I hope that there is someone out there who can answer this.
I work for an Architectural Millwork firm in North Carolina and have gotten the job of making 12 doors and some panels out of walnut and mappa (mapa) burl.
We could not find the quantity of American Walnut that was wide enough and knot free, so we have gone with Peruvian Walnut. The boards are wide, clear and otherwise beautiful, however…when cutting into some of the boards, the inside has a milky appearance.
I have looked online and I’m told that this color will turn brown in a few months.
My Question: Will these milky boards indeed turn brown? Has anyone had this experience? Any insight to this issue will be greatly appreciated!
Thanx in advance…
-Kevin
p.s. I have also posted @ BreakTime
Replies
I can't help with the properties, but at least it is in the same genus Juglans as black walnut. Some of the names for tropical hardwoods have zero relationship to the domestic woods whose names they carry.
Grainwise: Peruvian Walnut (Juglans neotropica) I believe has the same properties as American & English Walnut. A light streak will stay light IMHO
Close relatives are: Nogal, tropical walnut
James
The milky streaks are not sapwood, but have been told that will oxidize to brown. Not all of the boards that I'm trying to use have this phenomena, but if the color will not go to brown, a 25% waste factor is not acceptable.
If you have personally worked with this wood and have had this happen to you, could you perhaps relay the experience you have had?
Thanx again.
-Kevin
I recently did a countertop in peruvian walnut. Mostly dark brown, with a few white streaks. So far, no change in color (as far as I can tell). This is my first experience with this material.Hope this helps.
Bob
Bob, Dang, not what I was wanting to hear. How long ago was recently? I've heard that it may take a few months.Thank you for your reply.-Kevin-If you didn't learn something new today, you're not looking hard enough!
use the off color for drawer sides internal structures etc.
Kevin,I agree with one of the other posters that wood is wood and it's beauty is almost always accentuated by the grain and color variation. But... If your customer wants 100% dark wood then you just have to accept that there is going to be some waste. The nice thing about peruvian walnut is the grain is VERY straight and you most likely can cut out the light streaks and glue the pieces back together and the seams will be mostly invisible. It may be worth putting finish on a piece with white streaks and showing them what they are missing. My customers loved the variation.The other thing you can do is experiment with dying the white streaks. I have never done this successfully, but it's worth a try.Good luck,
Bob
No, I cut and planed some of it 6 months ago now and the cutoffs have not changed. I used it for some furniture in a dentist office, we both agreed the vanilla and chocolate ice cream look was pretty cool. I also build several doors, about 10 a week and would not look forward to using peruvian walnut for doors as the slightest touch dents the stuff. Work carefully.
Dang. Personally, like you, I don't mind the color variegation, wood is wood in my eyes. ...But the customer wants the dark walnut look, and due to the mappa burl panels, staining the light parts darker is not an option. After consulting with the Bosses at work, we've decided to avoid the "Silver Streaking" (this is what our wood supplier calls it. Also nice of them to tell this to us now!). I've been pulling the wood for the project all day and have had a 30-40% waste factor. It has been very frustrating. You can't tell anything from the outside.Oh well...gotta keep moving on. Thank you for your thoughts.-Kevin-If you didn't learn something new today, you're not looking hard enough!
I'm still not sure what you are seeing. I've never used Peruvian Walnut.
Are you saying you are running into a section of wood that is white? Is it sapwood? If it's sapwood, then it will not darken over time.
Or, are you ripping or resawing the wood and the cut surfaces have the sort of "milky" or hazy look to them? What happens when you sand or plane the surfaces?
All the walnut I have worked with lightens when exposed to UV. As the Peruvian Walnut seems to be in the same species family, it may do the same.
I'll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow so you can see. It is defiantly NOT sapwood.It's more like oxidation. It only shows up in the center of the board.-If you didn't learn something new today, you're not looking hard enough!
I recently made some table legs out of peruvian walnut. I liked the wood, it worked pretty nice, a little chip out. But the grain didn't do anything for me, it was pretty regular grain. But I didn't have any of the discoloration that you are talking about. When I used it the timber was really dark, almost like it was stained that color.
Kaleo
http://www.kalafinefurniture.com
http://www.kaleosworkshop.com
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