woodboxs

I recently bought some walnut wood in the ruff 4/4 sawed. When i bought the wood it looked fine when i got back to my shop and milled it i started to notice the color changed on some of the boards. In facted some of it look like it was white instead of dark like it was suppost to be this happened after i took of a 1/2" of wood i was not happy at all. and to top it off after i riped some of the wood down to smaller sizes it had a bow in it that it did not have before good thing i over sized it a little but i had to straighten it out then finsh cut . My guess what happen was there probley was some tension in the wood as for the color change beats me. if anyone has any idea or thoughs or suggestion to help me in the furture please post them.

Daren

It sounds like you got sold walnut with sapwood on it. Black walnut sapwood is white. It might have been improperly steamed (they do that some times to darken the sap) If it was lightly steamed just the surface would be darkened. Smaller logs and wood not dried right will have stress in them like you described, I am leaning towards small logs. The sapwood will naturally darken some with years of aging, but not enough that you could not see it right away.

Did you buy it at a sawmill? Stress is something we cannot do a whole lot about, it can be "conditioned" in the kiln after it is dry. Rewetting and redrying relieves some stress, but not all.

Hope you did not pay too much, and don't be shy about telling the guy you bought it from about your problems. If he does not know, he needs to.

You can see in this picture of some walnut logs, the outer few inches is very much lighter. These logs have already had the ends coated with sealer to keep them from cracking which does not show just how light it really is. If they were fresh saw the sap is pure white.

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woodboxs

Daren thank you i do not work with walnut very often so i was not sure what was happening. To be onest i am a little unhappy about the wood but i have to build this project. I had a hard time finding good boards from the place i bought it at a lot of it did not look very good. I bought it a wholesale dealer. I have a friend who has a big shop and he told me a nother friend he nose has had problems with this whole sale dealer and they made him mad so he went down south to one of the big saw mills in the carolinas an buys direct from them by the truck load for 70 or 80 thousand dollars a delivery but he also has a very big shop an dose some mass production were as i am just a small one man shop and just do this on the side at night and day off. That presents a problem . there are two other place but i have to travel even father to get to them. thank you again

Daren

I am willing to bet there is a sawmill within 50 miles of you (or 10) that you do not even know about that has good lumber at a good price. I am a little small time operation that ships wood nationwide...but people 6 blocks away don't even know I have a sawmill . I do not advertise locally. I did when I first started, but it was like throwing money in a hole. My business is all word of mouth now.

When I bought my mill I even thought there were none within 100 miles of me...there are 11 (that I know about) within 25 miles , one is 3 miles way and I never knew about him. Once you have been at it a very short while (sawmilling) you develop your sources for raw material and a customer base to support the amount you feel you need to sell and you spin in your own little world.

One local sawmill I found out about poking around on Ebay. I saw some really pretty wood and was reading the listing and found out there was another one close. None of my customers had ever mentioned them, nor had I ever seen any local ads or anything.

There are no sawmills listed in the phone book either (I am not), and like I said there are at least 12 of us.

The point of this post is I am willing to bet there is someone less than a hours drive who would be glad to have your business. You don't have to be a big shop and buy $10,000's a load. I sell $100 at a time to walk ins all the time.

What is your zip code, I bet I can find you a place to buy lumber locally.

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cabinetman

What might be of help to you is to let the lumber get acclimated to your shop before milling. If you are planing, take the same off both sides. I've been stuck with the same problem. On pieces that are critical to the project, I just wound up toning and staining the lighter sections to match. If you get stuck a lot, you get better at the fix.

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Daren

I know this thread was about "selecting" lumber, not finding it. But the more places you have to choose from, obviously the better selection and price you can get.

I mentioned Ebay in another post. As an experiment I visited again. If anyone an Ebayer you may try this yourself. I typed in "walnut lumber" and you can chose options on your search (lowest price, newly listed...) I narrowed the search "nearest first". I found 2 sawmills selling lumber within 25 miles of me. One I knew about, the one I already mentioned, and another I did not know about (so make that sawmill count 13 )

Obviously they all are not going to be selling there, but you might get a couple leads. I think I have sold 10 pieces of wood there in 4 years, so you would not necessarily find me if you were looking. It has been my experience I would much rather sell to a local that try that place, so if you find someone selling there shoot them a note. Just an experiment.

I hate to turn this into a sawmill thread, there is a good place to talk sawmills and ask those kinda questions http://www.sawandtimber.com/ . There is a tab at the top of this page too. But some woodworkers are disconnected from any sawmill knowledge. They buy at the "big box" or other places. Not only are you paying a higher price there most often, but (generalizing here) you are being attended to by some pimple face kid that the lumber department was a step up from working at McDonald's. Get to know some sawmills, don't think there are not any around. A knowledgeable sawyer (and you have to be to stay in business) will steer you in the right direction when selecting lumber.

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johnep

Gosh Daren I wish there was someone like you near me. I went to the local yard and all the had was pine plus an unamed hard wood which looked like sapele. Even the yardman did not know what it was.

I'll have a look around for a specialist.
johnep

Buffalo Bilious

Try this site. I used it, and like Daren said, I discovered that there's four or five mills within short a drive that I never knew existed.

http://www.woodfinder.com

Daren

I have seen that site...but they want $300 a year to be listed .
I don't like linking other outside forums, but here is one. http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSSDGsawyers.html

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mdlbldrmatt135

www.westpennhardwoods.com

Rocky's selection is Outstanding!

Daren

He does have some good stuff, and a wide selection...but the prices , $6.50 bft for 4/4 walnut. Sight unseen if you order online, plus shipping. I sell kiln dried clear 4/4 for $4.00, no minimum order you need one board I sell you one board. (their prices on figured wood is pretty reasonable ...again I would have to see the stock before I bought though) The most expensive walnut in my shed is $7 bft, just because it is perfectly clear and 16" wide boards in bookmatches 32" wide. That is what I am saying about getting to know a sawmill...good for those places that can sell lumber for that kinda money (and most have to because of advertising and overhead to reach out to people willing to pay it) . Shoot they sell red oak at Lowes for $6+ bft, http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&No=12&pad=true&Ne=8000&cate gory=Oak%20Boards&N=0+5000176 mine is better quality for $2 bft. I would put a price of $6 on it....But I would never sell a stick, all the other mills in my area sell it for $2 bft, so that is the "mill price". I think the sawmill is overlooked by too many woodworkers. I am not trying to drum up business, I am comfortable and don't have a stick to sell any of you anyway I have my customer base, just bringing this to some of your attention. You are not going to Lowes and buy 20" wide 1/4 sawn oak either .

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mdlbldrmatt135

Well, He's kinda got a Corner on the market in town..... The Figured wood has to be seen to be believed.

Comparing to soem of the other Places in the area He's the cheapest around for Walnut.... the other (online) is 7.45 for 4/4 and 7.90 for 8/4.
IF i had to have it... I'd head out to the Amish and get some Rough sawn...... they're Damn reasonable... of course it's all green..........

I can get Red Oak , Maple & Cherry Cheaper theu connections at a Hardwood "production" mill They Used to load railcars in front of My Parent's house... and We'd call when the cars showed up..... So thay've always been good about lumber for us.

I'll secopnd you on the Wide Stuff.........

woodboxs

Thank you daren i like that idea of sawmills i do not care were it comes from as long as it is kiln dry an of good qulity. I would not buy wood at lowes or home depot eather. There wood is of poor quality. You asked for my zip code it is 02126. I live in the city so i think most of the saw mills will be out in the suburbs. The place i bought from was dowe an reades they are big very big so i have a feeling they sell the left over junk to little guys like me. thank you.

Daren

OK. I was going to send this as a p.m. to woodboxs...but I am trying to illustrate a point here for any woodworkers looking for lumber suppliers. In the age of the internet it is easy. I did a 10 minute search and came up with this list. The first place anyone should look is their states Dept. of Natural Recourses, they usually have a list of sawmills. Here is the one for Massachusetts. There are 16 pages of sawmills and kiln driers in that little state. I don't know your exact location in the state, but you can also search the nearest state if you are close to the border and 2X this list. http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

I also went to the 2 links posted in this thread by Buffalo Bilious and myself. And got these contacts.

Massachussets postal code: 01009

Company Name: WOODPECKER INDUSTRIES
Services Offered: Sawing
Company Contact: MICHAEL MOORE
Address: PO BOX 44 BONDSVILLE Massachussets 01009
Phone: 413-283-5615
Fax: 413-283-5615
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1709
Website:
Description: PORTABLE SAWMILLING, GREEN DESIGNS, TIMBER FRAME BARNS, CABINS, ADDITIONS. FROM YOUR TREES TO YOUR PROJECT.

Massachussets postal code: 01062

Company Name: Frank S. Willard LLC
Services Offered: Sawing
Company Contact: Frank Willard
Address: 157 Florence Rd Florence Massachussets 01062
Phone: 413-537-3753
Fax:
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1578
Website:
Description: Custom sawing your logs or ours, Logging clearing & trucking

Massachussets postal code: 01564

Company Name: S & K
Services Offered: Sawing
Company Contact: Brian Favreau
Address: 91 Chase Hill Rd. Sterling Massachussets 01564
Phone: 978-368-1364
Fax: same
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1243
Website:
Description: Wood driing,firewood production timber harvesting

Massachussets postal code: 01887-1654

Company Name: Cripanuk and Associates
Services Offered: Sawing
Company Contact: Jim Cripanuk
Address: 162 lake Street Bld. A Wilmington Massachussets 01887-1654
Phone: 978- 656-4114
Fax: 978-694-9270
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1027
Website:
Description: Custom portable saw mill service serving the Wilmington area. Mass.lic. #NL-224

Massachussets postal code: 02066

Company Name: Custom Cut Lumber
Services Offered: Sawing Kiln Drying
Company Contact: Taylor Spalt
Address: 1000 Crescent Blvd Scituate Massachussets 02066
Phone: 781-544-0400
Fax: 781-544-3426
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1081
Website: http://customcutlumber.com
Description: Custom sawing and vacuum kiln, will dry 8/4, 12/4, and 16/4 hardwoods to 6% mc in 1 to 3 weeks, beam stock to 10" thick, to 15% mc in 2 weeks or less.

Massachussets postal code: 02189

Company Name: Northern Construction Service, LLC
Services Offered: Sawing Kiln Drying
Company Contact: Barry McCabe
Address: 775 Pleasant Street, Unit 11 Weymouth Massachussets 02189
Phone: 781 340-9440
Fax: 781 340-5708
Email This Company
Directory ID Number: 1326
Website:
Description: Heavy Highway Contractor located in Massachusetts.

New England Hardwood Supply Company, Inc.
Contact: Chris Jackson
Address: 100 Taylor St
PO Box 2254
Littleton, MA 01460
Phone: 800-540-8683
Phone: 978-486-8683
Fax: 978-486-9703
E-Mail: info@NewEnglandHardwood.com
Web Address: www.newenglandhardwood.com

Jim Rogers Sawmill
Contact: Jim Rogers
Address: 117-R Jewett St.
Georgetown, MA 01833
Phone: 800-422-6250
Fax: by appointment only
E-Mail: jrsawmill@verizon.net
Web Address: www.jrsawmill.com

All Righteous Woods - Fruit of the Earth -
Contact:
Address: 288 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley, MA 01969
Phone: Toll Free 1-877-843-9265
Phone: Local 1-978-948-7329
Fax: 1-978-948-7928
E-Mail: showmetheburl@righteouswoods.net
Web Address: www.righteouswoods.net

Woodery Lumber Company
Contact: Steve Turner
Address: 110 Pleasant St
PO Box 161
Lunenburg, MA 01462
Phone: (800) 293-9293 N.E. only
Phone: (978) 342-9293
Fax: (978) 342-9272
E-Mail: Steve@wooderylumber.com
Web Address: www.wooderylumber.com

Heritage Woodwrights
Contact: Everett, Drew, Andy & George
Address: 128 Chace Road
East Freetown, MA 02717
Phone: 1-800-445-5887
Phone: 508-763-5280
Fax: 508-763-5507
E-Mail: info@rimw.com
Web Address: www.heritagewoodwrights.com

B.Canadian Tree Expert Co Inc
413-967-6553
Belchertown Rd
Ware MA 01082

C.Lashway Bill Forest Products
413-268-3600
Rt 9
Wlmsbrg MA 01096

D.Lashway Logging Inc
413-268-3600
Route 9
Williamsburg MA 01096

E.Native Lumber Co
413-323-4831
260 Mill Valley Rd
Belchertown MA 01007-9567

Gourdeau Jules A Inc
978-922-0102
94 Corning St
Beverly MA 01915-3837

B.Red Mill Lumber Co
978-922-0102
94 Corning St
Beverly MA 01915-3837

Kie's Billy West Center Construction
413-232-4496
8 West Center Rd
W Stockbridge MA 01266

Brattleboro Kiln Dry
802-254-4528
46 Frost St
Brattleboro VT 05301-6531

D.Cobb Lumber Inc
802-824-5228
1683 Springhill Rd
South Londonderry VT 05155-9203

E.Great Brook Forest Products
603-835-2424
358 Cheshire Tpke
Langdon NH 03602-8610

F.Hinsdale Timbers
413-655-8165
South St
Hinsdale MA 01235

G.Kie's Billy West Center Construction
413-232-4496
8 West Center Rd
W Stockbridge MA 01266

J.Morse Lumber Co Inc
800-764-3231
994 N Woodstock Rd
Southbridge MA 01550

Rocky Mountain Wood Co Inc
413-596-2348
2660-R Boston Rd
Wilbraham MA

This may be 50% of the sawmills in your state between the link to your DNR and the list above . You can also contact the DNR and get a list of loggers...they are selling logs to somebody. They may be have a list of sawmills longer the the little one I came up with in a 10 minute search. I am 1/2 a country away and found all these, put your ear to the ground and I am sure there are plenty more. The whole seller who sold you his junk is buying from these smaller mills too, and you are right he probably sold you their/his seconds...might as well go to the mill and cut out the middle man.

I did not necessarily want to make this a long post and don't know a single one of the businesses I linked, so I am not crazy about giving them free adverts here...but I wanted to prove my point. I hope this helps someone who made read this sometime, don't think you aren't surrounded by sawmills .

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mdlbldrmatt135

Well, the NYS DEC doesn't have them online...... but said that they "mantain lists" so I emailed thwem asking for the county I'm in and the 2 surrounding ones..................

Boardman

Wooboxs -

Lumber that reacts to milling by bowing is called, oddly enough, "reaction wood." It's most pronounced in limb lumber which bears a lot of weight. That's why it's rarely used for lumber. But there are certainly instances where some not so nice folks slip it in with the good stuff. Trees that grow with a pronounced lean are also not desirable. In both this cases the wood is loaded like a spring with the tension created by weight bearing.

Since you have a lot of sapwood, which is a bigger proportion in limb lumber because it's just not that big, maybe that's what yours is. And walnuts can have pretty large limbs too, which tempt some scoundrels to use them. And walnut is usually pretty "tame" wood with little if any reaction if it's trunk lumber.

There a fair size cherry in front of my shop that's growing at about a 20-25 degree angle. I frequently eyeball it, but I know what I'd end up with.

I soon learned that the Woodfinder site is pretty useless because companies have to pay to be listed. I've tried common species and it didn't showany of my usual close-to-home sources.




and Darren.....

if you keep posting pics of walnut logs like that I may have to put you on Ignore before I burst into tears.

Daren

Get out your tissue ...that was 1 of 2 full semi trailer loads delivered for FREE by a buddy of mine who was working on a bridge job as an excavation contractor (they where rerouting the road through virgin timber and building a new bridge) The logs in the foreground where beauties, veneer quality the big one with the bar on it was 38" (?)x 10'. I think the total was 50 logs. Most of the second load was 24"-36", all straight as an arrow. I had a good week I guess you could say .

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woodboxs

Thank you daren i did not realize there were this many saw mills in my state of massachusett. I did see a couple of places less than a hour away from me and then there are a bunch that are at least a hour or more. And there probley are some places that i do not even know about and probley right under my noise but not in the city but you never know some one could have a small saw mill around and it is not advertised. some of the ones i came across were defintly cheaper than the place i bought from. The place i bought from had a lot of sapwood in there pile of walnut. As i was diging through the pile i had a hard time finding wood with the same color through it some of the wood i could see the color difference in just one board from end to end. And like i said i talk to a freind of mine he know someone that has had a few problem with this whole dealer and just went down south to a big saw mill company and buy a big truck load at a time i wish i could do that i probley would solve some of my problems but i do not have room for that. Thank you again.

Boardman

Daren.....I hate you.

No offense, but I hate you.

Daren

None taken, I think . Ah come on, you would not say that if you were here pulling beautiful slabs off the mill with me, I think we would get along peachy . Ankle deep in sawdust and pilling them chest high.

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