1920's black walnut?

[scottie56005]

So this past weekend I had permission to go snoop through this 1880's Minnesota cabin that was nearing demo. The wood was all stacked up under the cabin on dirt and surrounded by a stone rock foundation. I have no idea how long some of this wood has been there but I know it has seen a few wars! I pulled out the top piece of that mirror first. (I think it belongs to the mirror it sits on) Looked pretty cool so I kept it. I did not know it was black walnut until I flipped it over, then my heart literally skipped a beat. Once that happened I was high as a kite because I knew there was more. The majority or the wood is in longer lengths and it is all stacked up running the length of the cabin so I started pulling more out piece by piece. Next came the smaller mirror frame on the left. I grabbed it and it came apart exposing the biscuits from the original craftsman. The frame was wet and no longer stable, the mirror had lost most of its silver backing, it was covered in decades of dust and dirt but it did make it out in two pieces. That mirror frame has some veneer on it, but the exposed areas are clearly walnut. Next to be rescued was the large mirror on the right. It is very heavy (35lbs) and that to was in similar condition as the previous find except the joinery on this mirror is stable and in tact! Every single piece on this mirror that I can tell is made out of walnut. Even the top horizontal piece that veneer had covered at one point is walnut! Last but surely not least came the walnut table top! Four pieces totally 33" wide by 43.5" long. As you can see in the first picture there are stamps on the backs of the larger two sections. 6 28 is what was stamped. My guess is that this is a date of manufacturing. I am really excited about finding all of this and hope to go back again and see what other historic wood working lays below the floor joists. I plan to remove the veneer off of the smaller mirror frame and make it into a picture frame. The larger mirror I would like to clean up perhaps just use as a decoration or even refinish it and put a new mirror back in it. The table top is my unknown at this point. I have never worked with black walnut and also never really made that first "project" yet. I am interested in others thoughts on all these pieces, as well as the stamps and their correlation with the date? ? ? The decorative top piece on the large mirror has no visible signs of matching to it, all though it does look like it matches to it somewhat. Any thoughts on if that is piece correct or not would be great. So if you have anything to share, please do so!

[tstephenson]

Very nice. I have an acquaintance whose father in law helped to tear down an old church in Kansas. The floor joists were black walnut, 20' x10"x2". There were also numerous full dimension 2x4's. The entire church was framed with black walnut. The lumber sat in the loft of his barn till he died about 5 years ago. The fellow I know tried to sell it at the estate sale, then tried to give it away--no takers! So, he cut the joists in half so he could manage them, brought them home, and they are now stacked in his garage attic. He's not a woodworker and is not advertising them at all. He says he will make a table some day, but he's got enough lumber to make 10 huge dining tables! Never can tell what you'll run across. Yours is a nice find!