• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Making boards from trees

Jisch

Jisch

Jun 1, 2005
5,933
13,206
Connecticut (Northeast USA)
#1
I figured I'd put together a post on my "process" for turning some scavenged black walnut into boards for a bass. Maybe a year+ from now the bottom of this post will have the build for the new bass in it (or maybe it will show the wood being stuffed into my wood stove).

A friend called me yesterday and said that they had just cut down a large black walnut tree at a job site where he was working. He made arrangements for me to grab what I wanted before they started building on the site.

I threw the chainsaw into my Honda Element to see what was what. They had taken the larger mid-tree sections for firewood, but left quite a bit behind. It was just pushed into place by a bulldozer or something so it was a jumbled mess. I assessed what was there and pulled out a couple of crotch pieces and cut some long straight sections out where I could. The crotch pieces are 16-20" in diameter, the straight stuff is only 8" or so. When I made cuts the wood leaked sap, this is very fresh cut stuff. One of the crotch pieces was too heavy for me to lift (I was there alone) so I had to do some stone age/leverage stuff to get it's center of gravity above the gate on my Element, it worked out great, goes to show what a little thinking can do. My car was probably about 200' away from the wood so I had to roll/push the wood along through melting ground, it was quite the workout.

I've done this a few times before with much smaller quantities of wood, sometimes it works out great, sometimes it just splits as it dries and it ends up being firewood. Not wanting to leave it to chance I did a little reading yesterday and the ideal is to cut it into lumber while it's green, seal the end grain, stack it and let it dry with spacers in between the boards.

A friend of mine has one of those chainsaw mills, but he's never used it, alternatively I'm thinking about hiring someone to come and cut it for me. I guess I can try the mill my friend has and if it proves to be difficult I'll hire someone. I think the long pieces would be easy money with a mill, but I think the crotch wood would be difficult (they are pretty short pieces). I may just go at the crotch pieces with my chainsaw and no guide

I fully recognize that this is most likely going to end up with sawdust and firewood, but I like these kinds of challenges. I'll update as I go here.

20160219_140336_zpscqsrkya1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: smithcreek, Why Nautilus‽, Jonny5bass and 2 others
#2
I'll be watching! I burnt enough beautifully straight ask in the last 4 weeks to make many many boards. Where I live there is a ready supply of various hard woods that often need cut. I know a guy with a regulation, back yard saw mill who lives 5 miles away and would charge me little to nothing to make me some nice 8/4 rough cut stuff. In fact, Thursday, another buddy of mine had some that this guy cut. It was a 1X12 piece of popular which the guy with the mill made. Edge on it was so bowed you could have shot an arrow and it was also twisted. I love very highly figured wood and would love to see what the crotch wood on that walnut you have looks like BUT how in the heck do you dry raw, rough cut lumber and how long does it take. My luck would have me finding a perfect piece for a build then watching it dry, warp, bow and twist into something unrecognizable!!

Keep us informed. I would love to start "at the beginning" like you are considering with a couple of billet pieces of hardwood! Can't get anymore "at the beginning " than that!

Brent

By looking at the end of that log and knowing how quickly it will brown as the tannins meet oxygen, could be a really pretty piece!
 
#4
Make sure to seal the end grain with wax or shellac to prevent the wood from drying out too fast from the ends- that's what causes long splits into the planks and you lose a lot of wood because of that!

I found out about that after getting some huge storm-felled Seagrape logs, cut them into planks with a chainsaw (couldn't find a mill anywhere in S Fla).

I stickered them and they've dried for almost 3 yrs under plastic that was ventilated at the bottom to let moisture/condensation out quickly.

As they dried, they warped/twisted because the heavy limbs have uneven stress on them while growing, then after being cut, try to reverse that ingrown twist.

I just this last week cut things down to more usable size for thru-neck mat'l and body sections, also to let it 'stress-relief' some more before cutting to near size.

I also wasn't able to get all the bark off for awhile and some borers got into the outer inch of some of it. I'm doing an amonia treatment in plastic for a couple days to kill any remaining borers.

I'll see what this stuff weighs when it gets closer to size- it's really dense and may have to make a thinner body. It'll probably be headless (and 5-string), so that'll help with the neck weight.
 
#7
I had a few minutes so I freehanded the shortest piece of lumber. I made each cut about 2" thick. The grain looks pretty interesting, it should make a good top. I could get some nice contrast just between the heart wood and the whiter stuff. The thickness consistency is just ok, I probably should have waited for the opportunity to use the chainsaw mill - but it was a good test.
20160220_144046_zpsfiiche6h.jpg


Then I sealed the end with some old-ish latex paint, I put it on thick and rubbed it in with a rag. Once the paint is dry I'll stack these up in the shed with some stickers to keep the air flowing.
20160220_150156_zpshpvf2vnz.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: smithcreek, JustForSport and Deep Cat
#9
I put the word out to see who had a wood mill, a couple of friends had those Alaskan mills. Basically you clamp the mill onto your chainsaw, it looks dangerous and highly inaccurate, not to mention the effort - you're basically pushing the saw through the log. I was all set to go that route when I found my brother had access to a mill. I didn't have any details about the mill itself, but I loaded up the wood and went over there. I figured at least he knew how to use the thing.

I got over there and it's a "real" mill, basically a huge, horizontal bandsaw. I didn't have a lot of wood, but we got through it all in just over an hour. Pretty freaking awesome.

It went through wood like butter:
2016-02-28%2013.12.57_zpsvdy0kg4b.jpg


It's made for long logs, but we rigged it so it worked for the shorter stuff
2016-02-28%2013.32.14_zpsdp7ck1gx.jpg


My haul, it's a mix of 1" boards for necks, 2" slabs and some 1/2" tops. In retrospect I should have carefully studied each log and figured out how exactly to cut each one. I was making split second decisions, which is never good. When you get down to it, there's not much "good" wood once you get the log squared up and the bark removed. Some of this may end up becoming a living room table:
2016-02-28%2014.32.26_zpsqd1mhhvt.jpg


I'll seal up the ends and stack it up.

I got a video of it cutting through the log, but it's still processing, I'll post it later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JayVek-72, smithcreek and JustForSport
#17
I got the boards stacked up in the space above my garage. It's a bit scary trying to wrangle these heavy boards around when there's no flooring, but I got it done with only a few "I'MGOINGTODIE" moments. I brought in the pieces I cut manually with my chainsaw a week ago, those pieces weigh a LOT less than the pieces I cut yesterday. Crazy how much water they have lost already - equally crazy that I read this morning that the rule of thumb is 1 year of air drying for each inch of thickness - those pieces are 2" thick so they have another 103 weeks of drying! I'll need to get a moisture meter at some point.

So this will likely be last serious update (I'm perfectly willing to continue on with the "made it here" jokes) for at least a few months. There is a lot of wood that is 1/2" in thickness, so theoretically that could be ready by the fall.

20160229_124641_zpssqb5pi2m.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: smithcreek, I-Am-The-Slime and Will_White
#18
Looks good-

That saw mill was great! Super vid.
Nothing like cutting slabs out of logs with a chainsaw that doesn't reach thru the log.

After the long sections for necks dry, you'll have to cut them near size and let them relax for a bit more.

That Black Walnut shouldn't warp anywhere near as much as the Seagrape I cut.
The Seagrape is known for warping as it relaxes, and also for wanting to split/crack, so I took that into account, and think I'll still get enough usable wood, even tho I didn't seal the ends.

Also, I don't know if Walnut has an issue with borers or not, but they got into my Seagrape, as they were under some of the bark that didn't come off easily.
You may want to knock the bark off soon as it dries enough.
 
#19
Thanks, there aren't any pests associated to walnut that I know of, but it's a good idea to take the bark off in any case. The bark was loose on the stuff I cut last week, so it shouldn't take long before I can remove it.

I was just amazed how easily that saw went through the wood, even though this saw is manual (you turn a crank to make the saw move) it took no effort, as you can see in the video. You really have to keep your eye on whether any of the guards are in the way of the blade though - it would be easy to run the blade into a metal guard if you weren't paying attention.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back