Dual tone wood choices?

[Andrew Rice]

so i am trying to pick out a very light wood to contrast walnut in the table i want to make. The walnut is going to be for the joinery such as dowels and sliding dovetails. I was trying to decide between beech, birch, hard and soft maple. My problem is i dont really know what beech and birch look like and i have tried to search on google but they all look different due to stains and such. I was hopeing someone could help me decide and maybe show me some pictures of non stained wood.

Thanks
Andre Rice

[Stephen Musial]

This should help you out:

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

[Ed Peters]

I don't think there is any better combination than Red Oak and Black Walnut.

Ed

[glenn bradley]

I don't think there is any better combination than Red Oak and Black Walnut.

Ed

Unless its mahogany and ebony . So many choices . . .

[Stephen Musial]

For a chess board, maple burl and walnut burl just can't be beat.

Unless it's fiddleback sycamore and pomelle sapele; or birdseye maple and mottled makore; or satinwood and waterfall bubinga; or...

[Tom Hargrove]

I would either use butternut (a/k/a white walnut) or white oak to contrast with walnut. Red Oak is also nice. The grain patterns of walnut and butternut work well together, but walnut is much darker. Butternut may be a challenge to locate unless you have a good hardwood supplier near you.

I have not worked with beech, but the other woods you referenced are all a challenge to stain, at least for me. They take stain unevenly, and in my attempts, the finished product comes out somewhat blotchy and uneven. I have had success using a clear finish on maple and birch.

[Prashun Patel]

If you're topcoating clear, then my personal fave is maple with walnut.
The maple's grain does not compete with the walnut - as it can with White Oak or QSWO.

If yr coloring, then I'd prefer White oak, just because it'd be easier to work with than maple.

There are far better examples, but here are mine (humbly):

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ghlight=walnut
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ghlight=walnut