Hi, Arko-

What a deal! Enjoy that walnut.

I have an 8" Lucas swing blade circ mill, and agree with other's advice. My default thickness is 2", but if you have any specific uses in mind, get it rough milled now to save the resawing. I air dry all my walnut to prevent the loss of the color highlights. On the other hand, if you can find a kiln, the heating process in the kiln converts the creamy colored sapwood to the darker color of the heartwood. This is not an issue for a large diameter tree, but can significantly increase the yield from smaller logs.

I strongly recommend an end coat. I use a product you can get from Woodcraft, but latex paint slobbered on there works fine. I've gotten into the habit of end coating within a few hours of the chainsaw cut. If I forget, my experience is to count on losing about one foot from each end of the board.

The rule of thumb (1 year per inch for air dry) can be pushed and pulled. Stuff that I'm milling right now will not start drying much until April (in S. Ohio). On the other hand, 1" boards milled in June are ready to come inside by October. Seems that below 50-60 degrees, the drying stops. I leave wood stickered outside in open shed for drying, then bring inside house and resticker for final drying.

You can get some real surprises in residential logs. My biggest was a basketball hoop bracket about 16" into a 4' diameter pecan log. What a mess that was. It's worth it, though.

Good Luck! Mike