# Selecting Walnut Project Lumber



## Rushman (Jun 1, 2009)

Over the last couple months I have bought many board feet of Walnut from a large kiln close to my house. When going through the stack to hand pick, some boards have a fair amount of white in them. I have been told that the dark is the heart and the white is the sap wood. When I look at galleries of projects people have posted I don't recall seeing any that was not all dark with no white. Should I not hand pick any that are not solid dark in color? About 10% of what I have has the white in it. I realize that there may be many projects that the white would look good in, but I'm not seeing any pictures of completed ones. Also buying Walnut and cherry straight from the Kiln makes all projects affordable.


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## Daren (Sep 16, 2007)

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.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

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.


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## sry (Jul 9, 2008)

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


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## Rushman (Jun 1, 2009)

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.


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## WibblyPig (Jun 8, 2009)

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:


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

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


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

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


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## barlow (Feb 28, 2008)

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.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

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


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

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.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

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.


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

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


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## WibblyPig (Jun 8, 2009)

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.


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## gargey (Apr 11, 2016)

> 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.


That sounds like a stretch.


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## Mojo1 (Jan 13, 2011)

I love Walnut, but its fairly high here, $9.00 a bf for 8/4


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## mikeber (Jan 17, 2016)

> I love Walnut, but its fairly high here, $9.00 a bf for 8/4
> 
> - Mojo1


Wow, that's a good price. Here in NY they charge $10.00 per bf of 4/4. But even at this price, the stock of boards is limited. They sell mostly walnut slabs for $800 and up.


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## Mojo1 (Jan 13, 2011)

> I love Walnut, but its fairly high here, $9.00 a bf for 8/4
> 
> - Mojo1
> 
> ...


Ouch, it was going for $8.00 a bf until recently,


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## DirtyMike (Dec 6, 2015)

I would love to make something from only walnut sapwood.


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## matthww (Mar 24, 2016)

I used it here:









My newest project has NO sapwood in it… Well, that's a lie. There is some, but I'm covering it with a wood paste to make it the same color. For that you don't need stain, but a product called Timbermate Walnut. It's a grain filler and it covers sapwood nicely. Woodcraft sells it. And other the the smell, I love the stuff.

Btw I pay 4-5 a bf for primo walnut. I can get it either way, sap or no.


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