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Just ask what's a suitable timber to do any project and there'll be a huge response to advise what's good, not so good or a definite 'steer clear of that one' - Rob
 
What's a suitable timber for a contemporary looking hall / console table? I'm currently leaning towards Walnut & maple. Not convinced about the colour mix though. Thoughts anyone?

Google offers me comparison prices for dining room chairs and two floor flats for sale in Hull. Interesting but irrelevant.

:)
Cheers Mike
 
Did a quick bit of Googling and came up with this one, took about 2 mins to find a site, which will give only very basic info about what can be used for different types of project. However by asking a question on the forum you will obtain a vast array of good advice about what's suitable for any project. For example, you might think that teak is good timber for outside projects and off course it is but by asking the question you will soon find out that it's the most expensive commercial timber, can be difficult to glue and that you will have to sharpen edge tools far more frequently than for other timbers so before you commit to a particular wood it's a great idea to sound out opinion from forum members who have a lot of experience with different materials- Rob
 
mr":2reu1glj said:
What's a suitable timber for a contemporary looking hall / console table? I'm currently leaning towards Walnut & maple. Not convinced about the colour mix though. Thoughts anyone?

Google offers me comparison prices for dining room chairs and two floor flats for sale in Hull. Interesting but irrelevant.

:)
Cheers Mike
Click to expand...
Mike - that combination sounds good to me. I think I would have the table in predominantly one timber and use the other for detailing, eg drawer pulls, inlay or foot details. Depends as well on what the room decor is like that it has to fit in with......and also what SWIMBO thinks :wink: - Rob
 
Is or can be maple white? I was thinking of detailing and in a leery moment even going as far as a top in maple surrounded by mitred walnut pieces but there's probably an expansion issue there (unless the maple is a veneer - hmm possibility). I bought the maple thinking it would finish to a nice white colour but now I'm thinking possibly sycamore or holly instead.
Cheers Mike

Ps I'll stop there cos Ive just realised that I'm in danger of hijacking the OPs thread completely. Sorry.
 
mr":1jux6hcx said:
Is or can be maple white? I was thinking of detailing and in a leery moment even going as far as a top in maple surrounded by mitred walnut pieces but there's probably an expansion issue there (unless the maple is a veneer - hmm possibility). I bought the maple thinking it would finish to a nice white colour but now I'm thinking possibly sycamore or holly instead.
Cheers Mike

Ps I'll stop there cos Ive just realised that I'm in danger of hijacking the OPs thread completely. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Mike - maple is a cream colour rather than white, similar to sycamore. Holly is a much whiter timber but only available in smaller sizes, and often then with a lot of knots in it. My view is that contrasting timbers do work but need to be chosen with some care, one ought to predominate and the other to be as an accent for smaller parts of it. You're right in about the expansion issue, the centre of the table top would have to be veneered and then the lipping applied around the outside - Rob
 
I've made a couple of pieces using maple and walnut. Here's one:

walnutandmapletable3-large.jpg


The client loves it but I'm not so sure - I think that the contrast is too much. I'm thinking of making something with contrasting timbers again but I think I'll make them much closer in tone eg oak and maple or walnut and oak (or cherry).

There was a website mentioned on here recently that allowed various veneers to be compared but I'm damned if I can find it now!

edit: here's one but its not the one I was thinking of:

http://www.veneerselector.com/veneers/index.asp


Cheers

Tim
 
Tim - I agree, between those two timbers (light and dark) there's too much contrast 'specially when used in a rough 50/50 sort of mix, hence either one or the other with the second one used for smaller detailing only - Rob
 
tiler99":2or1045t said:
Is there a website that i could check suitability of woods for different projects.
Click to expand...

Without being more specific you may as well ask "whats the best colour for a flower? By suitability do you mean asthetic or structural?

You could make a successful table out of oak, ash, elm, beech, walnut, pine, sycamore or any combination of the lot.
Seems to me it's down to the designer/maker/client to make those choices.

If there was a site that definitively told everyone which wood was suitable for every project we would end up with very boring furniture.
 
The Tree org.co.uk has some useful info on wood uses buried in the reference pages.

That and some other links are listed Here
 

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