Is there anything I should know about working with Cherry or

matt · 7 May 2009

...Walnut?

I need to make up some tops for some fitted cabinets. Never used Cherry or Walnut.

Is there anything special to bear in mind? Do they take glue and biscuits OK? Do I need to wear full protective clothing or will a face mask do?

Cheers

Night Train · 7 May 2009

My favorite furniture timbers!

I find them very easy to work and easy on the tools. Cherry has a fine grain and cuts well with edge tools, walnut can sometimes be a little more brittle in places and with a wilder grain to look out for. They do dent easily so be careful with knocks. If they are not too deep then they can be steam ironed out.

The dust can be very fine and so I always wear a dust mask when using abrasive tools.

Fine with glues and biscuits from my experience.

JonnyD · 7 May 2009

Walnut is one of the nicest woods to use and glues and machines really well you shouldnt need any additional protective clothing. You need to watch out for sapwood in both species as it can be in most boards. Cherry is also quite suspectable to colour changing if a item is left in the same position for a period of time the colour underneath will be different.

Jon

matt · 7 May 2009

Thanks for the info. Gonna show my ignorance now... What is the issue with sapwood?

Night Train · 7 May 2009

Wood is mainly two parts of the log. The heartwood is the central hard part of the log and that is the part that you would usually use. It is the structural 'skeleton' of the tree. The sapwood is the outer part of the log that is the growing part and carries the sap up and down the tree. The sapwood is usually lighter in colour, softer and more susceptible to insect attack.

However, sapwood can be used to great effect as the colour change can be great and gives contrast to some work.

Sapwood tends to keep the same colour but cherry heartwood gets darker with exposure to sunlight while walnut heartwood can get lighter. If you mix the two then you will get dark brown walnut on an orangy red cherry but over time the colours can end up about the same and possibly reversed as I have found on one of my pieces.