Is black walnut a good turning wood?
 

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed in any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good people.....GOD BLESS....reggie

Hi Reggie

If you find any make sure you send it to me, OK.
I will make certain that it will be looked after properly !!!!!

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum4.html


Reggie wrote:
I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie

"Reggie" wrote in message
...

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie

It is, and since it will normally be air dried, it can display some subtlety
of color that is very attractive. Unfortunately, subtle differences don't
display as well as dramatic - spalt on birch, burl on cherry, etc.

For handling-size pieces it's a winner.

For users - well, I stopped for breakfast at a place in Missouri next to a
factory which made thousands of segmented bowls per year out of dark brown,
kiln-dried walnut for $35 each. Even bought one, which is without doubt the
ugliest thing in the closet. Whenever I make a shape I don't like, I bring
it out to bolster my spirits with the knowledge that there are thousands of
ugly bowls sold every year.

Oh yes, it tends to lighten as it ages.

Reggie, this is very dangerous stuff you are talking about... especially the pieces with all that curl and swirly patterning to it... but since I am certified to dispose of this material in a safe and sane manner, just email me and we will arrange the safe transfer of all of it to my facility.... LOL

Walnut is very nice wood... it turns a whole lot nicer green that it does dry.. in fact dry walnut actually comes off in hot chips instead of curls when I do a bowl.. and my tools are real sharp... it sands and finishes nice and smooth and if you are lucky enough to get some with some nice curl or burl effect in the grain it can look really outstanding...
Dry walnut is not a great wood for a beginning bowl turner because it is tough, but the green wood is sweet...

Definitely fine stuff. I got a butt section from a 4' diameter tree
last summer. Spent the winter turning rough blanks. I'm currently
finish turning the blanks here and there, as I have time. I don't
think the grain is subtle at all. IMHO it beats the hell out of any
other NA hardwood for beauty. I should perhaps qualify that. Sure
tiger maple is prettier than a straight grained piece of black walnut.
Put a piece of flame grained crotch black walnut next to that piece of
tiger maple and I think the black walnut wins hands down. Email me if
you want me to send you a photo or two of finished work.

Keep the dust out of your lungs and off your skin. Many people have a
reaction to it. I don't, but I understand that it is possible to develop a
sensitivity if you handle it a lot. Then it's almost impossible to
"undevelop" the sensitivity.

I've turned a few small bits with it, I like it very much. Only
problem I have is AFTER turning, hands pick up the color, get stained
all brown. Only stuff I've found to remove this is bleach or oxyclean,
both hard on the skin. Any suggestions out there?

I love Black Walnut. It dries very stable. Cuts like butter. Will take
most any finish and looks beautifully. The one problem with Black Walnut is
it is toxic. 10% Black Walnut shavings in a horses bedding will kill the
horse. Use an mask and long sleeve shirt. Take a shower afterwards.

Good luck and good turning.

Henry



"Reggie" wrote in message
...

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie


--
Reggie

Henry wrote:
I love Black Walnut. It dries very stable. Cuts like butter. Will
take
most any finish and looks beautifully. The one problem with Black
Walnut is
it is toxic. 10% Black Walnut shavings in a horses bedding will kill
the
horse. Use an mask and long sleeve shirt. Take a shower afterwards.

Good luck and good turning.

Henry



"Reggie" wrote in message
...

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed
in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie


--
Reggie

I have access to a fair amount of black walnut free, and I have found
that it is beautiful stuff, especially with an oil finish. I also have
found that it tends to dull the tools more quickly than other woods I
have turned. I'm new to the art/craft, so the dulling tools may be due
to my not-so-good technique more than the black walnut. Still, I think
it looks really nice.




Henry wrote:
I love Black Walnut. It dries very stable. Cuts like butter. Will
take
most any finish and looks beautifully. The one problem with Black
Walnut is
it is toxic. 10% Black Walnut shavings in a horses bedding will kill
the
horse. Use an mask and long sleeve shirt. Take a shower afterwards.

Good luck and good turning.

Henry



"Reggie" wrote in message
...

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed
in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie


--
Reggie

Hi Henry

Now that's a bit over the top.

There was a warning by the veterinarians that horses that where standing
in wet urinated black walnut shavings had become lame, the horses
recovered after they were taken out of that condition.
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Henry wrote:

I love Black Walnut. It dries very stable. Cuts like butter. Will take
most any finish and looks beautifully. The one problem with Black Walnut is
it is toxic. 10% Black Walnut shavings in a horses bedding will kill the
horse. Use an mask and long sleeve shirt. Take a shower afterwards.

Good luck and good turning.

Henry



"Reggie" wrote in message
...

I know black walnut is a hard wood but I have never seen it listed in
any finished pieces. Is it available? Thanks for all the help good
people.....GOD BLESS....reggie


--
Reggie

Generally I find that lemon juice will remove staining on my hands from
the wood. It also will remove the staining from where your hands come
in contact with the tools... there is sometimes an interaction with the
tannin in the wood and the steel.

wrote:
I've turned a few small bits with it, I like it very much. Only
problem I have is AFTER turning, hands pick up the color, get stained
all brown. Only stuff I've found to remove this is bleach or oxyclean,
both hard on the skin. Any suggestions out there?

Leave the stain on your hands. Makes you look like a wood worker! If you need
to get ir off use Goop which is a cream hand cleaner and is easy on the hands.

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:47:04 -0500, Leo Van Der Loo
wrote:

Hi Henry

Now that's a bit over the top.

There was a warning by the veterinarians that horses that where standing
in wet urinated black walnut shavings had become lame, the horses
recovered after they were taken out of that condition.
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Can I assume that Black walnut is a somewhat more expensive wood than
what we have as "walnut" here?

I turned quite a bit of walnut from a neighbors tree last month and no
irritations or problems with it, except for minor hand staining... and
that was mostly from the inner bark..

My guess is that what I has was "English walnut", but how would I
identify Black walnut??


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"mac davis" wrote in message
...

Can I assume that Black walnut is a somewhat more expensive wood than
what we have as "walnut" here?

I turned quite a bit of walnut from a neighbors tree last month and no
irritations or problems with it, except for minor hand staining... and
that was mostly from the inner bark..

My guess is that what I has was "English walnut", but how would I
identify Black walnut??


Black walnut is the native J nigra. Almost any walnut reproducing in the
wild in the US should be J nigra.

It is rich in extractives in the heartwood, including some nasty stuff that
can cause horses hoof problems. Also has a nut which has less overall meat,
and a harder, packed shell than the "English" J regia. English walnut
scions are normally grafted onto the more hardy black walnut roots in
orchards.

So, if you got orchard wood, might be different than the wild stuff.

http://www.ca-walnutdesigns.com/select.htm

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 13:11:31 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:


Black walnut is the native J nigra. Almost any walnut reproducing in the
wild in the US should be J nigra.

It is rich in extractives in the heartwood, including some nasty stuff that
can cause horses hoof problems. Also has a nut which has less overall meat,
and a harder, packed shell than the "English" J regia. English walnut
scions are normally grafted onto the more hardy black walnut roots in
orchards.

So, if you got orchard wood, might be different than the wild stuff.

http://www.ca-walnutdesigns.com/select.htm

this was from a few trees that had died at a friend's ranch.. I think
that if they were the orchard variety, it wasn't intentional..
It sounds like this was black walnut, then, and that I should have
been careful with it..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing