I have a related question if I may ask, I have several Black walnuts that will be ready for harvest in 15-20 years. One of the trees recently died and is approx 22" at breast height. I had hoped to have a buttstock or two made from some of the crotch wood.
Can the center of the log be included in the blank or does the log have to be big enough to get the entire blank out of half the diameter of the log?
Thank you
Dwayne covered part of the issues with the core, but there are many more. The first couple inches from the heart and all branch wood is "reaction wood" and the heart close to the center is further defined as "juvenile wood." While growing it was subjected to lots of bending and other stresses which later wood sees less of. As a reaction the cells are shorter with lots more cells other than fiber. Because of that it dries erratically and develops lots of internal stresses. It should not be included in stocks. The only exception would be crotch wood.
When you cut the crotch start in the middle and cut to produce two "Y" shaped slabs. Then cut your blanks from there after slabbing. Expect to have issues in drying and to need some crack filling... but it is worth the trouble. Seal all surfaces ASAP and move them out of the sun even faster.
Do not overlook the stump, especially if there are buttresses. Dig out around the roots and you may find some very nice figure. 22" dbh is absolutely worthy, hoping/assuming sapwood is thin. IME sweeter soils lead to thicker sapwood.
