?  I say this because I do see lots of people (myself included, before I knew any better) going straight from the lumberyard to the table saw and that will give you some problems.   

Yeah, a worthwhile question considering the issue at hand. I start at my jointer to mill a face and edge, then plane the other face, then take it to the table saw. I typically never let wood rest overnight to mill again. If I have a project, I am milling, and cutting in the same day. I do let my new lumber sticker and chill in the shop for 2 weeks before touching it. This is why I posted on the forum though, I am not wholly convinced it isn't something about my technique or process that isn't causing the issue. However, it's not on every board, so this is why I am stumped/questioning the raw material. If my jointer was out of whack, and my technique sucked, then it should be happened on every board, correct? The board pinches so tightly after it passes the end of my splitter, which is about 4" passed the blade. At one point, it completely stalled my 1.5hp contractor saw, and I had to shut the machine off, take a beater chisel and hammer it into the kerf passed the splitter, and fire the saw back up. The piece of wood was so tightly wedged on the splitter and blade, that I couldn't pull it back with the saw off. However, with the kerf jammed open, the WWII 20t blade hummed through the rest of the board upon restart. Should I be checking my boards with straight edges or something? I typically do the old sight along the board, and they look to be really straight with a tinge of curvature here or there along the 8-9'. Very very slight though, almost unperceivable to the eye.

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Probably the lumber.    Doesn't sound like it, but it could be your fence alignment on your table saw.  If the fence is tight on outfeed side it might push the board up against your splitter.  But if you are seeing space between  your fence and the board, then I don't think that is the case.   Letting your milled boards acclimate overnight is a good idea (but honestly something I rarely do myself).   

 

I also had a similar problem when I used my factory splitter with a thin kerf blade.  If your splitter is thicker, or even the same thickness, as your blade you can get some binding.   Also check to make sure your splitter is perfectly aligned with the blade.   

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Yeah, a worthwhile question considering the issue at hand. I start at my jointer to mill a face and edge, then plane the other face, then take it to the table saw. I typically never let wood rest overnight to mill again. If I have a project, I am milling, and cutting in the same day. I do let my new lumber sticker and chill in the shop for 2 weeks before touching it. This is why I posted on the forum though, I am not wholly convinced it isn't something about my technique or process that isn't causing the issue. However, it's not on every board, so this is why I am stumped/questioning the raw material. If my jointer was out of whack, and my technique sucked, then it should be happened on every board, correct? The board pinches so tightly after it passes the end of my splitter, which is about 4" passed the blade. At one point, it completely stalled my 1.5hp contractor saw, and I had to shut the machine off, take a beater chisel and hammer it into the kerf passed the splitter, and fire the saw back up. The piece of wood was so tightly wedged on the splitter and blade, that I couldn't pull it back with the saw off. However, with the kerf jammed open, the WWII 20t blade hummed through the rest of the board upon restart. Should I be checking my boards with straight edges or something? I typically do the old sight along the board, and they look to be really straight with a tinge of curvature here or there along the 8-9'. Very very slight though, almost unperceivable to the eye.

Any time you're getting movement that extreme from a board I think you should really pull it off the table saw and use a bandsaw to rough rip it. The edges won't be straight anyway, so rip it on a machine that won't possibly throw it back at you first then clean up the edges at the jointer or, if the fence edge is still straight, a kerf width cut back at the table saw so it can't pinch.

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