Indians For Guns

Hello everyone,

I have just been sent a walnut blank that supposedly came from Kashmir - can anyone tell me anything about walnut grown in India?

The same as your Persian walnut/turkish walnut.It is called akhrot locally.Grows through out the Himalyas.It is not confined to Kashmir.Most trees that are cut down are very old.Some look like they have been there for a couple of hundred years.

One thing to note is that there is a ban on the transportation of walnut wood out of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Should make a nice stock.Can you post any photos?

Your blank might even have come from Pakistan for all that you may know.There is a web site of a company that sell walnut harvested in the Swat valley of Pakistan.Maybe you can google for it.

Not being able to move the wood out of the state makes some sense...........I was told the blanks have to be carved first into an artefact and the blank cut from the oversize carving..............I have no idea if this is true or not since I did not export the wood out of its place of origin.

It is a shame there is a ban in place - all that wood - to what end use is it put when a tree dies, or has to be removed?

Juglansregia wrote:Not being able to move the wood out of the state makes some sense...........I was told the blanks have to be carved first into an artefact and the blank cut from the oversize carving..............I have no idea if this is true or not since I did not export the wood out of its place of origin.

It is a shame there is a ban in place - all that wood - to what end use is it put when a tree dies, or has to be removed?

That would be correct, the ban is in place to encourage local artisans engaged in the wood carving business. Ban the transportation of blanks = more wood available for local artisans to work on, or so the befuddled logic goes...

mundaire wrote:That would be correct, the ban is in place to encourage local artisans engaged in the wood carving business. Ban the transportation of blanks = more wood available for local artisans to work on, or so the befuddled logic goes...

Actually the ban orginated from reports that militants were raising money from timber felled illegally in the state and sold to other parts of the country.

Juglansregia wrote:It is a shame there is a ban in place - all that wood - to what end use is it put when a tree dies, or has to be removed?

Mainly for making furniture.The going rate for walnut wood is about Rs. 1400/- per cft. regardless of what it looks like.