Black Walnut Tabletops

After visiting the Wyndemere Board Room and seeing the amazing table top, I wondered how such gorgeous slabs of wood are, well “harvested.”

A short hunt through YouTube reveals that there is an entire cottage industry in the US (and elsewhere, I assume) that is made possible by companies that develop and sell portable sawmills that that can be towed by a pick-up truck to go to anywhere big trees have been felled and bucked. After set-up, a log, even a massive one, can be loaded into the sawmill, manipulated, clamped in place and sawn into slabs. Ordinary wood slabs are then recut into timber, 6x6s, 1bx8s, 2x4s etc. Farmers and their families have become professional “sawyers” and provide a valuable service to their local communities.

I admit to being hooked and having watched similar YouTube videos for most of today.

The process is fascinating as skilled sawyers attack heavy logs and reveal beautifully figured wood with each pass of the saw. Or they uncover rot. Worse yet, since big logs are old logs, there is always the risk of hitting iron. A steel hammock hook screwed into the tree sixty years ago will be completely assimilated into the wood and invisible until the saw blade encountered it with disastrous results.

Above is a video that is typical except for the absolute beauty of the large Black Walnut wood being processed and that no nails or rot were uncovered.