I recently purchased a band saw mill and have been milling Redwood logs for deck lumber. An old Black Walnut tree that had been around for about 100yrs in my yard, recently died. I decided to mill the walnut. The wood is beautiful and I have several large pieces that are about 9ft long by 2ft wide along and 3 to four inches thick. In addition to the slabs I was also able to mill a considerable amount of walnut boards. Again, I have to say the wood is very beautiful with incredible grain and depth to it. I'm not sure what to do with the lumber or how much it's worth. Any information as to what it might be worth or where to go to sell it?

Greetings Dan:

Well, I'm not going to try to tell you how much your lumber is worth...too many variables; not to mention you're in California and I'm in Illinois. Try doing a little Web research to find out how much "green" black walnut is going for in your geographical area or else contact a local California extension forester.

Now, there are many ways to market local lumber: put an add in your local newspaper; contact a local lumber retail/wholesale store; contact a local woodworkers group; market the wood on Ebay (seriously, I'm not joking); market the lumber on other Web sites such as woodfinder.com; and ask your local California Extension Forestry office for additional ideas or leads.

Best of luck!