This time, I'm certain it's black walnut, since the tree was ours, and we cut it down in the interests of neighborliness. The neighbors had been complaining (in a nice way) for a few years about how the walnuts were dropping on their cars in their driveway and staining everything. So we agreed to let them cut it down. And I asked the tree guys to cut the trunk into 6 foot lengths and leave them for me. That was 2-3 years ago, and I tired quickly of the thought of doing anything with them, so I threw the logs in the far corner of the back yard, where I piled leaves on them.
A week ago, I wondered about the logs, because I read in a book that even if a log is rotten on the outside, it can still be really good on the interior, so I went out there and used a steel brush to brush off all the mud and bugs and fungus. There were a few deep checks, and the outer inch or so was rotten, but the interior at the ends was sound.
So I cut off a two foot length, and brought it inside to rip it in half. I spent an hour and a half ripping that log, and decided it was for the birds, because I was only half way through. So I got the axe out and put it in the kerf, and used a framing hammer to pound it through and split the log.
It was really nice inside. I left the good half alone, and took the half of the log that was most rotten and had the largest checks, and I split that a few more times. This released more bugs, but I squashed them. I eventually ended up with some really nice straight grained billets. Makes me wish I owned a froe for easier splitting.
Anyway, used a drawknife, spoke shave, a gouge, and a hooked knife to make the spoon on the right. The tip is flat and sharpened so it will be a good ground meat browning tool. It will be able to break up those meat chunks very easily.
And I used a couple planes and a saw to make the toast tongs on the left. I still need to clean up the glue squeeze out.
I researched the toxicity of black walnut and saw that it's really just fine. Many horses are apparently allergic to it, so the shavings shouldn't be used for bedding, and some people are allergic to it, just as some people are allergic to actual walnuts, but for the vast majority of people, it's just wood. Lots of places offer black walnut kitchen ware.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture. I couldn't tell it was out of focus until I loaded it up on my work computer.
edit: I switched pictures with a sharper one.
