In a recent thread there was a comment about turning walnut. I didn't pay much attention, but it seemed the poster was saying something about problems or undesirable aspects of turning walnut. Maybe about allergies to walnut saw dust?
I was given quite a quantity of walnut that looks like it may have been sawed up for turning blanks since it's way too long for a fireplace. The stuff is bone dry, so dry that when I chipped off a piece it didn't have characteristic smell of walnut. When I got it home sawing off a piece there was the familiar smell of walnut.
The puzzle is it seems realluy hard. In the past I've had walnut that was relatively soft, but a 5" thick piece was hard to push through the bandsaw to crosscut. I suppose there might be different varieties of walnut.
Any thoughts?