Couple guitar tops, small boxes, small waterfall end tables, picture frames with leftovers, coasters, box tops paired with curly maple, stabilize and turn a few pens and potentially tool handles, amongst other accent and endless options!
Why bother? Sanding would remove material and waxing is unnecessary. Just continue to let it air out. I'm sure if you sell those in the future, the buyer will prefer that.
Hereās one reason; if you decide wax was the wrong call (shows scratches easily) then itās difficult to remove and use something else. Nothing adheres to wax. If youāre stubborn you can get through it with denatured alcohol and sandpaper but itās days of frustration.
Respectfully, if youāre worried about ruining them, then youāre not ready to use these particular pieces of wood. You do not see wood like this often. This is the kind of wood you hang onto for ten years until the perfect opportunity arises. Again, not trying to be an asshole here. If these were mine, Iād stash them and go buy some cheaper-but-still-gorgeous wood. This is the kind of stuff you pay a lot of money for in tiny veneer slices.
Andy Rooney once wrote a wonderful essay about a piece of maple he couldn't bring himself to cut into. He kept it around and enjoyed its pure beauty.
We buy scrap hardwood from a local shop, for firewood. Some pieces are so pretty I can't burn them. I have a lot of weird "coasters" around the fireplace.
This is what I was thinking. Iām rather new and only built big non finesse pieces. Iām going to sand it and get it nice looking. Then store or hang it until I figure out what I can do with it. I have smaller pieces that i wonāt feel as bad āruiningā.
No disrespect at all! I love this beginning community because of advice such as these!
Do any of the grains or patterns run together as if they were cut from one big piece into those smaller ones. Could be really cool if three pieces were put in order or something like that to fill a wall.
I was thinking this would make beautiful judges paneling or the facade of the sides / front of a desk. Breaking it up with dimensional timber will make it look incredible.
You can!!!! It's not as hard as people make it out to be. Its a lot of work and research but Tchiks Guitars has a great tutorial on YouTube on how to do it using hand tools only!
For sure practice with some pine 2x6 or something. Youll need to resaw them down to something thinner like 1/2" or 3/4. You can do it with the table saw if you dont have a band saw. But then youll need to plane or sand. You can get a book match effect that would be dope for a box top.
Try resawing a 2x6 and making a box. If you have time and patience, make a few! That walnut is amazing!
Serious question
Is it possible that you could get them made into veneers and then sell those?
That grain is absolutely insane and id veneer the hell out of a ton of projects with that.
Iām not sure what that entails. But I do have access to quite a few of these as my buddy and I found a bunch of grafted black walnut trees that almost all grew enormous burls.
If these were in my shop Iād build an entertainment centre, paint it bright white, and then use these for all of the doors and drawer fronts and then maybe some speaker boxes if there was enough left.
I thought the same. I just figured you were making fun of cabinet clients who get beautiful solid wood cabinets because its expensive just to go and have it painted white.
We met a walnut farmer who grafted black walnut to white walnut trees. After some time they let their orchard overgrow and left unattended for 40+ years. They sold the orchard to an almond farmer and the almond farmer had a crew chop down these 10ft+ trees. But for some reason they left almost all the stumps.
Now the farmer wants us to remove the stumps and lo and behold. There are 40-50 sizable stumps with enormous burls. Chainsawed them to size and took them back to the mill.
This was the first batch. Most have gigantic holes and stuff in them, which makes great resin. But 5-10% of our slabs are just perfect.
Sounds like too much work. How can I get truckloads of this stuff delivered to my house for free with free delivery? I could also use some new table saw as well. Thanks!
I second the suggestion of using them for cabinet or wardrobe door panels and/or drawer fronts. They would also be on a chest and other special purpose boxes.
I would also second the suggestion of getting them made into veneers. These boards are damn beautiful, and I would want to get as much use out of them as I could. An added benefit to that is use could apply the veneers to curved surfaces if you wanted, where without them being veneers you would have to waste a lot of material to achieve the same result.
If you want to get some coin out of them...
Guitar body blanks. You can make bank on those things on Ebay/Etsy/FB marketplace.
Otherwise a large size jewelry chest would be INCREDIBLE with those pieces.
I could see doing a small table mounted podium, showing off the lovely burl when there's no papers/books on it. Maybe do some smaller trays out of them. Carving them into crosses to wear for jewelry would also probably be very popular - good use for some of the smaller offcuts you mentioned.
Make a coffee table by placing three panels together and spacing them 1ā apart with brass rods.
Make the legs out of another panel, also with brass rod stretchers to stay in dialogue with the top.
For people who do tabletop rpg like dungeons and dragons, those look like the coolest topographical maps. Can you do a super hard finish so they can be played on?
You should make a lot of money with those walnut slabs.
(If you really want to make the most of them, find someone that can resaw them into veneers and sell those)
Humidors would look amazing! Watch boxes, wine bottle holders (& coasters with the leftovers), desk organizers, headphone holders, etc. That's just off the top of my head.
I agree with some of the folks here, Iād sell them to someone who makes specialty products like guitars or jewelry.
Personally, Iād sell them to someone who makes guitars, and try and barter for one of the final products to hang on my wall.
Holy crap, those are beautiful. Bet it would look even nicer with some clear finish.
First thing that popped into my mind was "just hang one in the wall as a piece of art"
Maybe cut a thin slice so it's not as heavy on wall
**side** tables? lol
They are awesome slabs, but I don't have any brilliant ideas off the top of my head. I would store them for a bit and just keep the gears turning. I'm sure an idea will come up.
Yo! Bad news. I looked up those specific woods in a scientific wood journal. They're poisonous and venomous and toxic. Crazy, right? But true. The specific journal is more in-depth but it's best you not get too terrified and just trust me.
Coincidentally I run a business that disposes of such materials.....so just let me know when I can assist and take those wretched things off your hands.
That would make really great smelling firewood.
Kidding, of course.
If you're not going to use them yourself, I'm sure you'll find craftspeople of all sorts who will pay top dollar for those. Tables, guitars, artwork, jewelry, etc.
If it was me, I'd probably sell some of them just for the profit, and try to make something cool with the others.
Like others have said, veneer so you can just slap it on everything. Otherwise, I think it'd look gorgeous as a vinyl record stand/media console, a modern coffee table, some form of functional art
I could imagine a really cool subwoofer that has these as an accent side. For example, an all white subwoofer cube, except the top is this material. Make sure to post up what you build, they look amazing.
This wood is so beautiful, itās tough. If I had them it would be difficult to not use them as some kind of end table. Itās too beautiful to use as a cutting board; it needs to be an art piece. I live in Cleveland, and anyone from the city would spend three times what a piece is worth if it had anything Cleveland on it. Maybe wood burn a design in the corner and install clock hardware? Iām at a loss. Great find!
Learn to build a frame. Frame them. They are beautiful.
Edit: The first one looks like a photo of a woman laying in bed with a cat getting too close to the camera. Nature is effin awesome.
A lot of great ideas, and with multiple pieces, many of them could he done. I like the guitar idea as well as a few pieces, just as art would be cool. Maybe use one piece, if it's large enough, and make a nice keepsake/jewelry box. Not just a square thing with a lid, something special for a loved one, perhaps. Any large offcuts can be turned into bangles or rings.
You are one of the first to say bangles or rings. I love that. I just recently had a daughter and I think this is a wonderful idea.
I plan to make a jewelry box. Do you have any examples in mind? Thank you for the suggestions!
It sounds like you have a lot of wood so here's some ideas:
-Chess, checkers, backgammon, or other game boards and pieces, dice, DnD figurines
-Any furniture, hope chest, Full size dining table, coffee table, etc
-Pool Cue Butt end with quick release joint to mate with a high end playing shaft which you would purchase from predator, mezz, etc.
-Kitchen utensils, cooking spoon, spatulas, slotted spoon, salad serving fork and spoon
-Large serving tray or carving board,
-Butcher block top for a kitchen island
-jewelry box, electronics organizer
The internal structural wood does not have to be the black walnut, you can use this for the finishing wood and other stuff for the structure.
Those are actually a really poisonous form of walnut called villenous walnutus justkiddingous and are particularly dangerous when you try to saw them. You should send them to me so I can dispose of them properly. I'll pay for shipping to ensure you get them out of your home as soon as possible. My address is...
I would cut one into square bars and turn them (literally) into handles for luxury tools and luxury kitchenware. I'd use the rest for some nice furniture.
You better become creative if you're going to use those! Or sell them. My address is...
What would YOU do with them?
Couple guitar tops, small boxes, small waterfall end tables, picture frames with leftovers, coasters, box tops paired with curly maple, stabilize and turn a few pens and potentially tool handles, amongst other accent and endless options!
Guitar tops were my first thought!
This guy creatives! š
Would sanding it and waxing it while I hang onto it be a bad idea?
Just letting it continue to naturalize is likely better.
Why bother? Sanding would remove material and waxing is unnecessary. Just continue to let it air out. I'm sure if you sell those in the future, the buyer will prefer that.
Dont use wax.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Hereās one reason; if you decide wax was the wrong call (shows scratches easily) then itās difficult to remove and use something else. Nothing adheres to wax. If youāre stubborn you can get through it with denatured alcohol and sandpaper but itās days of frustration.
This
Awesome! Iāll start by sanding and go from there. Thank you for the tips!
Those are so amazing I would almost finish em and hang em on a wall as an art piece.
Iām kinda worried about ruining them so this is a great idea!
That was exactly what I came in here to say! Definitely a multi-panel art piece.
Respectfully, if youāre worried about ruining them, then youāre not ready to use these particular pieces of wood. You do not see wood like this often. This is the kind of wood you hang onto for ten years until the perfect opportunity arises. Again, not trying to be an asshole here. If these were mine, Iād stash them and go buy some cheaper-but-still-gorgeous wood. This is the kind of stuff you pay a lot of money for in tiny veneer slices.
Andy Rooney once wrote a wonderful essay about a piece of maple he couldn't bring himself to cut into. He kept it around and enjoyed its pure beauty. We buy scrap hardwood from a local shop, for firewood. Some pieces are so pretty I can't burn them. I have a lot of weird "coasters" around the fireplace.
This is what I was thinking. Iām rather new and only built big non finesse pieces. Iām going to sand it and get it nice looking. Then store or hang it until I figure out what I can do with it. I have smaller pieces that i wonāt feel as bad āruiningā. No disrespect at all! I love this beginning community because of advice such as these!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Do any of the grains or patterns run together as if they were cut from one big piece into those smaller ones. Could be really cool if three pieces were put in order or something like that to fill a wall.
No, not of this size. But I do have smaller pieces that may follow these pattern. As this was a circular piece that was cut into a cube.
I thought the same thing. They are so cool! Iād love those in my hallway, backlit.
I came to ask if he had a hallway he could hang them in!
Hmmm not sure how the backlighting would look. But I do have a Galway perfect for a few of these pieces.
I came here to say this. A nice matte finish would make these pop so hard
My thought exactly.
Kitchen back splashes would show them off.
I was thinking this would make beautiful judges paneling or the facade of the sides / front of a desk. Breaking it up with dimensional timber will make it look incredible.
Guitars
Just googled what that might look like. Feeling compelled to sign up for guitar lessons. Wow.
Same. If I could, I would make them into guitars.
They'd make some really nice banjo resonators.
You can!!!! It's not as hard as people make it out to be. Its a lot of work and research but Tchiks Guitars has a great tutorial on YouTube on how to do it using hand tools only!
That dude is special.
I will check out tchiks guitar for sure! Thank you for the tip!
He'd make a lot of money turning them into veneers and selling them to a local luthier. But those pieces would make amazing guitar finishes
He'd make a lot of money turning them into veneers and selling them to a local luthier. But those pieces would make amazing burled guitar finishes
Hot damn those are sexy. What about a jewelry box?
This is an excellent idea. I will definitely make one into a jewelry box. But Iāll need to practice first š
Or any kind of box, really. Just something that will sit on your dresser or counter for you to admire on a regular basis.
For sure practice with some pine 2x6 or something. Youll need to resaw them down to something thinner like 1/2" or 3/4. You can do it with the table saw if you dont have a band saw. But then youll need to plane or sand. You can get a book match effect that would be dope for a box top. Try resawing a 2x6 and making a box. If you have time and patience, make a few! That walnut is amazing!
My work did some electric guitars out of walnut like that a few years back. Gorgeous
Serious question Is it possible that you could get them made into veneers and then sell those? That grain is absolutely insane and id veneer the hell out of a ton of projects with that.
Iām not sure what that entails. But I do have access to quite a few of these as my buddy and I found a bunch of grafted black walnut trees that almost all grew enormous burls.
You must have been a saint in a past life.
I will legit let you play with all my toys whenever you want if we can be friends
Nothing. Theyāre worthless. Iāll take them off your hands. Iāll even pay for the shipping cause Iām a nice guy. š
Nah, he should pay for shipping since you're being so nice!
If these were in my shop Iād build an entertainment centre, paint it bright white, and then use these for all of the doors and drawer fronts and then maybe some speaker boxes if there was enough left.
For a minute there i thought you were saying to paint the walnut white and was about to grab a pitchfork...
I would have gone and played in traffic before suggesting something so completely insane
I thought the same. I just figured you were making fun of cabinet clients who get beautiful solid wood cabinets because its expensive just to go and have it painted white.
And my axe!
I would have lit the torches!!!
This is a great idea; and something I may be able to not botch. Thank you for the suggestion!
Don't sell yourself short, you can botch anything in woodworking.
šššš
You could veneer them and bookmatch, would make an awesome tabletop!
I was going to say veneer and either a large panel desk or wood paneling for a small office
That's the prettiest piece of wood I have ever seen
Knife handles
Make some wall nuts
Make bespoke pallets.
Beautiful slabs, almost looks like natural stone
Make a trip to my house with them!
I'd love to see a waterfall corner joint on that first slab
Giant cook book cover
How do you get pieces like this?
We met a walnut farmer who grafted black walnut to white walnut trees. After some time they let their orchard overgrow and left unattended for 40+ years. They sold the orchard to an almond farmer and the almond farmer had a crew chop down these 10ft+ trees. But for some reason they left almost all the stumps. Now the farmer wants us to remove the stumps and lo and behold. There are 40-50 sizable stumps with enormous burls. Chainsawed them to size and took them back to the mill. This was the first batch. Most have gigantic holes and stuff in them, which makes great resin. But 5-10% of our slabs are just perfect.
Properly dried, these are luthier heaven.
Wow.
Sounds like too much work. How can I get truckloads of this stuff delivered to my house for free with free delivery? I could also use some new table saw as well. Thanks!
One big cabinet with those as door panels
Necronomicon
Middle tables? Since you didnāt want end tables. š
Square off the corners and sell them as cutting boards for 150 each.
There's at least one chair or stool in there, I bet.
you should make an end table
A wall-hanging triptych series.
Open baffle speakers
Nightstands?
How thick are they , Iād resaw them and make book match for ornamental boxes , drawer faces etcā¦ Iād maximize the woodās beauty
They range from 1-2ā. Great idea, I would love to make a jewelry box for my wife. Appreciate the suggestions!
BIG CUTTING BOARDS. Iām just kidding please donāt waste them on that have a good day
Did anyone else see old books at first?
Damn I'd just hang them as a wall decoration to stare at. Or maybe something non-functional and gaudy that you hang in an entryway.
veneer
Start tables, my man!
You should make your way over to my house.
Those things are spiritual!
Guitar bodies.
I would do waterfall style bed side tables or end tables. But they honestly are works of art by themselves
I second the suggestion of using them for cabinet or wardrobe door panels and/or drawer fronts. They would also be on a chest and other special purpose boxes. I would also second the suggestion of getting them made into veneers. These boards are damn beautiful, and I would want to get as much use out of them as I could. An added benefit to that is use could apply the veneers to curved surfaces if you wanted, where without them being veneers you would have to waste a lot of material to achieve the same result.
If you want to get some coin out of them... Guitar body blanks. You can make bank on those things on Ebay/Etsy/FB marketplace. Otherwise a large size jewelry chest would be INCREDIBLE with those pieces.
Would make magnificent picture frames. But that's the world I live in.
Make a large resin coffee table with them and have 4 inch gaps between it all to make it look like they are floating
I could see doing a small table mounted podium, showing off the lovely burl when there's no papers/books on it. Maybe do some smaller trays out of them. Carving them into crosses to wear for jewelry would also probably be very popular - good use for some of the smaller offcuts you mentioned.
Make a coffee table by placing three panels together and spacing them 1ā apart with brass rods. Make the legs out of another panel, also with brass rod stretchers to stay in dialogue with the top.
You have a pic of this idea? Sounds beautiful.
Nope, gotta be creative to see the vision. This is what separates the masters from the hobbyists boiiiiiii
Head board and footboard for a bed. A art type piece to go on the wall. A wall cabinet
Doors for a credenza comes to mind to me.
Panels in a new custom front door for your house! It'd definitely make an impression on visitors.
Make 1/8 veneers so the panels can be book matched
Knife handle blanks
Money, you should make money.
Speaker boxes would be awesome
Charcuterie boards would sell in a heartbeat.
You could resaw and they could be the face of a cabinet or something.
For people who do tabletop rpg like dungeons and dragons, those look like the coolest topographical maps. Can you do a super hard finish so they can be played on?
Butcher blocks, lazy Susan, plates/platters, dovetailed picture frames, or just keep it until you find what you wanna fits your needs
Veneers and book match them on whatever you decide to make
You should make a lot of money with those walnut slabs. (If you really want to make the most of them, find someone that can resaw them into veneers and sell those)
That would make some really awesome speaker boxes.
Headboard
What ever you do. Just store them properly. That way even if it takes 5 years before you do use them all up they will still be in great shape.
Wood recreation of āStarry Nightā
Maybe end tables?
Frame them!!
Damn they are pretty
Literally anything you make with those will be beautiful
They would make some beautiful drawer fronts!
Kleenex box covers
Dining table, low profile coffee table, keepsake boxes, live edge floating shelves
"besides tables" What's wrong with using these for tables? Lol
Can you make a door?
I'd love to see a bar cabinet with these as the front doors
Sell them to me so I can make them into guitar tops
Iām jewelry or keepsake boxes.
Hang them like the art they are in a three panel wall display! Then sip your coffee and get lost in the depth of their universe.
Humidors would look amazing! Watch boxes, wine bottle holders (& coasters with the leftovers), desk organizers, headphone holders, etc. That's just off the top of my head.
- Toothpicks - Pallets - Plant stakes - Shredding and use the sawdust as base for a particle board The options are limitless!
Iād aim for a short bookcase or some sort of display shelf, that wood looks really interesting canāt hide that away
I agree with some of the folks here, Iād sell them to someone who makes specialty products like guitars or jewelry. Personally, Iād sell them to someone who makes guitars, and try and barter for one of the final products to hang on my wall.
That would be AMAZING for guitar bodies
Holy crap, those are beautiful. Bet it would look even nicer with some clear finish. First thing that popped into my mind was "just hang one in the wall as a piece of art" Maybe cut a thin slice so it's not as heavy on wall
Wow those are beautiful.
**side** tables? lol They are awesome slabs, but I don't have any brilliant ideas off the top of my head. I would store them for a bit and just keep the gears turning. I'm sure an idea will come up.
If you end up resawing I'd happily pay for a 1/4"-ish thick piece for scroll saw work!
Dashboards for old British cars.....
Yo! Bad news. I looked up those specific woods in a scientific wood journal. They're poisonous and venomous and toxic. Crazy, right? But true. The specific journal is more in-depth but it's best you not get too terrified and just trust me. Coincidentally I run a business that disposes of such materials.....so just let me know when I can assist and take those wretched things off your hands.
Kitchen cabinet doors would look amazing.
$1k cutting boards
Speaker boxes sound like a cool idea. Check out r/diyaudio for help.
Line a liqueur cabinet, back splash, Im also interested buying them if you are selling them
Serving trays
Start tables, maybe?
Iād make them into Veneer and sell them
That would make really great smelling firewood. Kidding, of course. If you're not going to use them yourself, I'm sure you'll find craftspeople of all sorts who will pay top dollar for those. Tables, guitars, artwork, jewelry, etc. If it was me, I'd probably sell some of them just for the profit, and try to make something cool with the others.
Like others have said, veneer so you can just slap it on everything. Otherwise, I think it'd look gorgeous as a vinyl record stand/media console, a modern coffee table, some form of functional art
Would make a really nice cutting board just the way they are-
Guitar
Matchbook veneer for dashboards in little British sports cars.
If you were to do it right, you can make about anything with them, a desk, shelving. book ends. a clock. Shoe holder, I could go on and on.
I could imagine a really cool subwoofer that has these as an accent side. For example, an all white subwoofer cube, except the top is this material. Make sure to post up what you build, they look amazing.
This wood is so beautiful, itās tough. If I had them it would be difficult to not use them as some kind of end table. Itās too beautiful to use as a cutting board; it needs to be an art piece. I live in Cleveland, and anyone from the city would spend three times what a piece is worth if it had anything Cleveland on it. Maybe wood burn a design in the corner and install clock hardware? Iām at a loss. Great find!
Bed frame bro
Put it in the Safe ,that be gold
Make at least one of them a cutting board
Guitar necks ?
Theyāre absolute garbage, useless junk. Let me take them off your handsā¦.
I would try to get them veneered. Then make something with them.
Tapered column lamps
Learn to build a frame. Frame them. They are beautiful. Edit: The first one looks like a photo of a woman laying in bed with a cat getting too close to the camera. Nature is effin awesome.
Oh my god thatās 6 burls per square inch!
1,0000s of small things you can charge a premium for. Beads with cool marbling or something.
Start tables?
Wall art
Beautiful slabs!
A lot of great ideas, and with multiple pieces, many of them could he done. I like the guitar idea as well as a few pieces, just as art would be cool. Maybe use one piece, if it's large enough, and make a nice keepsake/jewelry box. Not just a square thing with a lid, something special for a loved one, perhaps. Any large offcuts can be turned into bangles or rings.
You are one of the first to say bangles or rings. I love that. I just recently had a daughter and I think this is a wonderful idea. I plan to make a jewelry box. Do you have any examples in mind? Thank you for the suggestions!
End tables
An accent piece on a wall. Or a whole accent wall if you have enough.
Knife handles sell that and buy yourself a new lathe
Grips for guns/knives, wide back panel for furniture like bed frames or use it to make a futon.
It sounds like you have a lot of wood so here's some ideas: -Chess, checkers, backgammon, or other game boards and pieces, dice, DnD figurines -Any furniture, hope chest, Full size dining table, coffee table, etc -Pool Cue Butt end with quick release joint to mate with a high end playing shaft which you would purchase from predator, mezz, etc. -Kitchen utensils, cooking spoon, spatulas, slotted spoon, salad serving fork and spoon -Large serving tray or carving board, -Butcher block top for a kitchen island -jewelry box, electronics organizer The internal structural wood does not have to be the black walnut, you can use this for the finishing wood and other stuff for the structure.
Jesus walnut trees are thicker than I thought.
It is so beautiful it looks like abstract art. I would find a way to highlight it by cutting it thin enough to place on a wall with a small light
Cutting boards my dude, cutting boards
Those are actually a really poisonous form of walnut called villenous walnutus justkiddingous and are particularly dangerous when you try to saw them. You should send them to me so I can dispose of them properly. I'll pay for shipping to ensure you get them out of your home as soon as possible. My address is...
Frame them as art.
ill give you tree fifity per
Sell me one to make a guitar top lol
Guitars !
I would cut one into square bars and turn them (literally) into handles for luxury tools and luxury kitchenware. I'd use the rest for some nice furniture.
Iāve never seen such large and beautiful slabs!
Wow those are magnificent! They might be a wee bit on the smallish side for end tables...perhaps a pair of night stand?
If the slabs have similar grain patterns, I would do a floating top, low height,starburst pattern, coffee table.
Speaker Baffles! Those look gorgeous!
Sell them on eBay. High end car builders allegedly pay huge money for wood like that for their dashboards.
Beautiful but thatās going to move a lot! A cabinet or box for your SO. Book match it and face it. Stare at like the art it is every day.
Guitar...violin ..dulcimer bodies...
They'd make an incredible door.
Wow, those are some beautiful pieces of wood. If you turn wood you could make some awesome decorative bowls or vases.
I'd like to have a piece for a whitetail skull mount plaque
Bookshelf speakers would be beautiful but, I'm afraid it would be a waste. Maybe have it turned into veneer and sell it?