Selecting Walnut Project Lumber

It is a personal preference thing. I used to only use the heartwood, I found the sapwood a defect. But some projects the lighter sap adds great character. It kinda depends on what you are building too. The short answer is if you like the looks of some sap…go for it ! If you don’t dress that off/pick those boards out for another project.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

so many double negatives!

but i get the point and echo Daren’s sentiments. I would use it to your best advantage. eg: two bookmatched panels with an interesting pattern of sapwood would be incredibly stunning.

You must be clairvoyant or something, because I was just pondering this exact issue this morning as I was sorting through my pile of walnut boards figuring out where they’ll go in my table project. I think what I’m going to end up doing is lay out the project so that they are hidden as much as possible, and if that doesn’t work try to stain it to match.

Some references:
The Wood Whisperer just tackled this exact issue on a walnut entertainment center he’s building
FWW How to Conceal Sapwood

-- Steve -- University Heights, Ohio

Since I made the above post I have searched and saw alot of projects with the sapwood showing. Almost all I saw were book matched projects. If you have big enough saws or a good source, one could get very creative.

My personal preference on walnut and cherry is NO sapwood. Sapwood detracts from the overall design and makes it look like you just grabbed any old board and used it.

(unless it’s a Nakashima butterflied table top or the like – but that’s a completely different animal)

This is where it doesn’t work

This is where it works:

-- Steve, Webster Groves, MO

i wonder what the point of that first one is. it could have TOTALLY worked if the table were designed to be more rectangular.

I am led to believe wood is cheaper if it has a mixture of sapwood in it, as oposed to full heartwood .I hope they are not charging you full price for second choice timber.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Scotsman is somewhat correct, its only cheaper if you are specifically buying sappy backed lumber, most woodworkers are under the understanding that sappier boards are cheaper because most are paying a premium for sorted black or red depending on if it is cherry or walnut. Just the opposite of maple where all most people want is the white sapwood.

-- barlow

Make end grain cutting boards from the ones with white sap wood. They look very dramatic.

-- I don't make mistakes, only design changes....www.dgmwoodworks.com

As Daren said it is pretty much a personal preference. I do not purposely remove the sapwood from cherry or walnut because I like the contrast that it gives. If you want a homogeneous look to your project then either select lumber with minimal sapwood or cut it out in the milling process. But for me I like the look that sapwood adds to the project. The color variation adds visual interest to the piece.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I’ve use only dark, but am starting to use the sapwood to some extent.

This is a Greene and Greene table that has sapwood on the aprons and lower shelf.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Walnut is my favorite wood, I use it with sapwood, knots, any “defects”

-- Dan-- Info for all @ http://www.hoistman.com

One thing about staining walnut sapwood: walnut lightens as it ages so in a few years, your sapwood may stick out again as being darker than the rest of the piece. I treat sapwood as a defect and buy boards without it or cut it out as part of the milling process.

-- Steve, Webster Groves, MO