I’ve been investigating ways to get Walnut locally for an entryway table I’ll be making, and it seems the Internet sources and Woodcraft and Constantines, which are local, are similarly priced. But I found a Lumber Liquidators that sells hardwood flooring, and that can get me 3/4 Walnut that is tongue and groove, 5″, for a third the price otherwise available. A THIRD THE PRICE. That makes a big different in the cost of the project. I got a sample from them, and it has beautiful grain and color. I glue the tongue and groove together and after a little sanding got a seemless panel. On top of that, the boards are pre-planed and flat.
So, my question is – is there some catch? Is there any reason I should not use this Walnut? Is flooring wood somehow different from furniture wood? I’m not experienced with Walnut, and found it very hard, and my planes were not sharp enough to work it without causing tear out, but I suppose that is just a characteristic of Walnut and my need to sharpen. Right?
I’d also welcome any pointers on working and finishing walnut. Thanks for your input and letting me know before I do something stupid. I’ll be purchasing next weekend.
Replies
Hi Jimbo,
I am not the most experienced panel glueup guy. The thing that comes to my mind is that you typically want a thicker top than 3/4" In my experience when glueing up boards I always have to resurface the panel with a wide belt sander or hand plane, regaurdless of how flat the boards were. So it is possible that your table will end up being less than 3/4. I think you will get more experienced advice than mine though.
Mike
Usually flooring material comes in random lengths. Are you able to pick sizes that are long enough for your project?
Also, most flooring I've worked with has grooves on the back side to inhibit warping. Will these create any problems for the design you have in mind?
3/4" is pretty thin for a top; but maybe you can somehow work that feature into your design.
For that price, if you're just looking to build a functional table, as opposed to a museum quality heirloom, I'd be tempted to give it a try. Wood is wood, and if you're satisfied with the grain pattern, and don't mind planing the grooves off and gluing up what you need for thicker stock, I would go buy what you need.
I'd cut the tongue and groove off and joint the edges for glue-up. There's no strength in the tongue and groove in flooring for making a panel. Typically there is a certain amount of clearance allowed so unless you used a gap filling glue the panel would be much weaker.
I think it will be hard to hide those grooves on the bottom and planing them off will be kind thin for a top. Don't you think your table might look 2/3 less of what it would look like with the regular walnut? Might look like a piece of floor on some legs which might be fine. Try it and see. Unless you try it you'll never know. Gary Knox Bennet made some really thin tops with massive bases that worked quite well design wise.
Walnut's pretty soft so you need to sharpen your tools better.
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