Walnut...

**sundogbrew** · 07-18-2003, 08:57 AM

I started my first "REAL" project and I decided with some help from the guy who owns the store to use common walnut. I am making a toy box for a friend’s child. I started right into it, ripping down pieces to glue up and all was going well. Then I had a string of problems. I found 2 nails in one board and 1 more in two other pieces. 4 nails in all in 3 different pieces of wood. 2 I picked up with an old saw blade I was using for rough cutting. But 2 were picked up with my jointer. Now I pretty much need new blades around. Well that sad story is probably nothing to most of you, but I was looking on one of the woodworking magazine sites for an article about blades and saw an article about people purposely putting nails in walnut. Something about helping it grow or something like that??? I can't find the article again, but has anyone heard of this??? I wish someone had given me that little tid bit of knowledge before I made molding cutters out of my jointer blades. I have since bought a metal detector, but I am not sure how well it works.
Thanks
Sundogbrew

**MatD** · 07-18-2003, 11:18 AM

I would take this up with whomever you bought the walnut from. A lumber yard selling wood with nails in it is highly irresponsible.

Mat

**sundogbrew** · 07-18-2003, 01:54 PM

Mat,
I don't mean they were hammered into the wood like after it was cut, they were in the tree and it grew around them. How would the mill know unless they x-ray the board or hit them with the saw like I did?
Thanks
Joe

**krethjr** · 07-18-2003, 02:42 PM

What I've think you heard about is an old technique that farmers used in the 1800's. They believed that extra iron helped the tree grow. Normally they would not hammer a nail into a tree but would throw a handfull of rusty nails into the hole when planting. I saw this covered on "Gardening by the Yard" on HGTV. Today, we use IronRite or some such product to help out our citrus trees every year.

Jim K

**Keystone** · 07-18-2003, 05:14 PM

Well sundogbrew, I would be raising all kinds of heck with any hardwood lumber yard that sold me Walnut, or any wood, with nails in it unless it was sold as recycled wood.I would expect recycle lumber to have the chance of nails being in it, but not new lumber. It is a reasonable expectation for one to assume that new lumber will be free of nails. You need to talk to your wood source about this.

"The worst day of fishing is far better than the best day at work!"

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TDH · 07-18-2003, 11:03 PM

Hi, SDB.

I really think you have an issue with the place where you bought that walnut. Not only do they now owe you a resharpening or blade / knife replacement (depending upon how badly your tools get hurt), but they need to hear some serious words about liability - what would have happened if your saw or jointer had thrown a nail into your belly or your eye? They should NOT be selling ANY wood with nails in it unless the nails are clearly visible from the outside of the board.

Nails in trees, at least within my own limited knowledge, are put there only for utilitarian purposes (like for fencing) and to wreak havoc with loggers (as in "spiking" trees)... never to enhance the growth of the tree or improve the color of its wood or even to cause the formation of burls.

The lumberyard should have run that wood through a metal detector themselves in order to protect their own equipment from damage & their empoyees from injury. The yards up here do, and they'll almost always refuse to saw a log with metals in it unless they can remove the metal-laden portion and use the remainder of the log.

-- T --

**deathwish2** · 07-18-2003, 11:47 PM

Tim--

My sawyer also told me that if a logging truck drops off a load and there's anything metal in a log when scanned . . . it will be tagged and ready there for the truck to pick up the next time they come by with a load . . . if they don't pick it up . . . no payment and no future drop offs.

On another note, today, the logging truck came by for the rest of my logs that we didn't cut up in the yard . . . they charged us an extra $50 over the original quoted price ($225 instead of $175) . . . because, and I quote "There is nothing in here that I can use, it's all junk" . . . looks like that load will be going to the 'pulp' mill instead of the 'saw' mill . . . guess we picked the pile clean after all }> ;)

**Limey** · 07-18-2003, 11:55 PM

yeah ..I'd be spitting nails if it had happened to me..new blades a minimum if they wanted any more of my business.. that's totally unsatisfactory.

Limey