# Why isn't Hickory more Fashionable?



## RichardDePetris (Oct 14, 2013)

Being in the southern part of the US, I haven't found many opportunities to use my fireplace. I had a bag of hickory firewood I purchased from the local supermarket that became bone-dry after sitting in my living room for a few years. I decided to run it through my bandsaw to see what kind of lumber it yielded, but I didn't expect much.

The logs were very tough and splintered easily, but became surprisingly smooth, durable and stable after sawing it. I used a couple of the largest pieces to build a mallet and saved the remaining smaller pieces for future projects.










Boy, the grain is gorgeous and prettier than oak and features flecks just like white oak. It was very hard, but it sanded well and stained beautifully. I actually debated with myself whether the firewood was actually hickory and not oak, but the scent and fibrous bark gave it away. Had I known it had these properties, I would have purchased more.










I am having a tough time figuring out why it hickory isn't used more often in woodworking. The very thought of offering this beautiful wood to the fire for heat instead of a deity is pure sacrilege! The US is very wasteful with its natural resources. Why import lesser quality lumber from other countries? I heard it's used for tool handles and a substitute for oak in cabinets and flooring, but even so, it ought to have more prominence.
It's definitely a tough wood to saw and plane, but given today's hard steel and carbide technology, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Why isn't hickory more popular with woodworkers?


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## Tedstor (Mar 12, 2011)

As you mentioned, its kind of hard to work with. Takes its toll on blades and splinters easily. Its a good looking wood, but so is cherry, maple, oak, etc, etc. 
Even with that said I do like hickory. I'm considering making some cheese boards with a piece of 4/4 I've been sitting on for a while.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

I turned a mallet from hickory and that went very well, but the stuff laughs at my hand planes whenever I try to work up a piece for possible use in a project. Haven't given up, but it is tough stuff…


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## Domer (Mar 8, 2009)

I made a couple of bar stools with Hickory. They turned out pretty well. However, the wood is very heavy and a little hard to work with although it is fairly inexpensive.

Domer


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## Earlextech (Jan 13, 2011)

When my shop was in Ft.Lauderdale all I sold was cherry, maple and hickory cabinetry and very little oak. When I moved outside of Tampa all I sold was oak and pine and very little cherry. Then, over time, as wealth increased locally, that changed and I sold a lot more hickory and cherry and not so much oak.

I don't think it's woodworkers that don't use it, I think it's customers that don't ask for it and that changes due to people being exposed to it. If you've never seen anything made of hickory, how would you know to ask for it?


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## darthford (Feb 17, 2013)

I went with Hickory in my new kitchen, if I had a do over I'd go with oak or cherry.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Are you sure that's Hickory? I have never noticed medullary rays like that in Hickory, but I could be wrong about that.


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

I love hickory. My parents had their dark pine 1980s kitchen cabinets replaced with it a few years ago, and the contractor left a couple of mis-cut drawer fronts there - that was pretty much my intro to anything other than pine and red oak. It strikes me as a "specialty wood", best saved for when you really need hard and heavy. I turned a carver's style mallet from it, which you can see in the "mallets of your dreams" thread (post #41), and maybe I just got lucky on all the dimensions and weight, but it's perfect.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

hickory is by far my favorite wood. Gonig to be using it to build my work bench when I get around to it


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I've sawed a fair amount of pecan and hickory (same family) on my mill and I've never seen medullary rays in either.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Looks like oak to me too.


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

It doesn't look like hickory to me either. But, I really like hickory. I like to use it in pie safe's and such. It sells well to country folks.


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

I have some in my stash but haven't found anything I want to use it for (yet). My problem is I look at it and all I can ever see is kitchen cabinets, flooring, rustic uses. I have a difficult time envisioning it in other applications, my shortsightedness.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

I agree with the others. What you show in the pic with the ray fleck is white oak. The medullary rays in hickory are very small and are not visible to the naked eye.

That said, hickory is one of the most difficult woods to saw and dry straight. Very pretty, but very hard on your equipment. That is one of the main reasons that it is not so popular, although it is beautiful wood.


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Here are a couple pictures of some hickory slabs I was working on getting flat to give you a good idea of the grain comparison. The pictures aren't great and there is a little spalting though.


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## RichardDePetris (Oct 14, 2013)

Pardon me while I wipe the egg off my face. I ought to sue the firewood company for embarrassment; it did say "hickory." Still, it's even more of a crime to turn this gorgeous wood into firewood. The real hickory is pretty too, but I can see how folks might be turned off by the overly-for the lack of a better description-LSD, wild, country look. Even so, the heart wood could be cut out for a more uniform appearance. I wonder what hickory looks like quartersawn?


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## Pdub (Sep 10, 2009)

I love Hickory. My floor on the main level is hickory. I have also made some boxes out of hickory, it makes for a nice, rustic look, if you can incorporate a knot or two along with the different colors of the wood.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

Splintery… using it on a router table it splinters and the splinters sometimes are big and ruin the cut. I guess it could be used but why if there are other woods that behave better and look as good or better?


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## onesojourner (Sep 13, 2013)

I put down hickory in our whole house. It is definitely hard and can take a beating.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

It is beautiful. It just tears up your equipment.


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## lunn (Jan 30, 2012)

I just built a pie safe made of hickory. Sawing it sorta smells like horse exhaust.


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## Gilgaron (Jan 22, 2014)

Phinds has pictures of hickory quartersawn here if you're interested:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/hickory.htm


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