Hello everyone. I have been reading here non stop for some time and am constantly impressed with your work. I am relatively new to working with wood but have been turning Game calls for awhile now, but havent turned a bowl since highschool.
In the past few months, I have upgrade to a Jet 1220 lathe for the majority of my call work, bought a new Stihl 660 with a 24 inch bar for some advantage over the trees, and yesterday scored 30 walnut logs that range between 14 and 17 inches in diameter and are all 16 feet long or so. Add to this some Maple that I am due to cut in the next few weeks along with living in the middle of my wooded property and I have no problems with wood 5 gallons of Anchorseal is on its way as well as a chainsaw mill for some slabbing and a new Jet band saw will soon grace the workshop for some resaw work.
What I do have to ask is what I should be looking for in the walnut and maple. Grain I would imagine, color maybe? The same applies to the maple. Most of the maple will be large (some 20 inch diameter) limbs as we will be trimming some very large and very old trees. What lengths should I be cutting as I know I can not process and or use this wood immediatley. I own 15 acres so room is not an issue.
Thanks in advance for any tips or assistance, I am trying to plan out as much as I can before diving into all this blindly.
Here is one of my calls just so I can join in the fun.