**ɛռɖɛɖ** Lots of Walnut Crotches Part 1

FranklinWorkshops

FranklinWorkshops

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@Joe Williams @Mike Hill

I did make it to my barn on Monday and brought home the four walnut crotch pieces shown below. Each has been rubbed with Black Walnut Oil to show its color and grain. Each have both front and back photos and there are lots of notes about each board shown in the photos. The prices are on the Reverse Side photo of each board. I do combine shipping so if you want to buy any of these, I'll work with you to minimize the
shipping costs. There will be another two in the next note "Lots of Walnut Crotches Part 2" because the upload limit is 10 photos per note.

I will go back when the weather improves and bring some of the 12/4 crotches home. Those are monsters.
I had them cut 12/4 thick to enable re-sawing into matched door panels. But more about them later.

Lots of photos here:

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Congrats Joe. I think those are really nice crotch pieces for a great price.
 
Karl_TN said:
Congrats Joe. I think those are really nice crotch pieces for a great price.
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Thank you I totally feel that way too! I love spice cabinets and I am actually taking a class so I want lots of it for that :) Forgot to mention 4 of us are taking it so trying to get enough nice figured for all 4 plus some for me
 
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  • #5
Thanks guys. I have many more that will be showing up here as I get to them. I collected walnut crotches for many years and used them for all sorts of projects. One of my Amish sawmill buddies used to save them for me. Most of them are air-dried which helps avoid the shrinkage checks that are so common with crotch wood. When I can find them again, I also will offer some Pennsylvania Cherry crotches and those are notorious for coming apart in the kiln. The secret is air-drying the wood for 5-10 years in a barn.
 
Were these air dried, & only walnut oil? They are definitely eye catcher's. I gotta try the walnut oil.
 
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  • #8
Mark. said:
Were these air dried, & only walnut oil? They are definitely eye catcher's. I gotta try the walnut oil.
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Yes to both. I only air-dry crotches because of the kiln affect on the twisted grain within the crotch. Probably a very slow drying solar kiln would be good but the normal dry or wet kilns used commercially can mess them up. Black Walnut oil straight from the grocery store is nice and doesn't turn rancid like other oils.
Get it in the olive oil section. My wife cooks with it and I hope she doesn't notice that a few ounces went missing yesterday.
 
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  • #11
Joe Williams said:
Received 3 of them so far and they are awesome!
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That was the large box. I was a little worried because I really had to distort the box to get those pieces in. Did the box arrive in relatively good shape? The smaller box was mailed at the exact same time but obviously was left behind somewhere. Will probably be there tomorrow. Glad you like them. Are you going to be needing others? I found a few more this morning.
 
FranklinWorkshops said:
That was the large box. I was a little worried because I really had to distort the box to get those pieces in. Did the box arrive in relatively good shape? The smaller box was mailed at the exact same time but obviously was left behind somewhere. Will probably be there tomorrow. Glad you like them. Are you going to be needing others? I found a few more this morning.
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It was in good shape! Thank you. I would absolutely love others. I have a never ending need for these figured pieces for the spice chests and other items. If I had more I'd make a larger piece at some point, a highboy even. Would love to have more! Are these from your property or just purchases you have had a long time? Love them.
 
FranklinWorkshops said:
That was the large box. I was a little worried because I really had to distort the box to get those pieces in. Did the box arrive in relatively good shape? The smaller box was mailed at the exact same time but obviously was left behind somewhere. Will probably be there tomorrow. Glad you like them. Are you going to be needing others? I found a few more this morning.
Click to expand...

On that small piece with the check, I superglued in there a bit, should I cut it off to reduce the risk of it moving anymore? Right now it's not a big deal but if it infringes in the middle it could be a bummer. Would you cut it or just glue it like me? Thanks a ton
 
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  • #14
I've had these for 15-20 years. I had a Amish sawmill operator look for crotch pieces when he cut walnut for commercial sale. Since he didn't get paid any extra for walnut with crotches, he would set aside boards for me and I paid him a premium for them. That went on for several years until I had more than I knew I would ever use. Now it's time to downsize so I'm glad to find them a new home. I'll post up some more photos tonight or tomorrow and will tag you when I do. Mike Hill is also looking for more and I'll tag him also. There will be plenty to go around.
 
FranklinWorkshops said:
I've had these for 15-20 years. I had a Amish sawmill operator look for crotch pieces when he cut walnut for commercial sale. Since he didn't get paid any extra for walnut with crotches, he would set aside boards for me and I paid him a premium for them. That went on for several years until I had more than I knew I would ever use. Now it's time to downsize so I'm glad to find them a new home. I'll post up some more photos tonight or tomorrow and will tag you when I do. Mike Hill is also looking for more and I'll tag him also. There will be plenty to go around.
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Thanks again!
 
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  • #16
Joe Williams said:
On that small piece with the check, I superglued in there a bit, should I cut it off to reduce the risk of it moving anymore? Right now it's not a big deal but if it infringes in the middle it could be a bummer. Would you cut it or just glue it like me? Thanks a ton
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If you can go ahead and cut it to get the usable pieces you need now, it would be the better option, IMHO. These boards were stored in a barn and if you bring them inside with the heat, there will be some movement as all wood does. But what you see has been there for many years and shouldn't get much worse. When you surface them, lean them against a wall on their end so air can circulate uniformly around each board. If you don't they might warp a bit. I'm likely preaching to the choir, I know. Wood moves with humidity and temperature as we all know. The secret is allowing free air movement around the board.
 
FranklinWorkshops said:
If you can go ahead and cut it to get the usable pieces you need now, it would be the better option, IMHO. These boards were stored in a barn and if you bring them inside with the heat, there will be some movement as all wood does. But what you see has been there for many years and shouldn't get much worse. When you surface them, lean them against a wall on their end so air can circulate uniformly around each board. If you don't they might warp a bit. I'm likely preaching to the choir, I know. Wood moves with humidity and temperature as we all know. The secret is allowing free air movement around the board.
Click to expand...

This is very helpful, I am very much a newbie when it comes to these types of things. I sticker my wood just because it's my best storage option at the moment, I have a bunch of 3/8 sticker strips. Does that work?
 
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  • #18
Joe Williams said:
This is very helpful, I am very much a newbie when it comes to these types of things. I sticker my wood just because it's my best storage option at the moment, I have a bunch of 3/8 sticker strips. Does that work?
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Yes, that will work. But use dry wood for stickers. Don't want to introduce new sources of moisture now that the wood is relatively dry. If it's stored in an unheated place like a barn, you won't need to do that. Only when you introduce the wood to a new, warmer environment like your workshop, does it become something to consider.
 
FranklinWorkshops said:
Yes to both. I only air-dry crotches because of the kiln affect on the twisted grain within the crotch. Probably a very slow drying solar kiln would be good but the normal dry or wet kilns used commercially can mess them up. Black Walnut oil straight from the grocery store is nice and doesn't turn rancid like other oils.
Get it in the olive oil section. My wife cooks with it and I hope she doesn't notice that a few ounces went missing yesterday.
Click to expand...
I must admit that they do look mighty tasty, but to find out I will have to call on my Redheaded Wood Pecker, if only he could talk. Honestly I have learned another trick to bring home with me & be put in my tool box to be used at a later date. Thank You for sharing
 
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