Musket Ball Found In Piece Of Walnut

Lucky you. I found out that whoever owned the Alder tree that I just milled had a kid with a BB gun. Messed up my planer knives.

OUCH !!!

-- We must all walk our own green mile

Wow, Bruce….how lucky can you get…? Didn’t hurt your planer, and found a great piece of history…Like you, I’m really interested in history, especially of the Civil War…...You now have a real piece of history…...It looks perfect too…...Had to be there since the 1860’s…...I was planing down a piece of walnut also about 2 years ago, and found 1/2 of a .22 bullet…I still have that small piece…....Good score on the musket ball…....

-- " Unwanted mistakes.... are missed opportunities"......

Interesting, I would be tempted to fill the hole with clear epoxy and embed the ball in it so it could be a cool conversation piece, depending on where it would be on the project and if anyone could see it.

-- Dave, from ND "The mind is an infinitely long workbench, and its cluttered with half-finished thoughts and ideas, sometimes we need to clear off the workbench and start again from step one."

What a great idea to replace the ball into the knot hole and resin or epoxy it into place.

Going to give that a lot of thought.

And Rick, always nice to hear from you, Bro.

-- We must all walk our own green mile

That’s a real cool find. It would be very interesting to know some history of the tree, like you said. Steel and iron leave black streaks running down a tree to the stump. Lead I guess does not, obviously ?

-- JEFF Illinois (Banks of the Mississippi)

That is a lot better than the bullet hole and partial bullet I found in some reclaimed indoor oak trim. If it had been outside and possible in a tree I would have thought nothing about it.

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

that’s pretty cool, and especially since you didn’t have to sacrifice the planer knives either lol

-- Mos - Twin Cities, MN -- Stanley #45 Evangelist - www.youtube.com/MosquitoMods

You, too, brother…..Always enjoy reading your post…...Keep on the sunny side…....!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- " Unwanted mistakes.... are missed opportunities"......

I never understand when folks say a lead and copper bullet messed up their planer knives… When you can dent the material with your fingernail, it shouldn’t mess up high speed steel or carbide… I’ve planed through a bazillion bullets and never had a problem.

Steel jacketed bullets, steel BBs, nails and staples are another story altogether.

I had a job just outside of high school at a stair company in a rough mill. I had seen several “new” bullets in lumber many times and several of them were after the gang saw or the planer. The worst is when it comes out of the molder.
Try calling your lumber supplier and they may be able to give you the general area of where the lumber came from in the country. Could shed a little light on the cool find!

Bruce have you gotten my emails?

-- (the only thing in there she says is....tap on head..........tap..........tap..... saw dust) - James www.etsy.com/shop/ZionsWoodnCrafts

Years ago,a similar experience,on a high speed shaper, cost me two fingers.

-- Bert

I’m surprised it wasn’t flattened out more.

BJ

What a find! Have you considered putting the ball back into the cavity ‘from which it came’ and securing it there with clear epoxy? Would make for a great conversation piece.

-- Max the "night janitor" at www.hardwoodclocks.com

Awesome find! Wish you knew where it came from. Oh well. I remember shooting an Osage Orange tree as a kid at one of my friend’s ranches. We pumped that thing full of lead. I wonder who is going to find that?

-- The Wood Is Your Oyster