: Why not just offer to collect all those "ugly and bothersome" nuts
: for the lady. Once the hulls soften and you can remove the inner nut, you
: can dry these and sell them, or enjoy their delicious taste yourself.

: Black walnut is a very expensive wood to buy. It is beautiful to look at, and
: because of its cost it is frequently sliced into veneers. Using it for a
: boat is an extravagance. It will work, but it is heavier than most people
: would desire for a frame, and much heavier than you would want for a
: paddle.

: What I was going to say origianlly is: "If you have removed the tree in
: large enough pieces, sell it to some company which will saw it into
: veneer, and use the money to buy whatever you need for your boat building.
: "

: However, the URL below will take you to a very interesting article from Ohio
: State University concerning the sale of urban-grown black walnut trees.
: They point out that you might not be able to find a buyer.

: http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0044.html

: If you must make it into lumber yourself, you'll want to saw it into boards
: and stack them to air dry. For convenience, cut the boards 2 inches thick.
: Use sticks between each layer of boards to permit air to circulate, keep
: the stack dry (inside is best, but outside will work if you can shield it
: from rain) In a year or so the wood will be dry enough to resaw into
: whatever thickness you wish. Then you can rip these to whatever width you
: need.

: If you cut the wood into 1 inch thick boards it will dry faster, and you can
: probably rip strips from it for your frame in about 6 months. If your
: plans call for boards of a certain size, you can make them now, just cut
: the wood about 1/4 inch larger than you will need. This should cover you
: for shrinkage. Then, when the wood is dry you can plane away the rough-cut
: surface and you won;t need to plane off much more to get it down to your
: desired size.

: If you think you'll have a need for thicker stock (say 4x4) then cut a few
: boards to this thickness now. They will take much longer to dry, but
: you'll have them. some people suggest painting the end of the boards to
: prevent excessively fast drying, and splitting, of the ends.

: If you want to try using this for ribs, cut the tree into quarters, and from
: these cut some boards to the length desired for your ribs. Cut, or split
: off individual pieces, paying attention to the grain pattern, and try
: bending them while the wood is still green. Heat and/or steam may still be
: neded to make the bending process work.

: Hope this helps.

: PGJ
Having known this woman for 30 years I have collected more walnuts than the Planters Peanut and frankly am tired of explaining my strange skin condition to people(Why ARE your hands that color)and as I said I am happy to cut the thing down.Your advice was helpful. Thank you for the tip on coating the ends to prevent cracking. Anything special or just paint?Your tips on allowing for shrinkage are appreciated also as I know little of this sort of thing.Ido know that one large piece of it is going over my fireplace.I am not really anticipating selling any of the wood,I've already used it for a hundred things(in my mind)but thanks again for the advice.