Best way to process / dry / store walnut tree's for furniture & woodturning ?

I tried to make the question as descriptive as possible. I have six large, and quite old walnut trees in front of my house. They need cutting down because they are starting to grow over the house and will soon quite seriously interfere with the power lines, and are quite old also !

Otherwise I wouldnt think twice of cutting such beautiful old tree's down ( I will be replacing them also:-) )

Im also a semi skilled carpenter and starting to learn woodturning , so I am thrilled at the chance to keep this walnut, and make some beautiful things with it, especially with how beautiful the color and grain of walnut is , not to mention how expensive !

I was wondering if it would be better to take it to a small local mill and have it all cut 1st , then stack and dry store ???
I guess the pieces I would need for woodturning can be left in log form ???

Im just after any general tips and advice on how to go about it all , if leaving the logs as they are until dry , or having it professionally cut into planks 1st is ideal.

Comments

[rickharris]

1 Store as logs for several years -

2. Saw into whatever planks you need

3. use with appreciation and love.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying

[rickharris]

This is a wonderful wood waste NOTHING use the smallest bits for jewellery

[Re-design]

Talk to a pro. Walnut is very valuable. If treated right will be a wonderful bit of lumber but done wrong and it'll be barely stove stock.

If it were my trees I'd try to trade it for already processed wood. Drying takes about a year per inch of thickness, so those 4-5 inch pieces for turning are 2 or 3 years down the road.

You can have is kiln dried but that introduces stresses and other problems in the wood.

[jkurucz]

Thank you so much for all your advice and help , and taking the time to help me out ! really appreciate it , I did pick a best answer , but to me there all great , only picked one in particular because I like the way Rick said " us with love and appreciation " and " dont waste a single piece , use it for jewelry" And thats exactly how I feel about it !

A lot to take in, Im in rural Hungary so I have a lot of people around me who can give me advice ! I am now actually wondering about the feasibility of getting a descent length log up to the place where they mill it ??!!

As it all comes down to budget , and cost of doing that , I would be really sad to just have to sell it :-(

thanks everybody !!!!

[steveastrouk]

You deserve a best question, for appreciating the answer so much ;-)

[FriendOfHumanity]

http://betterlivingthroughpermaculture.com/?p=62

[blkhawk]

Watch this Ron Hazelton's video:

How to Cut Planks from a Fallen Tree