Question about black walnut

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jcimm2000

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A friend at work gave me several hundred board feet of rough sawn black walnut. It's been sticked and drying in his garage for about 10 years. I'm gonna joint and plane most of it for some furniture i wanna make. But I'm also gonna set some aside for pens. My question, for you guys that have turned walnut, is which grain direction would look better. Should I rip it along the grain to make blanks or crosscut it? Perhaps some diagonal cuts. I'd like to keep my experimentation to a minimum.
 
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I totally agree with John .... straight grain is the way to go.

I do not like crossgrain at all ...... unless there is a very compelling reason for it ...... and black walnut certainly does not qualify.

BTW ...... black walnut is, as John said, not a very exciting wood for pens. . It can, however, be used to advantage as accent pieces in some segmented designs. . But as for a pen blank entirely of black walnut ...... nyet !!
 
My opinion is that if the grain is straight I'd cut it cross grain or quarter grain. The thing I don't like about Walnut is that when a finish is applied it gets really dark. Dark enough it's hard for me to see the colors of the grain, on small pens anyway. It is a pretty wood and if you have pieces that look plain just use those for segmenting.
 
If there are bigger knots that you cut out the wood around them will have nice grain. As for how cross cut and diagonal cuts look, it is pretty simple to cut one and turn it round between the centres you got with the lathe for a look. You don't need to tube it or make anything out of it. Just play a little to see what you like.

I wish I had friends like you have. ;)
 
Another vote for crotch cuts or knot cuts where the grain is very interesting.

A second concern - it depends on the specific walnut tree.

I grew up on a farm with a bayou running through. There was a walnut tree in the "bottom" with a natural spring not more than 20 feet from it. That tree had water 24/7-365 for close to 200 years. Dad had it cut down and cut into usable lumber nearly 60 years ago. It was Very dense. Then when I got into woodworking I found that most everyone said that walnut was very porous, not as strong as oak and lighter weight. I was confused for a long time about black walnut because I the only walnut I knew was that walnut on our farm.

About a year ago, I ran into a logger who is also a woodworker. As we discussed walnut, he said something to this effect: "I am very particular as to the walnut I buy. Now, I go to some of the lower bottoms in TN in search for walnut. 'Bottom' grown walnut (grown at river level) is different than hill and level land walnut - i.e. walnut trees grown at 20ft higher than the water table or river." I agreed and told him my experience. The density and beauty of "bottom" grown walnut is different than the average walnut tree across the US.
 
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I've cut it on the bias and if there's some lighter coloring it makes it a little more interesting.

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take a thin piece of cardboard or thick paper about2inches wide and 3 inches long and cut a 2 inch long 5/8 wide hole in it. That will let you place it over the wood and show you what you would be getting. The best patterns are at the stump, crotch and knots.
 
I've cut a lot of Walnut with the grain, cross grain and on the bias and usually all have great results. Experiment with it and see what you like. Some pieces I thought wouldn't cut it actually turned out very nice. Nice of your friend to give it to you.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
My opinion is that if the grain is straight I'd cut it cross grain or quarter grain. The thing I don't like about Walnut is that when a finish is applied it gets really dark. Dark enough it's hard for me to see the colors of the grain, on small pens anyway. It is a pretty wood and if you have pieces that look plain just use those for segmenting.
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Hey, Kenny - When you say quarter grain, are you referring to cutting across the grain at a 45 degree angle or something different? Thanks for clarifying as I am unfamiliar with the term.
 
That's what I was meaning to say but not positive about the term. There's a term quarter sawed but I think that's has to do with the grain at a different angle. I've noticed that a lot of times the end grain will reflect light and when crosscut the wood will show some nice coloring.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
That's what I was meaning to say but not positive about the term. There's a term quarter sawed but I think that's has to do with the grain at a different angle. I've noticed that a lot of times the end grain will reflect light and when crosscut the wood will show some nice coloring.
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Yes that is a different term used for boards.
 
Look thru the planks and see if there is one which has some "compression wood" - -the stuff with some nice figure that is tight. That plank should give you lots of great looking pens. If you find a good plank and want to make a buck or two, sell to your friends (me included) on IAP!! P.
 
Curly or Burly walnut make nice pens. But usually when I see curly and burly walnut it is the Claro variety, or sometimes English/European, less frequently it is black walnut. You can find some curl around knots and such which can be more than enough for a pen. I wouldn't go "through" a knot however, cross grain likes to crack if not stabilized, so I would try to get a piece where the grain is fairly straight but has tight curl (I know this doesn't make total sense typed out, but I couldn't think of a better way to explain it)...
 
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