I have access to a lot of very nice wood working every day at a lumber dealer. Think about the scrap pieces the average woodworker generates in his/her small shop. Now multiply that by several thousand board feet and you will get an idea of the “scrap” we generate in an average week. Most of the time, I will never have use for it as I could never build fast enough nor find space to store it. I really hate to see if go to waste though so I launched Hardwood to Go in an effort to make some of this lumber available to the public. Still I end up with a lot of miscellaneous cuts of wood that just don’t make sense listing on the web site due to the volume of labor involved just to photograph and post them. So my local friends tend to get some great deals. One such local cabinetmaker has gotten some killer deals on Utile and Sapele lately and when he came to pick up the lumber he brought me a gift. So before I go any further I have to say thank you to Dave Diaman for this beautiful Walnut.
What goes around comes around, pay it forward, and many other cliches come to mind here when I examine this 12/4 x 20 x 50″ piece of air dried American Black Walnut. It’s 9″ wide brother isn’t something to laugh at either. Air dried Walnut is an absolute joy to work with and it is a shame it is so hard to find in today’s kiln dried and steamed Walnut marketplace. So I brought these 2 pieces home to my shop that is already stuffed to the gills with lumber and now need to find the right project for them. The natural edge is intriguing and the width is such that it would be a crime to rip it down. The thickness is a bit much for a table top yet resawing this would be a daunting task even with my 48″ frame saw. Sculpted pieces in the Maloof style come to mind but I can’t help but think a lot of this stock would be converted to saw dust in the process. The checks at either end are stable so I do envision some butterfly splines and channeling Mr. Nakashima. Still the piece is awfully thick to be used as a table top, and I might add that my wife isn’t a fan of the Nakashima style in our house.
Hmmm, what to build, what to build. Such a fun problem to solve.
Your Turn
What would you build? Please share your thoughts and advice in the comments below.
hmmm, maybe a blanket chest, but you still would have to get it resawed somewhere. I like the idea of a Nakashima coffee table, but I guess you would have to sell the table when you got done. I think a sculpted rocker would be nice, I know a lot would become dust, but the end result would be worth it.
It is probably an indication of my insanity but I’m seriously considering resawing this with my frame saw. It could be a new years weight loss solution. 30 min a day for a week ought to be enough time
that just might do it. I resawed all the 1″ planks for the bottom of my tool chest with a 5 1/2 pt Disston D8, out of a 10″ beam of Sugar Pine. not that much fun. left cool resaw marks , but other than that, I wish I would of used a bandsaw. I was glad I had the 28″ version with the thumb hole though.
I’m a huge believer in Karma, both good and bad. Helps me try to make sure I’m always doing the right thing and makes me reflect on what I could do better when something bad comes my way.
If you just want to MAKE something with the walnut (per the chance to work with air dried walnut of such a huge size), and aren’t particularly concerned with whether or not you get to keep it, then…
1. Make a Nakashima-inspired table.
2. Donate it to a charity auction the next time a friend or relative or acquaintance has one.
3. ????
4. Karma profit.
Or make it and sell it and give all proceeds to a worth-while organization. Help start a local effort to do something like what the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild does, which is make wooden toy kits for the local children’s hospitals. It’s something the kids can do when they’re recovering from whatever ails them. In the 25 years the guild has been doing it, I think our total is up to something like 39,000 toys donated.
We don’t do it alone, though; we get lots of help from local businesses. One of the hardwood suppliers donated the custom cutter knives to run large stock of poplar through to make blanks for race car bodies. Then they continue to donate the poplar board already run through their custom cutters. All the woodworker has to do is crosscut the body from the stock and make four wheels.
Just tossing ideas out there now… certainly there is a better place for this discussion than the comments section of this post.
Several of my recent pieces have been donated to charity auctions. I like this approach. I also think there are a lot of things I want to build but know full well I won’t be allowed to keep it in our house. This may be one of those times. Regardless, this piece is too precious to jump into something so I think I’ll let it simmer for a bit.
Yeah, I have a similar situation (re: things I want to/can build but know they won’t stay in the house). I have a huge supply of reclaimed white oak from a building my brother and I took down on our family farm – everything from rough 1x to large 6×6 beams – and I want to use some of it for more than just boxes.
But my wife hates oak. She loves walnut and mahogany.
Bother.
It’s interesting that we as hobbyist woodworkers are always so hesitant to cut up these big beautiful slabs that the thought process immediately goes to some sort of slab tabletop. I think having stock of this size affords one the ability to truly utilize the best grain graphics and colors in the design of a piece that can make it really harmonious. Sure we may sacrifice some material to waste, but if the end product is better for it, I say go for it.
Bombe chest, partner’s desk or Pennsylvania Tall Case Clock come mind. What ever you decide please keep us posted.
Great projects Jose but I don’t think there is enough wood here for any one of those.
Air Dried Walnut? Oh yes Please! I do a lot of carving, and air dried hardwoods are superb!
The big piece looks like it has a really nice grain pattern and if you do re-saw it you could make some nice book matched tops for night stand end tables or maybe door fronts. Just some additional thoughts.