HELP. Woods that complement

I’ve always like cherry and walnut, trimed with purpleheart.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

maple walnut seems to be a classic (And tasty) combination, but I agree it feels overdone (but I haven’t worked out any of my own pairs either). I think any two of the woods you mentioned would tend to look good, adding a third would make things more challenging – achieving a proper visual balance of color, contrast, texture, grain, chatoyance…

Maybe picking woods that grow together, it works for recipes, would likely work for pairing two species visually. I suppose you could also pick fruit and nut woods that are used together in cooking/baking. Apple/Walnut, Apple/Cherry, Come to think of it, I’ve seen a nice project made of mostly butternut and ash.

Even pairing woods with the same apparent color would be fine, with contrasting grain patterns.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

Given the woods you have, I’d suggest Cherry and Cocobolo. Both have reddish tones to them, but the Cocobolo is quite a bit darker, so you’ll still have some contrast to them. The white oak and walnut would also be a good combination, but I’d probably avoid the poplar and pine. That’s probably because they’re generally considered secondary woods (drawer sides, dust skirts, etc.) in most furniture, but also because I don’t think they’d hold up well to cutting board or trivet use.

Upon further consideration, however, pine might be quite interesting for the candle box…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I have a few projects made with Ash, & Walnut, I like that combination.

Click on Tags, Clock, & Thorsen.

You’ll see a variety of wood combos that L J’s have used.

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Maple and Cherry is also nice. Close in colors, but different.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I am playing with bloodwood and maple. I have always liked contrast dark to light, intense to muted. I sometimes think about changing up and going with differing tones, but seem never to finish those thoughts in terms of doing something with that notion.

This is a bit off subject, but it would be a fun idea to find scraps of various woods and to create a couple of color wheels or a chain of samples so those woods could be viewed side by side in combinations. Kinda of like going to the paint store or home design shop.

Dalec

My favorite is Red Oak and Purpleheart. Nice contrast between the two woods. Maple and Purpleheart is nice as well.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I like maple and cherry. Maple and walnut. Both me and editors at finewoodworking.com (was in one of their articles) would recommend against cherry and walnut together. In time (for small boxes left in the sun, as little as few days) cherry changes from a light pinkish color to a brown or deep brown/red. Walnut lightens up. This means that in time you will have two different kinds of brown on your piece instead of contrasting colors. The maple does not darken significantly (neither does pine) so it would provide a nice contrast.

Also, keep in mind that cherry is one of the most surprising woods. It is very hard to predict the final color. It could be some nice brown that contrasts with the darker cocobolo, or it could be a deep red that does not contrast at all. To see how cherry and maple go together, look at my bandsaw boxes: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/2895

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

Agree with Bill, the Purpleheart / Red Oak and Maple / Purpleheart look great together.
Purpleheart can be a little overwhelming with the lighter shades of both species though,
would recommend doing some hand selection if considering these combinations (I love working
with Purpleheart, and more importantly, my wife loves it too).

-- Still learning everything

Thanks Alin, I actually saved the images of your box a few weeks ago and plan to use it as a starting point when I take a shot at it. I’m going to start a new thread as I have some questions about Cherry specifically so I won’t get into it here. I’m going to have to check out the book in your project notes. Very cool looking from the samples you’ve posted.

PURPLEHEART? I’m a bit suprised to see so many fans of it. I personally don’t care for it much. I used it for inlay and small accents. I might have to reconsider and give it a shot. One lucky thing is that my local supplier, Woodzone, recently bought about several thousand BF of it rough. Their shorted pieces (I’d guess less than 36” long) and they are selling it very cheap. I did notice the color had a wide range as “RPmurphy509” stated. Some looked almost bleached, others look like a dark purple crayon.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

FOLLOW UP: Thanks for all the feedback. I’m still curious as to how everyone finishes their choices above. I think that the finish is a make or break choice for the overall continuity. Since I’m making projects designed to make the wood combos the focal point, I would think a natural finish wood most likely work best. BLO, Linseed, Danish, etc. . . ? Glossy or Matte? I’m looking for a “Sam Maloof” type finish that makes the wood beg to be touched. Nice finish, but retaining the species properties.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

A funny note on Purple heart; one of my suppliers, High Desert Hardwoods, tells me that they order in units of 8/4 for use as decking on lowboys to haul heavy equipment.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I like mahogany and maple, cherry/maple and walnut/maple. I’m also a big fan of figured maple, even though it’s a pain to work with, I usually go for birdseye or curly maple. I rarely work with plain stuff. The bed I’m finishing up this week (look for pics Thursday) is walnut and curly maple with purpleheart accents and koa veneered panels in the headboard and foot board. It’s been months in the making, but I’m happy with the way it has come out. Here is a link to the sketchup drawings I posted in the spring.

I will admit, though, that I used transtints to darken the walnut down a touch and redden the koa, but I didn’t drastically change the color of either. I did them just enough to make it about the same colors as I selected in sketchup.

Finishes for purpleheart, I prefer using blonde shellac, 1/2 lb mix. Applying it as the color
oxidizes, freezing the color just where I want it. For a more natural finish I like Tung or Boiled Linseed Oil.
Using either on purpleheart will darken it a couple shades though, so be prepared for it if you go that route.

I have some scraps of maple and cherry out in my shop, held the jointed edges together
and wiped some acetone across them, very nice, complimentary appearance. Mahogany with
birds-eye maple would be very nice as well.

Looking forward to seeing your final choices once you’ve made it.

-Ray

-- Still learning everything

There are also a couple of other “heart” woods you could use, such as Red Heart and Yellow Heart. Obviously, their color is as their name says. I have seen these for Pen Blanks at least, but not sure about regular lumber sizes. At least it is something different to try if you do not like the other colors.

One thing about Purpleheart is as it oxidizes, it turns more purple in color. When it is first cut, it can be a dull brown. A few days later, it turns to a nice purple color. A little longer, and you get the deep purple color.

I use either Shellac or regular varnish on pieces with Purpleheart. It brings out the nice rich color of the Purpleheart, and gives a nice glow and depth to the Red Oak as well. On my cutting board, I used mineral oil (Maple and Purpleheart). It gives a nice color when wet, but not the deeper purple I am used to with other finishes as it dries. Of course, with a cutting board, I would not use varnish or shellac.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Wenge and White Ash make a great looking combination. Both woods have a bold grain pattern, and compliment each other nicely.

Be careful with the wenge while working with it. It actually seems to attack you with splinters, possible in return for cutting it.

Once sanded and finished it calms down and looks great.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

quartersawn cherry and flatsawn white ash look nice together.

My coffee and end tables are made that way and I’ve been looking at them for many years.

-- ..... art for lifes sake

It really depends on if you want “flashy” contrasting colors or more subtle matching colors. For the “wow” factor my favorite combination has been Birdseye Maple and Purple Heart, and highly figured Mahogany:

For A more subtle contrast I will use Maple and Cherry.

Another wood which I really like is Madrone. It seems to go with almost anything (and if it grows locally, it is easy to find in firewood.)

Just look at lots of projects and see what combinations look best. It is just preference.

-- Dust collectors suck.

Wanna trade some of that Madrone burl for some mesquite?

-- North Texas

I love reading what you guys have to write on these subjects. I wish I had something to add but I am only storing all your comments on my meat computer for future use. Experience i(if your lucky) gets turned into knowledge. And as we all know knowledge is power.

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

Thanks all again. I have posted my progress on my blog for the cutting board projects I’m about done with. I am making 4 boards, and decided to do them all differently to test some of the comments on the thread. I’m happy with all 4 combinations. I’m wanting to pick up some Wenge and perhaps some of the other “heart” woods as suggested above. I really like Wenge, just a little costly and not that abundant around here.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I use orange/red hued eucalyptus robusta with the purple heart as accents to tone down the purple aliitle. A substitue for the robusta could be Lyptus which has a similar hue, but less dramatic patterns in the grain. Another wood that I LOVE, is know as Keawe here in Hawaii but actually is Mesquite. Mesquite is breathtaking and one of the most dimensionally stable woods I have used. I use it for my drawer boxes almost exclusively anymore. It is a very dense wood, but with a pale maple it would be beautiful. Thos is right about the purple heart, it is used mostly as flooring and structural lumber, I love the vivid color, but it can be distracting for me personally. So I will use it sparingly in thin laminations.

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

I know what you mean Harold concerning purple heart. It is very vivid once finished. I actually don’t care a ton for it, but it is popular for certain functions. It worked well as inlay and accents on a few things I’ve done. Not my thing, but you see it a bunch.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

The combination i’m looking at for some end tables are 3 different woods. the legs and apron are going to be cherry, (i have about 100 bf sitting in our garage, and an entire 15 foot log i’m about to have milled, my wife is ready to kill me), madrone burl for the table top. The madrone will be framed in either wenge or rosewood. I’ll have to compare the madrone to the rosewood. The modrone has red and browns in in, my cherry is pink, but is darkening about to a nice red. but i want the rosewood or wenge to contrast off the madrone, and let the madrone be the focal point.

-- Joey, Magee, Ms http://woodnwaresms.com

Hi, i didnt want to start a new topic just for one basic question, but an 84 lumber was built about an hour from me and i was curious if they carried panels of walnut, cherry, mahogany, etc… I want to buy some cabinet grade 4×8s but all lowes has is birch and oak.

-- www.jonboon.info - more crap coming soon!

I don’t know a ton about 84 Lumber other than being told they aren’t inexpensive. I would be suprised if they carried hardwood plywood in the species you mentioned. I believe they are similar to what you’d expect at one of the big box stores. We have one here, but they don’t have the best feedback within the local woodworking club.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I’ve never had any wood compliment me personally, but I have a couple of boards of mahogany that have made appreciative comments about Marianne. I’m going to have to cut them up into little pieces.

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com