The Logs Keep Getting Bigger

It’s a beautiful mid-spring day, and I’m taking a little break from working on the house today to have some fun! My friend Joe is stopping by today with a big walnut log that I’m going to saw up. 

Joe cut this down about a year ago, and it weighed 8,000 pounds when he picked it up. 

After some trimming and positioning, time to cut into it!

Here is a first look, and it looks a lot like walnut. 

This is only the second slab, and it’s already 34 inches across and about eight feet from the end to the top of the crotch.

This one has this cool circular dark spot. Not sure what’s going on there, but I like it. I always like how the grain completes itself in the outer slabs. 

This next splash has some beginnings of crotch figure, as well as a hole. Otherwise, very clear. 

This one is getting more into the crotch figure, and it has a bark inclusion running down it. You can also see an old limb that came off of the tree at the bottom of that crotch figure. 

Here’s a look at the same slab after I let it sit a bit, so it has oxidized. It’s much more of a dark chocolate color than it was before. 

The next slab still has some bark inclusion in the crotch figure, and that hole on one of the limbs is ginormous now. There is also some blue staining at the bottom of the crotch figure, probably some iron stating, but I don’t see any metal anywhere. 

This one has a really nice band of crotch figure all the way straight down with a tiny bark inclusion at the end. This one also has some iron staining. 

This is cool. There must have been a bark inclusion or limb that fell off at some point, which created an opening, and now there is a rot pocket. It’s cool to have a double crotch. 

Here’s the next one, which is kind of fun! The transition from hardwood to sapwood is interesting. And it’s not small for an offcut. 

This is so surprisingly clear for walnut. It will make a nice little breakfast table. 

And here’s a look at the last one. Overall, very clear.

Another successful day at the sawmill! It was the first log of the season, and it feels good to be back outside. Thank you as always for joining, I greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions or comments on the sawmill or anything back in the shop, please feel free to leave it in the comments. As always, I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. Until next time, happy woodworking!