Black Walnut Rounds

This afternoon a good friend and I cut 2 foot off of a Black Walnut log that is 17 inches in diameter and cut 10 Walnut rounds. Each round was cut 2-1/4 inch thick.

I will store these in my shop, stacked with wooden spacers between each piece so that air is able to pass between them. I will rotate them serveral times a month until they are dry. Drying could take a long a 6 to 10 months.

The color looks great on these and as they dry they will darken.

They will make great cutting boards, serving boards, cheese boards or plate chargers! These will be available on my One of a Kind page once they are dry.  Below is a picture that shows how these can be used to serve your favorite food!

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

For more information, view more images, pricing or to order, click SHOP NOW

The above photo was taken by Bob Bernotsky at That_Paleo_Guy

 

 

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Walnut Coasters

Back in December I post Walnut and Pentacryl, the two Walnut rounds I had cut that day from a wet Walnut log and then soaked them in a Pentacryl bath. Pentacryl is a non-toxic liquid compound of modified polymers designed to prevent racking and splitting of green wood for the drying process.  Basically a preservation solution.

The idea in using Pentacryl was to stop the cracking and splitting. After soaking for 72 hours, they have been drying naturally in my shop with cardboard on both sides. Every week or so I would check the moisture content.

Just last week, the moisture content reached 9% which is what I needed before I could start preparing them for finishing. After I ran them them the drum sander to get both sides flat, I started sanding each side with 60 grit paper, then 100 grit, 120, 150, 200, 240, 280, 320, 400 and finished up with 600 grit.

After sanding I placed them into a food grade mineral oil bath. After 30 minutes I removed them from the oil bath for drying. Here is a picture of what they look like now!

The mineral oil makes them shiny but will soon soak into the wood and be a nice finish. The bark is holding on but over time could fall off or not, I am hoping it will stay.

They are looking good!

On February 13th, I posted Rustic Black Walnut Wood Slices, today I checked the moisture content on all of these and they are now at 11 to 14%. Still waiting on them to get to 9% moisture content so I can work these too!

 

The photo below of my boards Food Photographer Tricia Buice! Check out her website, Saving Room for Dessert.

 

 

Black Walnut

I am always looking for unique material to use in my shop. Black Walnut is my favorite and most of my customers love Walnut. I sell more items made using Walnut than any other wood. I was able to land this stack of Walnut, these are Black Walnut live edge slabs.

I purchased all that the lumber mill had, six pieces, wish they had more but I was a little late. Each piece is 7 foot long, 5/4 inch thick and ranges from 14 to 18 inches wide. As you can see it’s all very beautiful. The moisture content of these boards is very high, around 14%, so I would be able to make anything with these for about 6 months.

Do you like Black Walnut? What is your favorite wood?

Enjoy your evening!

Do you have an Instagram page? If you do please let me know, I would love to visit your page! Here is the link to my page: Michael’s Woodcraft Instagram

Check out my handcrafted Honey Dipper Sticks!

Handcrafted Ice Cream Scoops!

 

Walnut and Pentacryl

I cut a few Walnut rounds on Saturday using my chain saw from a wet log that was given to me.  I used Pentacryl, which is a non-toxic liquid compound of modified polymers designed to prevent cracking and splitting of green wood for the drying process.  Basically a preservation solution. The idea is to stop the cracking and splitting, if I get lucky there won’t be any cracks! The Pentacryl is absorbed by the wood replacing the moisture in the wood.

Using a plastic bucket, I poured the Pentacryl over the walnut rounds with a small thin piece of 1/8 wood, 1″ x 1/2″ between each piece to keep them separated. About every 12 hours I rotated the Walnut rounds, letting them soak for a total of 72 hours.

The picture above I took after removing the Walnut from the Pentacryl, you can tell they are wet, the colors seem to bleed together. All that will change when they are completed try!

I removed them from the Pentacryl, stand them on their ends and let them drain for about an hour. Next I cut cardboard rounds the size of the Walnut for both ends and covered them. The cardboard will help slow down the drying process.

I will rotated these daily for the next 3-4 weeks. Once I think they are close to dry I will check the moisture content, can’t start the final finish until they are dry. I will follow up with another post when they are dry and show you the final finishing process!

Over the last year I have made a lot of new friends blogging and have so much enjoyed all the comments, conversations, emails and getting to know you! 🙂 Enjoy your Christmas with family and friends!

 

Charcuterie platter

Artisan cutting boards

 

 

 

Walnut Slabs

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I had time today to check a few boards for nails. After cutting a couple boards to shorter lengths I ran them thru the planner. A couple passes thru the planner on each side was all I needed to do to get the boards planned.

If you missed my previous post about this walnut, check out the before pictures in my previous post from yesterday, Wood Gloat and now the after pictures in this post.

I was very happy to see what I had, great color, light and dark browns, a little black streaking and red streaking with cream color running down the edges. Beautiful colors, grain and character too!

I wiped a little of tung oil on one of the boards to bring out the colors, I can only believe that the remaining boards will be just as good or better. I am very pleased and super happy with what I found, just excellent!! This walnut will be excellent for a nice piece of furniture.

My wife took one look at the walnut and also thought is was very beautiful and then asked me to make her a new stepping stool. I made her a stepping stool many years ago using red oak which she uses in the kitchen all the time. So my first project will be making my wife Debbie a new stool. This afternoon I sketched out three designs for her to look at but she is having a hard time deciding which one she likes the best.

So, I’ve decided that I will post my process of making the stepping stool from start to finish which will be in multiple post. My first post will be coming soon!

My Work

Click picture below to link for more information about my cutting boards!

      

Wood Gloat

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Ok, I’m not generally one to gloat but my chances to gloat are very far and few between. Plus this is too good not to share. Who would drive two hours one way for a board? I would! I did and I am glad I did! I managed to score 200+ board feet of air dried walnut. Boards are all 5/4 inch thick, and are 8 inches to over 16 inches wide.

Anyways…I just wanted to share a few shots of the live edge slabs of walnut I brought home yesterday.

Once I check the boards for nails I will run them through the planner. All of this walnut lumber will be dark brown in color with pretty grain quality and nice figuring. There are a couple pieces that have a nice crotch with a lot of figuring.

Next project will be to run these though the planner. I can’t wait to get started and see what comes of these beautiful boards! I will post again soon with pictures after getting a couple boards thru the planner.

See a few of these boards that were ran thru the planner, Walnut Slabs

My Work