Chestnut Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 I don't know a lot about the walnut harvesting process but i want to know if this is just what i should expect. I have 2 pieces of walnut, pictured below. One board is from a locally fallen tree that was air dried for roughly 5-6 years (front board). The other purchased from my local hardwood yard (rear board). The picture is as close to perfectly color balanced as i can get it. Is this what we can expect from Today's harvested walnut, or is this just the difference between steamed and not steamed? I've never really been super impressed by the walnut my local guy gets. Is the wood he gets an exception or the norm? The boards currently have wet poly on the both of them. The top board I'm using as a transition between 2 rooms the bottom board is just a scrap piece. The picture honestly does the lumberyard board more favors then it deserves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wdwerker Posted July 16, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 Ok, here we go ! You just had to take a stick to the hornets nest didn't you ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 2 minutes ago, wdwerker said: Ok, here we go ! You just had to take a stick to the hornets nest didn't you ? It's not my intention but it's going to happen isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 You can cut two boards from the same tree and get color variation. Don't get sucked into a rabbit hole. Buy boards, layout, if you need more buy more. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eric. Posted July 16, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 Yep ^^^ Plus you picked a board with colorful, swirling grain for the air dried and a run-of-the-mill piece for the kiln dried. Not exactly apples to apples. IMO this is one of those things that woodworkers get all bent out of shape over when they shouldn't. If I had 50 pieces of air dried and 50 pieces of kiln dried mixed together in a big stack, most people would be able to identify about 50% correctly. LOL I will admit that there CAN be some more intense coloring in air dried material, and that the fibers are just a bit more agreeable under the knife. But it doesn't deserve the kind of controversy that surrounds it, and when people go on and on blathering about how great their air dried walnut is, I mostly just wanna punch them in their stupid face. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 I should have never put the steamed board next to the non-steamed board. With nothing to compare to the steamed board seems ok it's just not as dark. Thanks for the responses, i got the information i was looking for. Nice steamed walnut exists and there are sources for non-steamed walnut. board by board variation is going to be a big factor and the walnut that is sold locally isn't exactly to die for (it all looks like it ranges from sub par to slightly above mediocre.) I'm not disappointed or bent out of shape I'm more or less curious if i should find a new supplier. I'll check into a few of the guys in towns that i commonly travel to see if they are a bit better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 Walnut stock in general is in a sad state of affairs these days. It's already a naturally defect-riddled species. Add to that the relaxed NHLA grading standards PLUS the fact that China buys up all of the primo logs before we can even set eyes on them...yep, it's tough to find a good batch of walnut. Your dealer may or may not have sub-par stock compared to other yards, but keep in mind that the low quality is a nationwide problem at the moment. My advice is to visit your yard often, dig through the stacks and pluck only the very best boards you can find. That way you're fully stocked when it's time to go build a project out of walnut. Otherwise you'll go to the yard needing ten or twelve good boards and you'll only be able to find three or five. Which obviously means lots of waste and money down the toilet. And you got the right idea...judge boards on an individual basis upon their own merit, not which category they fall under. We have both steamed/kiln dried and air dried walnut at my yard, and it's a mixed bag for both. I find some absolutely stunning kiln dried boards with creamy white sapwood and iridescent purples and chocolates...and I'll find some absolutely hideous pale turds in the air dried piles. I'll also find some perfect, clear rift sawn boards in the commons stack, and twisted, gnarly nasty booger boards in the FAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 According to the owner of the yard, our FAS 4/4 and 8/4 is steamed and kiln dried by one of the biggest walnut mills in the country. Like I said, it's a mixed bag...but I do see creamy white sapwood in those stacks from time to time. Why some boards manage to stay attractive and others don't, no idea. Perhaps they're farther away from the heat source in the kiln and they don't get nuked as bad. Apparently what happens when they steam wood is all the starches basically get cooked, which darkens the sapwood considerably but also tends to suck the life out of the heartwood. But again, I'd put my money on about 99% of woodworkers not being able to tell the difference, especially if the sapwood is removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 27 minutes ago, Mike. said: debating stain vs dye and rustic vs craptastic What debate? A whole bunch of redundant is all I see. Yeah, that's a cute kid alright. Who's her daddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Oh, ahem, I don't know anything about that. I mean, uh, I won't rub it in if you don't tell my wife, deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Getting away from the drying method and results. @Eric.how do the chineese buyers know the good walnut logs from the bad or do you mean they buy up the good lumber before it ever makes it to woodworker market? Also why are the Chinese so obsessed with walnut? To make it into ply wood and sell it right back to us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Veneers, yes. To veneer their garbage furniture and sell it back to us...and their own burgeoning middle class. To identify the best veneer logs, just pick the biggest, straightest with the least branches. Job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Mike. said: stain vs dye and rustic vs craptastic Don't forget the latest furniture trend... Brutalist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 11 hours ago, Eric. said: Veneers, yes. To veneer their garbage furniture and sell it back to us...and their own burgeoning middle class. To identify the best veneer logs, just pick the biggest, straightest with the least branches. Job done. My father sold a walnut tree on his farm last year. If it ever got struck by lightning or fell it would've taken out the house so it had to go anyway. Huge tree for a walnut and straight as an arrow. A company came out and gave him $4000 for it and said it would all be made into veneer. Pretty crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 My father sold a walnut tree on his farm last year. If it ever got struck by lightning or fell it would've taken out the house so it had to go anyway. Huge tree for a walnut and straight as an arrow. A company came out and gave him $4000 for it and said it would all be made into veneer. Pretty crazy. And the veneer probably sold for 50 to 100 times the cost of the log. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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