Walnut - raw veneer vs lumber coloration

[andrew whicker]

Hi,

Plane cut walnut raw veneer and plane cut walnut lumber.. do they color match pretty well without any coloration techniques (chemicals, dyes, etc)?

Designing something on paper right now and trying to decide my method of fabrication.. I will do the veneer route if there's good matching.

cheers,

[Richard Coers]

If you get walnut from Missouri and veneer from Pennsylvania, I would not expect the color to match. Veneer logs are usually kept under hot water to soak before shaving the veneer. Another thing that could change the color a little. Some mills steam walnut lumber before kiln drying to take color into the sapwood a little. That also mutes the color. I'd suggest if you want identical colors, you should expect to do a wash coat of stain or dye to bring them together.

[Joe Hendershott]

I use quarter sawn walnut veneer with walnut hardwood edging quite a bit and it is fine. If you are trying to match flat cut veneer and hardwood for a face then I think you would have issues.

[roger wiegand]

Walnut varies a lot tree-to-tree, and certainly as noted region to region, especially if you work with air-dried material. Then it will all change again as it is exposed to light. You'll be fine if you use some care to match the actual boards and veneer you're using. A little bit of dye can also help even things out and maintain color as the wood lightens over time.

[Jim Becker]

"Maybe". It really comes down to carefully selecting your material. In addition to the nature of trees not always being the same color inside, with walnut, how it was processed during drying will impact color. Air dried vs kiln dried without steaming vs kiln dried with steaming. The latter makes for a ruddy brown color overall that's different than naturally air dried or kiln dried without steam. Same goes for the veneer...what tree and how it was processed matters.

[andrew whicker]

Good thoughts. I'll have to go for it anyway.. I need a stable panel to make my life easier. I'll be framing the veneered 3/4 BB panel with some 1.5" wide rails and stiles that are flush w/ the panel.

If I was willing to frame the panel with a raised frame that would help w/ coloration issues, but I'm not sure that's the look I want.