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A nieghbor has a 24" Black Walnut tree that had been dead a few years before a windy night blew it over 2 years ago and completely uprooted the stump. Now, I don't have any experience at sawing blanks but I can't stand the thought of him torching it to get it out of the way. I guess I need someone to tell me to forget about it or someone to tell me how to do it right.

The only way to know if the wood is still good is too cut it up, I would cut it in 3" slabs. You will find out if any of the wood is "punky" (soft) The best wood would be down near the base but be prepared to dull a few chains in cutting said wood that low. If American Walnut, maybe you will find something decent, if English Walnut then you might get some nice figure. The English Walnut is a nice looking tree with a rounded shape compared to the American Walnut that is haphazard in shape and not very pretty to look at. So if you can remember what it looked like, the decision is yours. If you do decide to cut it make sure you "sticker" the wood with the same wood for the stickering if you can. Use 1"x1" sticks. Air dry for 1 year of thickness and coat ends of wood with left over paint.
Good luck.

Dead for more than 3 years and down for 2 years....there's a good chance it's already rotted inside, but cut some billets and see. I bet the sap wood is already totally rotten - but you'll find out about the core when you cut. Dry rotten sapwood and solid core makes good firewood, sorta has the kindling attached!.

Good luck!

Walnut is rot resistant and there is a good chance that there is fancy wood in the crotch area. Does someone have a portable band mill in your area? If not a chain saw is not easy to control in ripping boards but it can be done, just plan a little extra thickness.

bill

I think Bill offers good suggestions. I have also cut an old walnut stump that had been dead for a couple of years, and it had some very fine wood in it. The owner of the land dug around it a bit with a backhoe and broke up the roots about 3' or so out from the stump, then pushed it over and rolled it up out of it's hole for me. It was pretty easy to load from that point onto a large flat trailer we had, and I hauled it away for him. We used a high pressure washer to knock away the biggest majority of the dirt and mud, and I am sure that saved a chain saw blade or two. We also bought a relatively inexpensive ripping attachment for the chainsaw, then had at it. We cut a number of 3"+ thick slabs from it, probably 35 or so in all, stickered them and dried them for about three years, until they had lost a lot of their remaining water, then cleaned up the slabs and ran them through a planner. Surprise, Surprise!! Those old walnut stumps can yield some beautiful wood. I still have some of it, and have had several machined into "replacement" wood for my guns. Good luck with yours.

Cut the limbs just above the crotch. Do not cut between the roots and the crotch. Your best wood will be there and you don't want to cut through the best of it. The crotch might have the most valuable wood. This is especially true if there are only two branches. Cutting parallel to the centers of the two branches will give the best feather pattern.
Pete

Dad had a Black Walnut tree that died three years ago. The wood was all cracked. Best to cut down a live one and dry it in a controlled manner. But with that said, it is worth a shot. Good Luck!!!

Personally I prefer hot parafin wax for the ends. I suggest you melt wax and paint heavy layer on ends and about two inches of the sides from ends.

Well, I got through the Holidays and found some time to take on the stump. I was a little late though, the owner had burned most of the main trunk and half of the stump but I "saved" the crotch- I think. It was pretty tough sawing which yielded 17 pieces. Someone with experience would have 20 or more. Anyway, I'll seal the ends and plane them some then put'em away til I get some experience. The easy part is done.

I love the looks of that wood! The piece in the bottom picture will make a beautiful stock.
JR

You just paid for the chain saw, put it up for four (4) years and then put it through the plainer. I woul also start looking for bargin guns that need new stocks.
bill

With respects to JDW ---- I believe you should dry new blanks one years per inch in thickness. I'm in agreement with his ideas on racking with stickers. Jrry Fisher said he further ages them a few more years in the over head of his shop. FWIW

Looks like you did OK as the slabs you show seem to have nice grain and color even with their rough cut surface. My advice would be to seal the ends ASAP and air dry flat in an unheated building with stickers between the slabs. Stay away from attics which get too hot. Then take some time to learn about proper gunstock layout. It's amazing how many wood dealers sell blanks with no concept of having grain flow through the wrist or having close straight grain at the head of a two piece stock. Making a stock is a lot of work and you don't want it to split or easily break. I made some templates out of plexiglass for rifle and shotgun which are oversize enough to encompass most makes and styles of shotguns and rifles. These I can lay on the slabs to find blanks with good layout while seeing the grain, pores, figure, and defects. Done right, the scrap wood pile is usually larger than the pile of stock blanks. Of course, much of the smaller off-cuts is useful for forends, handgun grips, knife handles, and assorted pieces to keep for stock repair.

I agree with Ken's estimate, but another way is to weigh them every few months. When they quit loosing weight, they are done (or your scale is not very precise).

Anyway, I like what I see of your wood and I would consider sealing the sides of crotch wood as it tends to develop stress cracks sometimes.

Brent

You did very good, nice wood. Now seal the ends and put it somewhere out of the weather. I knew a fellow that owned a saw mill, mostly for furniture, and he used old paint laying around but wax is the best. Also like stated I would coat the knots, it may stop it from cracking, a 50-50 shot, if it starts to crack near the knot, drill a hole at the end of the crack and hope that it stops.
In about 1 year or so I would move them into a basement and let it dry further, and if you stack them, make sure you use stickers. In order to really see how much moisture you have you should get a moisture meter. A decent one is a Mini-Lingo that reads between 6-20% moisture and costs about $100. When the moisture content is down to about 10% you are gettng close to it being workable. Then it can be oversized and then let it acclimate to where it is going to be (house). Chekc the readings on good dry day in the area, not a rainy day as humidity affects the wood even indoors. Wood is always moving, expands in summer and contracts in winter-relative humidity.
You mentioned something about planning, if you do I hope you meant by hand, unless you have a planner with a spiral cutter and carbide inserts, as a regular knife blade will tear-out that irregular grain/figure. Even by hand with jointer plane you would have to cut it on an angle to avoid tear-out. This shouldn't be done anyway while the wood is still wet.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

David,
Do you think it would be best if he cut out the knots now? Why knot (:()?

The knots may not shrink as fast as the rest of the wood putting a lot more very uneven stresses into the plank

Brent

It wood take the stress from the rest of the board. With some of that crazy grain who knows what can happen.
A little faster way is to make your own on the spot solar kiln. Make a frame and cover with 4-6 mil clear plastic, put a fan at one end to blow over the wood and have a vent at the other.
I wouldn't do that right away maybe 6 months from now.
Some have even tried clamping presses to keep it flat

Thanks to everyone for the advice and ecouragement found here! Does anyone have a suggestion as to guns that are easiest for beginners to stock?

Martini actions are very simple around the head area...
RG

The boys and I was cutting firewood last sunday. We were working on a harvested walnut tree. I thought I would this a try. Ended up with this 5" thick chuck of walnut. Hopefully in 5 years I can restock a nice double with it.