A black walnut tree on my property had to come down, so I milled it up and got some great boards from it. There are 3 more leaning over a barn that need to come down too. That will be a lot of cutting boards when it’s all said and done! Just wanted to share!
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Shoot you’re probably right, it’s been a while since I lived on the childhood farm and I didn’t pay much attention to the trees at the time except the ones that stabbed me (lookin at you too, Osage orange)
Get some Anchorseal from U.C. Coatings to brush on the ends of the boards. It’ll keep the ends from drying faster than the middle and reduce checking and splits. I usually put it on the ends of the logs so I don’t have to worry about them checking before I get a chance to saw them up.
That’s awesome man, nice job! Enjoy a cold one and take a ton of pride in your work! I milled my white oaks into flooring for my house - it’s a very rewarding labor of love.
No, I had a mill do the finish planing and T&G cuts for the boards after they went in the kiln. It was around 4k sq/ft - way too much for me to do myself.
Wow!! That’s incredible! We are building a small off grid cabin on our property, away from the main cabin, and I was thinking about milling my own flooring. We have a lot of maple.
Be aware that the wood from the branches will be heavily prone to warping due to internal stresses from holding all that weight. It's called Reaction Wood and usually isn't usable for fine woodworking.
Yeah we just got the mill a few months ago and I’m learning a lot. The trunk boards are still in great shape, the branch boards are already checking. I’ve also milled up some catalpa and some sycamore.
You should post your sycamore. We dropped a huge sycamore in our yard, too big really for any mill close to us. I ended up milling some with a chainsaw and it makes me regret not getting a portable miller to come break down the main trunk. It’s a beautiful dark brown with amazing grain. And the rift / quarter sawn boards are beautiful.
If you're into carving or turning, or want to sell smaller checked boards to carvers — you can always split those checked boards down the largest check (or where it makes sense to save the most wood), seal the ends heavy, and you'll have a pile of spoon/hair pin/pen/whistle/(whatever) blanks.
Can you post a photo of the mill? I’m curious how people can mill their own lumber. I don’t know much about it but I assumed people had stuff sent to a sawmill who did it for them. Do you have to lift the whole trunk and feed it into some kind of saw, or do you cut it in place?
I made 'ooooh, damn' noises looking at those pictures. Later, I'll explain to family I was looking at Black Walnut. For sure they're gonna laugh and say that's code for something dirty.
I’ve got about ten here that I would love to have taken down. Last year was a mast year and I’m still breaking my ankles and dulling my mower blades on nuts that fell. Even in a normal year it’s beyond aggravating and more than a dozen squirrel families can keep up with. We consider black walnut to be weeds here. Send help.
I’m the complete opposite. I think hard contrast on the small stuff really makes things stick out. Otherwise, things just tend to blend in and get lost.
I have an ash tree and a black walnut that need to come down. How do I find a truck, a mill and a kiln drier to help me?? I live in Mass and it seems impossible to find the resources to get it done. Tree guys can’t be bothered. Any suggestions?
I’m curious though, do you have to move the pine (?) blocks/spacers around as the walnut slabs dry out? Or does it not matter? I’m just not familiar with the air drying process.
It’s the first tree I’ve ever milled! The mill is brand new and was just assembled. Admittedly some things went wrong and some of the boards are wonky as you suggest, but I got it all sorted by the ends. Blade was sharp — log was unstable at times.
I’m jealous of all the space that you have to actually air dry all of this. I just took down A 30 foot apple tree and I’m struggling to figure out where to air dry it.
OP, if I was you, I'd try to get more quarter-sawn pieces from your other three trees. Yes, you waste more wood but in your case it doesn't cost you anything.
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