Contrasting Woods

[Mark W Pugh]

What is your favorite contrasting woods to use together? I have a lot of cherry piled around and was mulling over in my head what other wood would look right with it. I'm a big fan of Waterlox on cherry.

So, it doesn't have to be cherry to contrast with. So what are your best results?

I know, I know, I know, it depends, but just in general.

Thanks

[Dennis Ford]

Maple would be my favorite to go with cherry.
Another possibility would be a very dark wood; ebony, wenge or something dyed black.

[Wade Lippman]

My favorite contrasting woods are walnut and butternut. Half my house in done in that.

I like cherry by itself.
However... we bought our house fully furnished and the master bedroom furniture is all cherry and walnut. It works well, but I wouldn't choose it; I would have preferred all cherry. It was made by local Mennonites; I wish I could do work that nice.

[Jim Tobias]

Not domestics, but a couple I like with cherry are Brazilian Cherry and also Goncalco Alves. IMO their color compliments the cherry well. One of my favorites is Canary wood with cherry.

Jim
Brazilian Cherry
298530


Goncalco Alves
298531


Canarywood
298532

[roger wiegand]

Seems like a lot of what I've built in the last several years involves cherry frames with birdseye or tiger maple panels. It's a hard combination to beat.

[David Helm]

My favorites are Western Big Leaf Maple contrasted with English Walnut or Claro Walnut or Bastogne Walnut. I don't use exotic woods at all so I wouldn't have a comment on them.

[Chris Padilla]

Walnut and maple for me. Whatever kind of walnut with whatever kind of maple. :)

[Bill Adamsen]

Cherry frames with quartersawn fir panels are a very attractive pairing for contrast and their structural properties.

[Jim Becker]

For my tack trunk commissions, QSWO fields with black walnut trim has been the most popular...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/Woodworking/Tack-Trunks/bev-trunk-1_zps0ad1c7f4.jpg

[Larry Fox]

Big fan of cherry and maple together also. However, if I am swinging for the fences I like bubinga (the curlier the better) and birdseye maple.

[Mike Ontko]

Straight-grained Douglas fir is a good match with cherry, in both grain and color. It's not as light/contrasting as maple, which can be good or bad depending on the amount of contrast you're looking for. I have plans for a set of book cases that I want to do with cherry and maple. But the cabinetry in my house is a warm red cherry while the doors and moldings are doug fir, which appear to have been either stained or shellacked a light amber. I'll try to follow up later with a photo or two.

[David Helm]

Straight-grained Douglas fir is a good match with cherry, in both grain and color. It's not as light/contrasting as maple, which can be good or bad depending on the amount of contrast you're looking for. I have plans for a set of book cases that I want to do with cherry and maple. But the cabinetry in my house is a warm red cherry while the doors and moldings are doug fir, which appear to have been either stained or shellacked a light amber. I'll try to follow up later with a photo or two.

Very much like Cherry, Douglas Fir darkens (toward a reddish color) with exposure to light. It could be that your fir was finished bright and has darkened.

[Bill McNiel]

I use a fair amount of highly figured maple and really like walnut and wenge accents with it. Waterlox as a finish.

[Ryan Mooney]

For my tack trunk commissions, QSWO fields with black walnut trim has been the most popular...

+1 on the Oak and Walnut mix, it wasn't something I'd have thought of myself but having seen some of Jims work and a segmented turner who uses a lot of that (Chas) I gave it a shot on a project and really liked the look. I suspect that cherry and oak would eventually look good together as well especially as the cherry darkened.

Interestingly cherry and walnut together not as much, although adding walnut as a thin boundary layer of walnut or something similarily dark between cherry and something lighter (like maple or oak) helps set a nice line. I used that on a desk I made from cherry 20 some years ago with a maple panel trimmed with a walnut bead and it continues to look pretty good every time I see it (its at my Dads house still).

[Quinn McCarthy]

maple and pupleheart or yellowheart and purpleheart. I use a lot in segmented turning.

[marty shultz]

Wenge and cherry
298579

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on Walnut with Cherry.

They have similar working character,
and both look nice under Waterlox.

[Alan Lightstone]

Birdseye maple and canarywood if I'm using cherry (which I don't use often).

[Dave Kirby]

What is your favorite contrasting woods to use together? I have a lot of cherry piled around and was mulling over in my head what other wood would look right with it. I'm a big fan of Waterlox on cherry.

So, it doesn't have to be cherry to contrast with. So what are your best results?

I know, I know, I know, it depends, but just in general.

Thanks
I have a bunch of wood that would look good with Cherry...send me a pile of it and I'll see which looks best! ;)