the Walnut Diary

I’ve always been most reluctant to run used or recovered lumber through my woodworking machines. Why save ten dollars on a board and wreck a $2000. machine?

Time and opportunity may have changed that attitude. Last winter I recovered a 7 X 36′ granary wall from a barn we were demolishing. The wood looked like a cross between white ash and clear pine. It was light and stiff and obviously very resistant to rot, so I carefully piled it away from the mayhem created by the backhoe.

My new drum sander plugs its belts in about 8′ of sanding on a pine board. Then I need to clean the grit by holding a crepe block to the spinning drums until they are ready for more. Baseboards for the house will typically involve the use of sixteen-foot material, and runs of pine of that length could pose an obvious problem. The expensive new sander and dust collection system did a great job on a few pieces of red oak for a door casing, though, so I looked around the barn for a supply of clear, wide boards which would sand well.

The mystery wood from the old barn certainly filled the bill, so I gritted my teeth, cut the ends off the wide, clear boards, and meticulously removed all metal remnants that I could find. So far the planer knives have survived well and the chestnut has proven very easy to machine.

For the doubters (American chestnut has been extinct as a timber tree since 1904, eh?) I have posted a number of photos with captions if you’d care to click on the link entitled “Recovered American chestnut” at the side of this page.

I’d be very interested to hear your comments about the photos, particularly if you have had some experience with chestnut.

UPDATE: At the end of the first day I had planed nine, 14′ boards and eight shorter lengths, all with the 30 degree bevel intact. Most are about 14″ wide, so I should be able to trim them to produce an 11″ baseboard with no trouble. So far there are no nicks on the knives and the planer still cuts well, notwithstanding the inevitable exposure to grit in the old wood. I think there are four long boards remaining, but perhaps I should quit while I’m ahead.

FURTHER UPDATE: I added a review of my new drum sander. You can find it under the heading “Pages” in the column to the right of this article.