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walnut slab
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=35032		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:09 pm ]
Post subject:  walnut slab
I just found someone selling a large slap of walnut near me. Just curious if his price is reasonable or not. The piece is 21" x 72" x 2.25", he's asking $200 for it. Thanks for the help.
Author:  runamuck [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
What the slab represents is 23.625 board feet which comes out to about $8.50 a board foot.

That's in the ballpark of what walnut sells for retail where I live..

So it really depends on whether those dimensions work for you, and also
the quality of the wood. If it's full of knots, I'd definitely pass.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
Thanks so much. I'll probably drive down on Sunday to see it in person. Thanks for the help.
Author:  Chas Freeborn [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
I've moved roughly 2500bf of Walnut through my shop in the last year and maybe 3% was guitar grade.
It completely depends on the piece.
-C
Author:  Nathan Hampton [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
It might be worth that if it is curly. I can buy rough cut furniture grade walnut for $2/bf from a couple of mills here in east TN. Wait for a big storm to come through, and you can usually find logs for free. You can get them sawn for around $250 per 1000 bf.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
I've scheduled with the seller to go see it after work in the morning. I'll try to snap some pictures of the piece, I can always try to talk him down some after I get there if it's not perfect. I'll post some pics tomorrow when I get back home. Thanks again for all the advice.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
Ok, so I finally made it home last night, later than expected, but safe. I had to stop and help with a traffic accident which delayed me a bit.

Attachment:
truck (450x337).jpg


Anyways back to the walnut, I was able to talk the gentleman down quite a bit on his price and was able to get him to throw in some more walnut. Total I came away with about 32 bf of wood. I got out and unloaded it today and took a few pictures after wiping it down with naphtha. Not all is luthier grade if any, but for the price I couldn't leave it and figure I could use it for a number of projects in my shop.

Attachment:
walnut 4 (334x500).jpg


Attachment:
walnut 3 (375x500).jpg
Author:  truckjohn [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
Wow,

That sure is pretty stuff... No doubt everything you got is not really all Guitar wood - but that's normal... Still beautiful none the less...

Thanks
Author:  Mark Fogleman [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
If that check goes all the way through, you may want to consider a Butterfly inlaid across it.
Author:  jfmckenna [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
Almost looks like a center slab across the whole tree. I used to get stuff like that from a veneer factory. They would saw the log in half and then a machine would grab the log by the open face and lift it up and down over a knife stripping off veneers. The left over was the center slab, the best part. I built many guitars out of it though some of the boards I had were a lot wider.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
The gentleman that I purchased it from said he was going to use it to make gun stocks. I have nothing against guns, but there was too much good wood in this slab to let it be used for guns.
Author:  nyazzip [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
...wonder what that idiot trucker's excuse was for laying his rig down like that. looks dry, bright, clear and straight road.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
The winds up here that day were sustained at 40 - 50mph. There was a recorded gust in the area of 77 mph. It was the worst dust storm I've seen in a long time.
Author:  Sillwic9 [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: walnut slab
jfmckenna wrote:
Almost looks like a center slab across the whole tree. I used to get stuff like that from a veneer factory. They would saw the log in half and then a machine would grab the log by the open face and lift it up and down over a knife stripping off veneers. The left over was the center slab, the best part. I built many guitars out of it though some of the boards I had were a lot wider.



That is very possible looking at the end grain on the slab. Being in the panhandle of Texas just to find a tree that size is unlikely. But, I'm not sure where he got it from originally.
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