Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 26, 2006 05:02pm | #1

   The dullness isn't a myth in my opinion.  The unsteamed walnut I have used has a wide range of colors and figure that meld together when steamed.  You won't be able to keep all those colors since they will change, becoming more brown over time, but it will still retain more variation and interest. 

   The steaming is just a cheap way of using sap wood. 

1. 
   woodlark | Feb 26, 2006 07:14pm | #2

   Thanks for the information. It makes sense that if steaming can even out the heartwood/sapwood differences, it must do at least the same on the heartwood variations.

2. 
   SimplyShaker | Mar 02, 2006 01:12am | #3

   I agree. The air-dried walnut I've used has such a rich, varied look. It's a shame to steam kiln-dried walnut just to squeeze out use of sapwood. The cherry I see in my area has got to the point where it is rare to find all heartwood. I wonder if they'll start steaming cherry to even out the color?

1. 
   gb93433 | Mar 04, 2006 08:31am | #4

   They have been steaming both cherry and walnut for years. Most walnut trees are not very large so that is the reason they steam them.

2. 
   Lataxe | Mar 10, 2006 04:46pm | #5

   Ive been using American black walnut for about 18 months now, none of it steamed.  Whilst the colours of the wood are very attractive when the piece is first made, time and light do tend to both lighten and even-out the colours. 

   A round table that sits in the big bay window of a friend's house now has a light mahogany colour rather than the various deep chocolate it started out with.  It has attractive grain and different tones, but those tones are not the same ones that were there when the walnut first became the round table.  The range of tones is also much smaller than the variegated original unfinished wood tones.

   Also, some finishes obscure the different chocolate browns of walnut.  An oil finish tends to make the item a very dark brown, with differences in the tone all darkened to a fairly uniform shade.  In fact, only the aforementioned lightening process over time again reveals significant tone differences - but they are no longer the original chocolate tones.

   The only finish I've used that shows the chocolate tone variations of walnut is French polish (although it was the lady wife who actually applied the polish).  A walnut tea box I made remains an item of various and different chocolate browns and golds, to this day (5 years after its making); but it lives in a dark cupboard for 99.9% of its time.

   Some other light-transmitting shiny finishes might have the same effect as French polish in revealing those nice dark chocolates - but watch out for that lightening, if the item is not shut away in the dark. 

   There might be a finish that cuts out the UV - but that's beyond my experience.

1. 
   Telemike | Mar 21, 2006 07:21am | #6

   I have air dried walnut pieces that haven't lost any of their rich variety of colors in the eight and ten years since they were made. The entire pieces have darkened somewhat during that time as walnut seems to do. It's quite light and purple streaked when freshly cut and darkens with time. The walnut I used was cut from black walnut here in Central California which, when air dried at least, beats out any commercial black walnut hands down.If your walnut table has lightened, it may be because the table is exposed to the sun through a bay window. I've seen the sun wash out mahogany, walnut, and other woods even when the exposure is short and limited to a few months a year. The sun is the true enemy of color.

1. 
   Lataxe | Mar 21, 2006 09:57pm | #7

   TM,

   I think you're right about the sun.

   I have a shaker candle stand I finished 6 months ago that resides in our living room, which faces south west.  Although blinds kill the direct sunlight, the room is very bright during the day.

   The candle stand is situated with its top in the light but its column and legs in deep shade between a bookcase and a sofa.  Already the top has lightened significantly whilst the column and legs remain as dark as when made.

   In the final analysis I don't want to have to keep the house dim to avoid these colour changes, so I tell myself that I quite like them really.

   I can imagine that in Califonia the deep shade is very welcome, as you must get bored of all that sunshine.  :-)

   Lataxe.