Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Walnut


Walnut week at the Forge


Last week seems to have been walnut week at the Forge as we had two people approach us regarding material they'd like us to find new lives for.
First we had our friend Wayne Blumling of Wayne's Crane Service come to us with an opportunity for a beautiful walnut tree "Noble Walnut" in the Greentree section of town that he would really like us to find a new life for as the owner doesn't want the clean up required for the walnut in their yard any longer. Wayne was instrumental in our acquiring the willow for "Moon Willow Point" and the Moon oak which we hope to be making into flooring for Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest "FPUF" in the next couple weeks. Wayne said he sure would like to see us be able to utilize some of this "Noble Walnut" in a similar fashion as the willow to create a sculptural piece or for furniture in a community nearby. We think it would be awesome to give this wonderful life a new opportunity to be and reveal its splendor and beauty in a creative way.... ..

Our second opportunity came from our friends Vicky and Jerry from Wilson and McCracken in Lawrenceville.
They have a stack of 4-6 walnut slabs 3" to 4" thick and from 16"-19" wide they would like me to find a new home for.
These wonderful slabs have been air drying for twenty years and the color is magnificently rich, well beyond anything any picture could ever show.
Walnut is a wood that is affected by the way it is dried. Unlike kiln drying, air drying allows the heartwood to retain it rich purple hues which make for such wonderful character in a piece of furniture.
Slabs 3" and 4" thick are so hard to come by... having them air dried for so long provides us with such beautiful and stable material.... It would be so exciting to get to create something from these.
Please let us know if you have any projects or considerations for these wonderful opportunities available within our community.
We'll make you a deal:
You find us projects for these, and we will plant trees in our community to replace these and keep our urban forest strong and abundant with vibrant life... preserving their future and ours!!!

Know trees... Know life.
No trees... No life.