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English Walnut

I just got some English Walnut, both trunk and I would call it a stump ball(the ball at the bottom of the trunk that has some figure, and some of it looks like burl). I mentioned it at our club meeting (Beaver State Woodturners) and got a very interesting comment. One of the guys who has a lot of professional woodworking, logging, and milling experience said that he learned that English Walnut only has color if it has been grafted onto the Black Walnut. He was taking down some mature trees in an orchard that were English Walnut from seedlings and they had no color. An old timer told him that it was because they hadn't been grafted. He took down a few more, and they all lacked color, so he gave up. The ones that I just got, were English down to the stump (20 inches), where they had a big flare out to about 5 to 6 feet in diameter. Some of it looked like burl, and some of it just had nice color and grain. Do they graft at ground level? I have seen some that were grafted a few feet off the ground, and the graft line was clearly visible, but if there was a graft line on these, it was at the stump ball. robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy
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Hi Robo Hippy,

50 to 75 years ago, the practice in California was to graft about 5 feet off the ground which yields a black walnut trunk. The newer practice is to graft at ground level.

All that said, english walnut is also a nery nice turning wood. The root wood is also very nice to turn, but watch for inclusions of rock or soil, they can dull a chain saw or a turning tool in a hurry.

The effect of including the graft line between the black and english walnut in a turning is very striking.

Nice Find!

Pat "it's a scientific lifestyle"

Reply to
nulli null

Wow... the things you learn around here...

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I cannot say anything with authority on the color of English or black walnut, but I have some English walnut bowls that are just about dry enough to finish. There is a lot of sapwood, and not much in the way of heartwood in them, but it is curly, and that is enough for me! Next time I see my tree guy I will ask him what he knows.

Reply to
Bill Grumbine

Damn, Reed.. I really feel sorry for you, having all that dull, colorless walnut.. Because you're such a nice guy, I'd be more than happy to stop by and haul it away for ya.. *g*

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Well, I do always get more than I can use. Some goes to the wood raffels, some gets traded to friends, and some ends up in the wood stove if I can't get to it soon enough. I can't turn it down, even if I don't need it. robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

If you are referring to British Walnut the color has nothing to do with grafting but where it grows. If you look at European Walnut, notably French as use in gun butts, it is quite bland. But if you look at the British variety you'll find beautiful black streaks which makes it quite a prized timber. Younger walnuts do not have the colour and appear very white -very little heart- but this colours with age although it doesn't get the characteristic streaks of dark brown and black.

Reply to
Mark Hancock

I know that younger trees have much less sap wood than older trees.

tree and is more diesase resistant. The English Walnut is the more domesticated tree, and isn't as disease resistant, which is why they used to graft the two together. I also heard that the English Walnut origionated as, or descended from the Persian Walnut. I don't know about that one. robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

Hi Reed

That burl ball on the foot of the trunk is probably the grafting area, the swirl and burl look is what happens as the tree grows, I have a apple tree graft like that in my shop, as for the so called english walnut Juglans regia, it is the Persian walnut, native to europe and asia, they graft them onto the black walnut, because it grows faster and the earlier production of the nuts, the reason why they grow them, and not for the wood.

The color of the wood is variable, as in many trees and also the sap wood amount, if you have a fast growing tree with wide year rings then you end up with a lot of sap wood, it takes a number of years for the sap wood to turn into heart wood, so if your tree grew at a slow yearly rate you'd have approx. the same number of years of sap wood but that would less wide.

As for the grafting they can graft a sapling at soil level earlier than if they have to wait for the sapling to grow up to a few feet tall before grafting.

I have seen some pics. from bowl turnings and platters that had the graft right in the middle of the turning, sure looks different.

I am finishing a butternut "Juglans cinerea" bowl right now, wiped on some oil and will rub it down in a few minutes, the wood is considered soft light colored and not very attractive, but this log is very nice IMO.

I think you might be very pleased with that walnut wood when you have finished some bows or platters, Oh one thing, the sap wood on the walnuts (black and white), does shrink a lot more than the heart wood, so keep that in mind.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

robo hippy wrote:

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

Hi Leo. Does the butternut stain hands as does black walnut? Just curious given the lighter tone of the wood in B-nut.

Reply to
Owen Lowe

Hi Owen

No my hands are still clean right now, but I got some staining when I cut the log up, there were some soft spots on one side of the tree, and that stained my fingers, but not like oak or black walnut, come to think of it the nuts don't stain like the black walnut nuts, they also have a pleasant smell when fresh IMO

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Owen Lowe wrote:

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

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