doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to fell a Walnut Tree

A tree 4 foot in diameter needs to be taken down gently to insure that it doesn't crack when it hits the ground. The veneer guys took out a tree across the street from me last year and made a cushion out of the branches of the tree and then dropped the log on to it. Neat trick. Not all trees have good figure or color and that is part of the excitement when you are cutting into one,that rush when you open her up and see something special.You would need to find a bonded and insured cutter in case something goes wrong. This is not a job for you and your buddy if she is 4 foot in diameter. That is going to be one heavy tree and can do a lot of damage if improperly felled.I've cut down and sawn about 25 or so walnut trees in the last 40 years and had pros saw the really big ones or those near buildings.Fun to do when everything goes right!

All good advise. Have the tree looked at by a pro. If very large have one of them take it down. When having it cut into planks cut for the best yield of figure. You are better off with a few great figured blanks. that are cut correctly, than a hundred blanks cut poorly. One perfect exhibition blank is worth more than ten almost exhibition blanks. As to if the tree has figure you never know until you get into cutting it up. It is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get until you bite into one.

You might consider that even if the tree is full of flaws and unsuitable for gunstock blanks that large slabs are very popular for "Nakashima-style" furniture right now.Check out the websites of Hearne & Hearne and Groff&Groff wood merchants. They are both family run lumber businesses in Pennsylvania and they cut flitches or slabs of big trees and sell them for big bucks.They usually have nice color pics of walnut that is for sale and priced into mid 4 figures for nicely figured ones,even with flaws. The flaws add interest to the finished furniture when handled properly.Small pieces of figured walnut are also in demand for turning, pistol grips and other items that require figured small bits of walnut.Don't forget to use some sort of sealant on the end grain and any figured areas. This should be done as soon as the tree is cut on the end. I used paraffin that I heated on a small grill and applied as soon as the tree was down. The end grain really sucks up the sealer and this helps prevent checking. Ditto for crotches or other figured areas. Put the sealer on as soon as cut to have it really get soaked in.Don't expose the sawn slabs to the sun for any length of time either. Checking will start right away and spoil a lot of wood.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
And chuck as much as a woodchuck would
If a woodchuck could chuck wood

Sorry I couldn't resist!
Jim

Thanks Gentlemen for all the thoughts, and especially for the comments re property value. It is an English Walnut in an English garden near Oxford.

Death duties.

When I read that description I thought it might be in England.

If I was the owner I would be working hard to get it. It's a rare bird but the sawmill MUST know how to cut for figure. Check prices, a great blank is 1000+ , a semi fancy brings several hundred. Check Denli's site for cheap prices on good wood. He shows size and age of blanks. If you live on the west coast I bet a deal could be cut with Calico or other processers or mills. Maybe your choice of blanks for their work. Another point, no $ changeing hands = no tax BARTER

bill

With the mention of death taxes I knew you were talking about a real English Walnut tree, growing in the name sakes country. Still one or two great blanks will be worth more than all the rest of the tree. Use a pro and take the tree out of the estate before they tax it as well. Over here, in the US, we have experts help us avoid the taxes of an estate. Better to save the taxes and enjoy the money yourself. All my family would agree and be much happier to see you get the money rather than the government.

This probably has nothing to do with what is being talked about, but about 15 years ago I was watching ABC News one night. They had something about the Salt Lake City Public Works Department was going through the older residential neighborhoods and cutting down old hardwood trees and taking them to the dump to sit and rot. We are talking oak, maple, cherry, ash, and walnut It seemed there was somebody who operated a kiln by the airport and he was taking them and cutting them in planks and drying them in a kiln and selling them for furniture wood. The person was very knowledgeable of the various hardwoods and selling them for a pretty penny.

In a series of articles published in The English sporting press during the 1980's Mr Gordon Walker, known in the trade as "Mr;Walnut", reviewed the process of gunstock blank production both in the U.K. and France. Here are are some of his observations:
1/Both in France and England the trees are dug-up[taken down].Following removal from the ground. The roots are cut off at the point that they join the trunk.This lower section of the tree is where best colour and grain is likely to be found.
2/ The best blanks are found in slow growth trees over 200 years old; provide that they have a good girth.
3/Trees that are suitable for making veneers should not be used for gun stocks.[ie: A veneer tree will have greater value.]
4 There is no guarantee as to the quality of blanks in terms of colour and grain from any given tree. This can only be determined after the stock blanks have been sawn.

As a point of interest; English Walnut[Juglans Regia]was planted by many English land owners at the time of the Napoleonic wars. This was due to a serious concern regarding future availability of French walnut for gunstock and furniture production.Following the second world war most country magazines carried ads offering significant sums of money for large veneer trees.I doubt that many are left outside of the great houses/estates of England.