A friend recently gave me a couple of boards of what we both understood to be air-dried walnut. I’ve since begun using the stock on a book case project, but needed just a bit more to finish. Picked up another board from the lumber yard, only to discover that the woods have very different color tones. They’re different
enough to make me wonder whether the original stock was black walnut or something else altogether (see attached photo). Two questions related to the photo: (1) are these the same species? (2) should I try to match them with some combination of stains, etc.?
I’ve had mild differences between walnut components in the past, but this seems more pronounced.
Replies
air dried vs kiln dried is my first impression. staining to match is challenging. Staining both is probably easier
The wood on the left is... different. The board on the right looks like the walnut I have on my rack right now.
Most mills steam walnut, to blend the dark heartwood color into the sapwood. It yields more saleable board feet from a log. The board on the right has been steamed.
Here’s a good article on walnut..
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2005/03/01/finishing-walnut
John C2 is right. The commercial walnut is always steamed to color the sapwood. The result is a board with uniform but ugly color. The steaming process kills all the red/purple tones in the walnut and leaves a brown/gray dead color.
I am fortunate to be able to buy all my walnut green from a sawmill, air dry it, and if it needs to be kiln dried, I take it to an Amish guy who makes oak T&G flooring. The original color makes it thru the kiln-drying process just fine.
To make it look the same, you are going to have to stain/dye both boards darker. They will require different processes to end up the same. I suspect if I were in your situation, I would first look around for some air dried walnut, since I think it is so much prettier. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
I have a lot of walnut like that, and it's all air dried.
Just depends on the tree it comes from, it varies a lot.
I have some black as coal and others that look red.
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