# Sinker Heart Pine and Some Hardwoods



## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

There's a guy near me listing sinker heart pine from the 1800s and he also has some sinkers that he believes to be either hickory and/or walnut. He's willing to mill it for 1.50 a board foot. What I'm trying to fugue out is if there are some things that I need to look out for before buying. Anyone have experience with sinker hardwoods like hickory or walnut?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Never heard of sinker walnut and hickory. Where are you located?


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## mja979 (Oct 31, 2012)

Would "sinker" refer to salvaged wood from the bottom of a lake or river?


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

WD I'm in Central Arkansas, Hot Springs to be exact and the guy who has these logs is in Malvern which is about 20 minutes away. I'd never heard of sinker Walnut or Hickory before either that's why I was curious about it, as well as curious as to how well it would hold up over time submerged under water.

mja979 - Yes, sinker does refer to salvaged wood from the bottom of a river in this case.


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## mja979 (Oct 31, 2012)

I bet the wood will have excellent character!


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## CrazeeTxn (Jan 22, 2013)

Watching TV does payoff sometimes  I watch ax men on occassion and there's "swamp man" and some other fellas in FL that go for the "sinker" logs. The used to float them to the mills on the river or lake and sometimes they would either bust apart or a storm would throw them everywhere and eventually they sink to the bottom. They say the cold water and lack of light perserve the wood.

They usually get a premium for the logs they find so $1.50 sounds really good. Wish I was closer.


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## mja979 (Oct 31, 2012)

Very nice.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

CrazeeTxn, I have seen that also. I think what they are primarily dealing with are sinker Cypress trees, which I know have a good rot resistance. I sure am curious to see how these hardwoods have held up. I know there is a big market for sinker mahogany. It would certainly be great if the fact that they have been under water for 80+ years has created some interesting attributes to the wood itself.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

If I were there, I would probably take a chance on it. Wouldn't want to pass on possible really cool wood.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Monte, I am definitely planning on picking some up. He actually has to wait to for river levels to go down some in order to pull out some of the hardwood logs. I'm really excited to see what kind of stuff he finds in there. I have always been curious what species of log was underneath me when paddling my kayak on the Arkansas rivers.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Pulling up sinker logs was on This Old House or some other type show many years ago. Very cool to be rescuing those resources lost so long ago. I think they said lack of air/oxygen has a lot to do with wood not rotting.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Wonder why he is selling it so cheap? You can't buy regular walnut around here for anywhere near $1.50/BF.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

WD, I actually bought a bunch of green Walnut at $1.50 a bd/ft regardless of thickness or width, I now have a carport overtaken with air drying walnut. My assumpitions as to why this guy is selling for so cheap are: 1) It's free, the river he's pulling these logs from runs directly by the town he lives in and possibly even his property. 2) he explicitly told me that he was trying to get his boat fixed and willing to make a deal. 3) He has no idea what he has. There was a very old sawmill that operated on this same river, and very near this particular town a very long time ago. And he is probably totally unaware of the price that old growth heart pine / long leaf pine currently fetches, and it's particular rarity.


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## anchorwoodstumpy (Mar 29, 2017)

These came out of a saltwater bay where they were driven into the bottom to make a bulkhead some 70 years ago. They are still wet, but we quick dried small pieces by the shop stove and milled to see what we have. What we have is some beautiful wood to make lumber. So far checking has not been too bad and mostly between sap and heart. Not sure how to put value on this because of its rarity.


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## Tinman73 (Nov 10, 2018)

This is a piece of sinker walnut. Im finding them here in west tn


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)




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## Tinman73 (Nov 10, 2018)

This is a piece of sinker walnut. Im finding them here in west tn


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## jutsFL (Nov 1, 2018)

Buy it all at a 1.50 a bd/ft plus a quick milling?!
That's amazing.

...and you must update with pics


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## tomsteve (Jan 23, 2015)

> 1) It s free, the river he s pulling these logs from runs directly by the town he lives in and possibly even his property. 2) he explicitly told me that he was trying to get his boat fixed and willing to make a deal. 3) He has no idea what he has.
> 
> - richardwootton


one thing i hope he has done is check with your states natural resources dept to find out if its legal to do. in michigan, logs on the bottom of rivers and lakes are legally the property of the state of michigan and permits are required to do any salvage work. its all regulated


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

I purchased a turned bowl in New Zealand that is identified as Swamp Kauri "circa 6000 years old." It has a beautiful figured grain, very different from the commercially grown Kauri produced in managed tree plantations.


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## DHaight (Aug 26, 2018)

Tinman - where are you buying that?


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