Question about walnut

[Brian Kerley]

So yesterday I went to one of my sources for hardwood (woodworkers source here in AZ), and I was digging through their 4/4 and 6/4 piles of walnut and they had nothing decent. The grain was hideous (not straight, weird grain patterns, like circles, ellipses, etc) and even when it looked ok, there was sapwood everywhere. One side would be colored, and 75% of the backs would be sap. They were calling this stuff FAS, and wanted 8.99/bf for 4/4 and 10.99/bf for 6/4. They also had a pile of "sappy" walnut, but considering the amount of sap on their "good" stuff, I can't imagine what the sappy walnut looked like. Is this really what walnut is like these days, or is it just this supplier?

[Craig D Peltier]

So yesterday I went to one of my sources for hardwood (woodworkers source here in AZ), and I was digging through their 4/4 and 6/4 piles of walnut and they had nothing decent. The grain was hideous (not straight, weird grain patterns, like circles, ellipses, etc) and even when it looked ok, there was sapwood everywhere. One side would be colored, and 75% of the backs would be sap. They were calling this stuff FAS, and wanted 8.99/bf for 4/4 and 10.99/bf for 6/4. They also had a pile of "sappy" walnut, but considering the amount of sap on their "good" stuff, I can't imagine what the sappy walnut looked like. Is this really what walnut is like these days, or is it just this supplier?

Walnut is one of the most wasteful woods if you dont want to use sapwood. Alot of suppliers around here sell it 90% heart an 75% on the other side. Yours sounded like theres more sap than that. I guess its not an exact science either when they are grading.
They steam walnut to make the sapwood match better to the heartwood. Steaming makes the heartwood much lighter. Sometimes you can find airdried which is darker.
The new growth walnuts also have less heartwood. I dont know why.
Prices seem high but it might just be your part of the US. Around here its about 7 for 4/4.

[Chris Padilla]

Scroll to the end of my Tansu project thread I have going to see the walnut I have on hand. Mine is exceptional compared to what you found and I was a bit unhappy with the amount of sapwood I had...but no longer am I unhappy now!

[Brian Kerley]

Walnut is one of the most wasteful woods if you dont want to use sapwood. Alot of suppliers around here sell it 90% heart an 75% on the other side. Yours sounded like theres more sap than that. I guess its not an exact science either when they are grading.
They steam walnut to make the sapwood match better to the heartwood. Steaming makes the heartwood much lighter. Sometimes you can find airdried which is darker.
The new growth walnuts also have less heartwood. I dont know why.
Prices seem high but it might just be your part of the US. Around here its about 7 for 4/4.

Well, the sapwood was bright white/cream so I'm assuming the stuff I was looking at was not steamed?

[C Scott McDonald]

Well, if it makes you feel any better we get a lot of the same crappy walnut in colorado too. Unless you are there when they put out new Walnut and get first pick the rest is junk.

[Chris Schumann]

Rockler has beautiful walnut... the stuff in stock up here is straight grain, barely any defects at all let alone sapwood, 2 or maybe 4 sides smooth, and about $15 per bdft on their website in the largest sizes.

[Chris Padilla]

Rockler has beautiful walnut... the stuff in stock up here is straight grain, barely any defects at all let alone sapwood, 2 or maybe 4 sides smooth, and about $15 per bdft on their website in the largest sizes.

Yep! One can certainly PAY for it! craigslist is often a decent source of local wood for significantly better prices....

[Craig Johnson]

Yep! One can certainly PAY for it! craigslist is often a decent source of local wood for significantly better prices....

I have seen nice looking Walnut on my local Craigslist including live slabs for good prices.

[Brian Effinger]

We've got crappy stuff here in NY too. I was told recently that sapwood is no longer considered a defect in grading. I think cherry is the same way.

[Mike Hess]

Yep! One can certainly PAY for it! craigslist is often a decent source of local wood for significantly better prices....

Agreed. I picked up about 80 b.f. of walnut recently for 1.25/b.f. It's rough cut, and still green, so it's going to need to dry out for a year or so before I can use it, but for that price, I'm willing to wait.

[Lee Schierer]

Good Black Walnut is getting hard to find. Most of the old growth trees that were 30+ inches across are gone and they are harvesting much smaller trees. This results in significantly more sap wood than heart wood. I was at a museum in Virginia and they had a drop leaf table that had a 36" drop leaf that was all
one piece and no sap wood.

[Mike Schmalzer]

If you are looking for a great source of walnut try http://www.gobywalnut.com It is all western black walnut. It is air dried for a year per inch and then put into a kiln until thoroughly dry. No steam used at all. The colors are just amazing. I do believe that they will ship too.

I recently did a kitchen island out of it. Have a look.

[Don Bullock]

Rockler has beautiful walnut... the stuff in stock up here is straight grain, barely any defects at all let alone sapwood, 2 or maybe 4 sides smooth, and about $15 per bdft on their website in the largest sizes.

Recently the local Rockler stores had some beautiful walnut for 30% off so I picked up a few of really nice boards. Since then I haven't seen any nice looking walnut at any of the suppliers that I frequent. Walnut is truly a "hit and miss" wood. When I find good boards I buy them.

There are always walnut boards for sale on eBay. I haven't bought any that way, but it's worth a look.

[Chris Padilla]

If you are looking for a great source of walnut try http://www.gobywalnut.com It is all western black walnut. It is air dried for a year per inch and then put into a kiln until thoroughly dry. No steam used at all. The colors are just amazing. I do believe that they will ship too.

I recently did a kitchen island out of it. Have a look.

Very nice! I'm glad to see some sources out here on the Left Coast. We still ain't got no cherry out here but walnut, claro, and big leaf maple are plentiful...plus the occasional redwood burl...and some nice cedar, too!

[Larry Fox]

Hearne Hardwoods in Oxford PA has walnut that will blow your mind. They have it in pretty much any thickness you want and they do ship. I was talking to the guy out there the other day and asked him about steaming and he said their stuff is air dried and finished in the kiln - no steam. Sapwood varies by the board as you might expect but if you are careful you can get a good yield. Last two pieces of 8/4 that I bought to build side tables out of yielded very close to 100%. They don't give it away but in my opinion the cost is worth it.