Is old growth Walnut desired?

[Chris Padilla]

Immediately labeling the wood as "old growth" means he is going to command/want premium prices.

How does one define "old growth" anyway? You can't: it is a marketing term (more or less).

However, that said, it might still be worth a visit if it isn't too far out of your way.

Oh, there is walnut...and there is other wood. Magical stuff, walnut, magical!

[Chris Fournier]

As others have pointed out this term is truly meaningless in terms of walnut. In Canada old growth would refer to stands that are "virgin" where the sawyers ax/saw has never swung or ran. Ususally old growth refers to entire stands of one or two species. Walnut doesn't grow like this, at least around here.

When I worked for a lumber importer exporter we'd get a call a week about walnut logs or standing trees. All were worth top dollar, few were even 20" in diameter and often in urban backyards. In ten years we bought one standing tree, the price paid was felling and removal of the tree. It was magnificent curly english walnut, the tree was purchased by a famous American furniture maker and a gunstock fellow.

Keep your wits about you when you go after this wood. If it was truly spectacular, the logs would likely have been sold to a veneer mill because this is where the big bucks are.

[Nathan Allen]

Considering Black Walnut is usually harvested only after 50 years of growth I'd be interested to see what this guy considers old. At 50+ years they should be around 30 inches in diameter and have about 14' of bole.

Not that unusual to find 120+ year old black walnut on the market, but their intolerrance to other growth around them has led to most being turned into firewood long ago in urban areas.

Unless they're massive slabs they're not really that old. The small stockpile I have in my shop (around 150 bf left) I bought off a farmer who didn't have the means to get the tree to the mill. He halved it and chewed it up with his chainsaw before he could move it. What is left is rift sawn around 14-16" wide with minimal sapwood on one edge of a few pieces and 16' long. He did measure the log before he went at it and it was around 40" diameter. He had it sawn, threw it in his barn and left it there for about 20 years before I bought it for a song.

That is "old" wood.

[David Thompson 27577]

>>"I was told by my friend about his family having a bunch of 30 yr old walnut and at least one guy said he didnt want it due to it being old. It could possibly be brittle or twist and turn after cut."<<


You know, that guy is probably absolutely correct. Tell ya what -- have him call me. I'll do what I can to get rid of that junk for him. Is it more than a trailer full?


Seriously, anyone who has seen the quality of the walnut that is available recently (at least here in NC) would NEVER complain about older stuff. I'd just mill it flat, and make beautiful things from it.

[Joe Scarfo]

A woodworking tool supplier near me is offering "virgin" black walnut for a ridiculous amount of money... it's about 16" wide or so, about 9' long, no sap wood at all, and is near 1/2" thick... IIRC.. $9.50 a BF

I grinned and the guy said... cheap huh... I said "what else ya got for walnut".....

Just sharing a laugh..
Joe