# Raw wood



## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

The city just took out a tree in the front/side yard and i claimed the trunk. Its about a 10 foot section probably 20 inches across of Black Walnut. I was wondering how I would go about making a few guitar bodies. Never dealt with raw wood before and Im not really sure how to go about it. I got lots of fire wood already and I know black walnut is a sought after wood for furniture, guitars ect.

Any advice is appreciated. Chainsaw is primed and ready.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

Well, I am no expert, but as far as I know it needs to be properly dried and cured first. Atmospheric curing for instrument grade wood takes several years. OR there's Kiln drying; I have no idea how long that takes, but I believe you will still need to let the wood cure for a while before using it even with Kiln drying.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

First, you need to get it milled into lumber. For a full thickness body (walnut will be a pretty hefty guitar) you will likely want it cut 8/4 (2 inches) unless you are using it for semi hollows and such and then 5/4 (five quarter - 1 1/4 inches) and then you have something to resaw into bookmatched tops and bottoms.

Then you have to seal the end grain with latex paint or some sort of commercial end grain sealant. It then gets stacked with stickers between each layer and put somewhere out of the weather but with good air circulation, and wait.......1 year for every inch of thickness is the rule of thumb. The alternative is to bring it to someone with a kiln and it will take a couple months at least. After kiln drying, having it sit in you shop for a week or two would still be a good idea (got a dehumidifier handy?).

I think that is about it in a nutshell.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Thanks. Any recommendations on where to get it milled? In S.Ont. preferably. I will be cutting into manageable sections soon to get it off the lawn. I figured it would need to be dried.

It is very heavy wood, how thick would you cut it? and can you elaborate on 8/4? I was thinking of tele bodies but I dont really want a 10lb tele lol. Maybe a 9lb LP special or jr. Do people do full thickness with black walnut? or is it more of a top/cap wood?

Thanks again.

- - - Updated - - -

And would milling it myself (with the chainsaw lol) be out of the question?


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Lumber is milled in quarters. So five quarter wood is 1 1/4" thick, which is what you want if you want to make a board an inch thick. When it is milled it is pretty rough, so you need to leave some for surfacing. 5/4 is pretty common, you can usually get a nice 1" board out of it after you have smoothed (planed) about 1/8" off each side.....not always, sometimes you have to smooth it more. It is also a nice size for putting it on it's edge and resawing it and doing bookmatching....which walnut is THE wood to do it to. Personally, I would do the whole log as a filch (cut without any rotating of the log), and I would do the whole log 5/4 except the center 2 boards (which will be quarter sawn) which I would want 9/4 (2 1/4"). Those 2 center boards would be stashed away for something special (besides, it would take 2 years to air dry, but 2 slabs of quarter sawn walnut would look great in my wood pile). 

Yes, you can mill with a chainsaw. There are numerous guide systems out there. Look up Alaska saw mill, or logosol, or just google chain saw mill. You need a good saw (at least 50cc), with a long bar (at least 20" I would think, but in this case, bigger really is better), and you will want to put a "ripping chain" on it, sometimes called a "skip tooth" chain, just note that they will kick back easier, but a regular chain will take a long time and a lot of effort. You will also need a bunch of plastic wedges like you use for felling to wedge the cut open as you progress. You don't want it closing on the back side of your blade. You lose more wood with a chain saw mill because of the wide kerf, but it is the cheapest way to get into milling wood. Takes more effort, I have never tried it, but I have been looking at them with some curiosity as I do a bit of wood work.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

A lot of what Jim said.. and find someone with a band sawmill too much work with a chainsaw.


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## mr trick (Sep 21, 2013)

paint the ends first, stop the drying at the ends, where the cracking will extend into the log. get it off the ground, not laying on damp grass. put an ad on kijiji looking for someone with a portable sawmill that will come to you, keeping the log in one piece will give you more value, better choices when it comes time to cut out blanks. when wood is dry enough to work it is about 6% moisture content, so a lot of the weight is water, although a friend had a Gibson LP Recorder made of solid walnut, had to use a 5" wide strap with lambskin buffer to not injure oneself.


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2014)

Check kijiji. There's this ad. Guy in Wellandport. Close to you.
Portable Sawmill Services - $50 for travel and set-up and 35 cents a bdf.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Awesome sauce! Thanks Laristotle.

You guys rock!


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## Slowfinger (Jan 1, 2011)

Definitely paint the ends with latex (2 coats). Wax is better. Any wax. Here's another low cost way. Last spring I cut a big ash log into 4 foot lengths and painted both ends and set them in the garage. Looking to get one-piece bodies. The ends checked (cracked) a bit. That way you see where the strength/weakness in the wood is. Soon I'll take a few wedges and split the log where the biggest checks are. Splitting out will follow straight along the grain and give a stronger slab. Also there is no grain run-out which I believe improves tone. If the surface is not so flat split off rough boards about 2 or more inches thick ( to account for getting a flat finished piece. ) then finish the drying. If you cut the log into shorter pieces leave 4" longer at both ends for cracking during drying. Most solid bodies are no bigger than 13" x 19"(strat). Basses 13-15" x 22"(to account for the horn). So with a piece 4 feet long and 4 inches each end unusable that leaves 42". Enough for two bodies per slab. Figure I'll get 2 slabs wide enough for 2-1 piece bodies, per 4' piece. I've done this before, however it wasn't for guitar bodies. Then again if you want to maximize your wood get it bandsawed while still green, paint or wax ends, sticker and dry. A quick home made kiln can be just a 2 foot strip of ply wood against a wall with another strip on top. Box in one end and use a flap of cloth or something at the other end so you can look in. Along the wall mount a long baseboard heater. Put a big fan at one end and keep checking with a moisture meter (only expense). Works very well. We dried fresh oak and pine to 6% moisture for furniture in less than 2 weeks. If interested I can give more details.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I've played around with this a little bit too. Lee Valley sells "Log End Sealer" that works very well. Almost reminds me of watered down contact cement.
I like a trunk about 24 to 30" long, and I split it with a log splitter to get a slab 3" to 4" thick. I've put slabs in the attic of my garage (get very hot up there in the summer time) for a month or so. I've also put a slab in an extra oven the wife keeps in the basement for canning & stuff. Left it at 140F for about 2 days. Length of the slab is limited. The attic works better but takes longer. The fan is a great idea! In the attic with a fan would work really well.
Having a sawmill would be great too. Splitting can go very wrong very quickly if all you have is one peice of trunk.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

I got a guy coming in a week. Portable milling service (thanks laristotle) so i'll see what we can do when he gets here in a week. Would 2&1/4" thickness be sufficient for boards for guitar bodies? the trunk is about 10' long and approx 20" thick.

Im gonna try the top of the garage for the summer, It gets pretty hot in there. 

Thanks for the tips. I knew nothing about working with the raw materials, it's a good learning experience.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

2 1/4 ought to be lots.....it will take that many years to dry properly. Glad you found some one to mill it....get some pics!


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