Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance


Peter

www.peterbesharah.com

"big pete" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance


You're right. Steaming does help increase the yield for the mill, though,
because it sort of muddies and darkens the sapwood too.

www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/usda/ah101.pdf

Lots of good stuff here about wood and drying and such.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ and download the wood handbook if you've got
broadband. You'll be glad you did.

Hello Peter,

Yes, the primary difference in the colour you are seeing is related to wood
that has been air dried vs. kiln dried Black Walnut. The kilning process
destroys much of the subtle colours present in the BW. The darker areas tend
to leach into lighter areas in the timber, creating a more uniform colour.
The beautiful reds, purple, green, yellows and others are laid waste to the
steaming.

As another poster also mentioned, kilning also increases the yield for the
mill as the lighter sapwood tends to get stained much the same colour as the
heartwood, increasing overall yield. An experienced eye can spot this
"transformed" sapwood, but not the average Joe.

If you want the best overall colour in wood, try to get it green and air dry
it, or use any of the other processes that are common, except kilning. If
you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Take care and
best wishes to you and yours!

On 11/27/06 2:12 PM, in article
, "big pete"
wrote:

Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance
Peter

www.peterbesharah.com
--
Better Woodturning and Finishing Through Chemistry...

Steven D. Russell
Eurowood Werks Woodturning Studio, The Woodlands, Texas
Machinery, Tool and Product Testing for the Woodworking and Woodturning
Industries

Website: www.woodturningvideosplus.com

³Woodturning with Steven D. Russell²
Volume #1 CD ROM e-Book * Available for Shipment
Volume #2 CD ROM e-Book/DVD Video * Available for Shipment
Volume #3 Double DVD Video on Bowl Turning * Available for Shipment

Hi Peter

I live in Ontario also, and the Black Walnut and Butternut grow wild
right here in my backyard, you live just south of Ottawa right ?
I have a son that lives just n-west of Ottawa, (Dunrobin) no Walnuts in
his bush, but has rock Elm, Hickory, hop-Hornbeam Maple and etc.
You live in a area that for some reason has a lot more diverse tree
species than the areas north, west and east.
The farmers/loggers/sayers in this area used to roll their walnut logs
in the ponds, to get the sapwood to color dark, that's not quick enough
nowadays, so it's steaming now to do the same.
Spreading the color out does take some away from the hearth wood, kiln
drying influences it some more, and not just Walnut, IMO Black Cherry
and Butternut are also less colorful after kiln drying.
However the Black Walnut does lose or I should say, changes color quite
a bit, the purples and greens etc just disappear after a few years in
my experience, it just happens with all wood colors, some slower than
others.
We turners are a lucky lot, not many others do get to see those brand
new wood colors and grains, and the shimmering glows of freshly
finished and polished wood.
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo


big pete wrote:
Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance


Peter

www.peterbesharah.com

Peter,
I am glad you asked this because I noticed this too in the B Walnut I
collected last summer from a tree a friend gave me. I was seeing some
very strange variations from the wood and wondered if I had some kind
of variant specie.

I harvested over 50 blocks and it has been drying naturally in my barn.
Turning a few I got some wonderful shade differences between the
layers, and wondered why it didnt look like any BW I had seen before.

Thanks for asking this, the answers everyone gave were great.

cad
http://handturnedbowls.biz

big pete wrote:
Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance


Peter

www.peterbesharah.com

I have used both Eastern and Western kd black walnut (I am in Oregon),
and local air dried. There is a lot of color difference in the eastern
and western in color and texture, even though they are the same
species, but not as much color difference between air and kd boards.
Local soil and climate makes a huge difference in what it looks like
weather it is air or 'kill' dried. The air dried is the most wonderful
stuff to work with. It is almost like the difference between turning
dry and green wood. It is a lot easier to cut. You get shavings rather
than dust when you run it through your table saw, and if you run a 6
inch wide board through your planer, you get 6 inch wide chips.
robo hippy
cad wrote:
Peter,
I am glad you asked this because I noticed this too in the B Walnut I
collected last summer from a tree a friend gave me. I was seeing some
very strange variations from the wood and wondered if I had some kind
of variant specie.

I harvested over 50 blocks and it has been drying naturally in my barn.
Turning a few I got some wonderful shade differences between the
layers, and wondered why it didnt look like any BW I had seen before.

Thanks for asking this, the answers everyone gave were great.

cad
http://handturnedbowls.biz

big pete wrote:
Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Thanks in advance


Peter

www.peterbesharah.com

I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

Black Walnut is native to Indiana. I have a piece of walnut cut from a tree for
the old water powered sawmill at Cutler, Indiana, over 100 years ago, airdried,
or course. I also have a piece of Black Walnut cut from a tree about 5 years ago
from a woods about 5 miles from Cutler, solar dried. Both have different color,
texture, and grain. Go figure. (no pun intended!)

Dan

"big pete" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi
I've woodworker for over 30 years and full time for the last 3. I've
have bought my share of commercial walnut over those years
I have been a wood turner for the past 2 years. It that time I have
purchased walnut from the local loggers and sawyers in the area (
Eastern Ontario Canada) My " Trees of Canada" by Farrar book puts
Walnut as growing mainly is southern Ontario 400km from where I am.
The walnut I get locally is beautiful. In a turning I get get shades of
brown, pink and even a green.
My logs have come from different woodlots and different sizes.
I have never seen such a range of colors in the commercial lumber.
My question; is the commercial process of kiln drying or even steaming
the cause. Could it be just a regional difference in soils, weather,
and seasons. I know the commercial lumber is brought up from the U.S.
And yes I am positive it is Black Walnut

To elaborate a bit, walnut sapwood is white. So they can use the sapwood
the commercial mills steam the wood; that evens out the pigments throughout
the wood and lets them sell the whole tree.

I cut up my first walnut tree last spring. It is so much more interesting
than the commercial stuff; as you say it, contains a wide range of colors
that are all smeared together when steamed. I also quarter sawed most of
it; that too is more interesting than flat sawn, but is never (at least not
around here) available commercially. I saved some of the sapwood as a
novelty, though it is pretty ugly.