Reclaiming scorched /partially burned walnut

[Brad Schafer]

In April I took down a walnut tree and milled it to produce around 450 bdft of really nice lumber. Stacked and stickered in a local's barn ... which burned to the ground the next day. The wood that wasn't completely consumed was thrown out into the yard by the fire crew and left for several days, then eventually thrown in a pile and has been out in the weather for a couple months.

I'm trying to salvage what I can. Example of what's left:

Walnut 1.jpg

Not being very hopeful, I edged and planed a 5' piece of 12/4 (now 10/4) yesterday, which produced this:

Walnut 2.jpg

... which is really a pretty nice board.

Question is how to proceed. I'm thinking I need to remove the ruined stuff and edge everything ... but what about planing? Or is it better to just stack/sticker and let it try to dry?

I'm not sure how the drying might proceed, as some of the surfaces are almost "carmelized" (think crusty sugar edges on an apple pie).

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Phil Thien]

Do you have a way of checking the current moisture content?

[Rich Engelhardt]

My biggest concern would be that the wood would stink after it was all dried.

[Jamie Buxton]

So what you have now is of unknown dryness, covered with charcoal. It was green when the fire happened. The fire probably dried it out a bunch, but not evenly. Then it sat out in the weather - more water, more sun. So eventually you need to dry the wood properly. You can stack and sticker it as it is now, and plane it after it gets dry. Me, I'd plane it now. No use drying scorched parts that you know you're going to throw away anyhow. I wouldn't be surprised if you also want to re-plane it after it is dry.

[scott vroom]

I'm also wondering if there might be a lingering burned wood/smoke odor. When I was a kid, a local bowling alley exploded and burned while they were refinishing the lanes without adequate ventilation. I ended up "acquiring" a bowling pin from the rubble the next day....it smelled like wood smoke for years.

[Wade Lippman]

It will move during the drying; so if you plane it now, you will have to plane it again when it is dry. Unless the boards were way oversized to start with...

[Loren Woirhaye]

I would get the scorched parts off and sticker for a couple of years to see if the smell dissipates. Seems to me like a triage situation.

[Brad Schafer]

phil-no way of measuring moisture (yet - but thinking i need to invest in something ...).

rich (etal)- believe it or not, there is NO burned smell in that surfaced piece. it sat in the shop overnight and the shop smells like drying walnut.

jamie/loren- am leaning toward this approach. guess i have a lot of cutoffs to make.

thx all for the advice.

[Mark Wooden]

Considering your last post, plane or sand off the charred surfaces, stack and sticker while you invest in a moisture meter. Then, once you can check that it's dry, try some out. The piece in the picture certainly looks good

[Jim Matthews]

If you don't plane it, will it behave as if it were case hardened.

That can lead to checking, and uneven drying that will induce twist.
Do you have a planer that you can run it through to remove some of the charred layer?

I'm with Mark, this board looks lovely and is a worthwhile pursuit.

[Brad Schafer]

thx for the link jim. have a G0453 (15") which was used to process the 10/4 board (above).

after a few test runs today, plan is to remove charred ends, put an edge on both sides (removing all "edge burn") and then plane the ones that aren't already badly cupped. haven't decided yet if i will rip those or stack, sticker & hope they go flat. thinking is that salvaging a 12-14" wide board is worth the risk of twist.

[Scott T Smith]

Considering your last post, plane or sand off the charred surfaces, stack and sticker while you invest in a moisture meter. Then, once you can check that it's dry, try some out. The piece in the picture certainly looks good

^^^ This.

Most likely the outer portion of the lumber is checked due to the heating as well as the rewetting.

Lumber also dries a bit faster (and more consistent) if the surface is smooth as opposed to rough. I would advise you to plane it the minimal amount in order to clean off the charred areas, and then stack/sticker in a cool, dry place for several months. You have nothing to loose and a lot to gain.

If you don't plane it, will it behave as if it were case hardened.

Jim, case hardening is reversible; in all likelihood both the water from the fire fighters as well as the subsequent rain have reversed any case hardening caused by the super heating during the fire; so it should not be a concern.

[Jim Matthews]

Jim, case hardening is reversible; in all likelihood both the water from the fire fighters as well as the subsequent rain have reversed any case hardening caused by the super heating during the fire; so it should not be a concern.

To the OP : do what Scott suggests, he actually knows what he's talking about.
I'm just guessing.

[Jeff Fischer]

Brad,
Once you have milled the charred bits off, if you have any odor in the shop or on the boards, an ozone generator will neutralize the odor.
We use them all the time for fire restoration work. I also sometimes salvage boards from old houses that we restore, I just hate to toss old growth boards in the dumpster.
Jeff