Dining table woods?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

What domestic hardwood would you use for a dining table and why?

[Thomas McCurnin]

Quarter Sawn Oak. Because it is gorgeous and stable.

Black Walnut. Because it is also gorgeous and cuts and planes like hard soap.

[Cary Falk]

Hard Maple to resist nicks and dings.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I’ll add Ash to the list.

[Jon Grider]

Whatever wood the misses desires just because .

[Jim Becker]

For "my" style? Cherry or walnut primarily. I'd consider ash or white oak (rift sawn) or English Brown Oak if it was the right look for the project.

[lou Brava]

I went White Oak



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[Andrew Hughes]

I also like white oak and walnut.
. Iou table looks great odd numbers of boards to make up the top always look the best to me.
Good luck Ken

[Mark Rainey]

Ken, go with cherry. Beautiful figure. Easy to machine and easy for hand tools. And most importantly relatively light. An oak or hard maple dining table can be a bit on the heavy side for us senior citizens.

[Richard Coers]

Any wood that can't dent from a ball point pen. Birds eye maple is what I used.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Qswo

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[Zachary Hoyt]

Cherry is what I used for ours. I like the color.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My wife likes red oak...... I love cherry.
Our old house had cherry kitchen cabinets.

I have a stock of red oak waiting for my shop to get set up.

[Lee Schierer]

If I were to build a dining room table, I would use White Oak, Red Oak, Maple (hard or soft), Cherry, Walnut or Ash. Hickory would be great, but would end up weighing a ton.

[John Kananis]

Oh man, I really wouldn't want to make a dining table top out of hickory. I mean, unless I felt really guilty about something and thought I needed to punish myself somehow lol.

[Jared Sankovich]

Kind of depends on what look you want.

[Alan Lightstone]

I would probably use ribbon Sapele.

[Warren Lake]

design dictates to a fair amount. If i did a miami art deco id probably use birdseye. If I did shaker id probably use Cherry. The choice of materials grain pattern and board size enter as well. Friend who is great car builder and great cabinetmaker does Art Deco stuff. Be bored with stuff ive done. He uses birdseye and combinations to accent and woods that look like quilted maple highly figured veneers dont remember the name. Cherry would not even make sense on his work

Also depends on where its going and what is in the rest of the place if its supposed to match or contrast. Design affects material choice.

[Bill Dufour]

Salmon is often cooked on cedar planks. Maple is common for cutting boards.
Bill D

[Clint Baxter]

I realize you requested “domestic hardwoods, but figured I’d throw out my vote for Jatoba, 507013 Just finished this for a visit from the grandchildren.

Clint

[Mike Cutler]

What is in the rest of the room?

In order of preference. All Q-sawn to Riftsawn. No flat sawn tops.
1. Cherry. It's very neutral, and the redish hue can contrast and work with a lot of different room colors. Can appear airy and casual, or very formal.
2. Walnut. More formal in appearance. Needs to match the room. A big walnut table brings a lot of presence to a room. Don't "Duncan and Phyfe" it though. That is an old tired motif.
3.Maple. Has to work with the room, and the chairs. Beautiful when done well.
4. QSWO. You have to be careful with QSWO, or you end up with a table that looks as if it were a crate, turned upside down and sanded. Done right, it's stunning!

The biggest problem is getting enough of a run of boards that match in color and grain to make the top. I've never been a fan of stains, so I drive myself nuts picking material.

[Jerry Bruette]

When we remodeled the kitchen LOML wanted something different than the 1950's Lloyd Manufacturing hand me down that we had. I don't have the means to build a dining table, so we went shopping. We ended up buying a Amish made table that is hickory. She picked the style and color and I'm happy with her choice. The elm table they had on display had some stunning figure to it, sometimes I wish that would have been the choice, but if she's happy.....well you know the rest. Not long ago someone had posted pictures of an elm dining table they made but I don't remember who.

[Warren Lake]

old guy did his whole kitchen in hickory. Cheap grade all crap cut out and laid out with care. Mortise and tennon no cope and stick.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

8 years ago we remodeled the kitchen and it opens into the dining area separated only by an island. The new kitchen cabinets and the island are a stained hickory.

[James Pallas]

8 years ago we remodeled the kitchen and it opens into the dining area separated only by an island. The new kitchen cabinets and the island are a stained hickory.

Ah, hickory it is than. Just think of all the fun you’ll have making matching chairs, carving all those seats and shaping all of the spindles.
Jim

[Christian Hawkshaw]

Walnut. SWMBO wanted a dark finish, and I did not want to stain. It also fits the style of the furniture. So, I built all the dining room furniture out of walnut. Luckily there is not a lot of direct sunlight in the dining room (with the shutters angled upward), so it has not faded.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Quality of the stash would be the determining factor for me. So much junk these days!

[Lee Schierer]

Oh man, I really wouldn't want to make a dining table top out of hickory. I mean, unless I felt really guilty about something and thought I needed to punish myself somehow lol.

Hickory is pretty easy to work with. I've made a number of pieces of furniture from it. The only down side I've found is the weight. The pieces you see below are all solid hickory. .507033507034507035507036507037507038

[John Kananis]

Lee, firstly, nice work there - all fine pieces.

I find hickory a little difficult to cooperate personally and also feel its hard on edged tools.

[John TenEyck]

8 years ago we remodeled the kitchen and it opens into the dining area separated only by an island. The new kitchen cabinets and the island are a stained hickory.

Too much of almost anything gets boring, IMO. I'd use something that compliments the hickory color in a closed pore wood, maybe maple because it's pretty color stable, unlike cherry (A personal favorite but the color is always changing unless you hide it under stain, for which anyone who does should be banned from using cherry ever again!). Quartersawn hard maple is subtle elegance for me.

John

[Phillip Mitchell]

I mentioned Ash way earlier in the thread, but here’s another variation - Ebonized Ash in this case. You could do the same with a handful of other woods.

From what I remember, the clients had hickory cabinetry and rustic, hand forged style black iron pull hardware.

[Jim Becker]

I really like Phillip's idea...a nice contrast that highlights the ash grain without clashing with the hickory coloring elsewhere in the room.

[George Yetka]

What does the SO like?

I would like to do end grain Padauk in our white kitchen with light color walls. Were not sure of what color the hardwood floor will be yet though. And I dont think the wife would like it. So will probably be Walnut

[John TenEyck]

I mentioned Ash way earlier in the thread, but here’s another variation - Ebonized Ash in this case. You could do the same with a handful of other woods.

From what I remember, the clients had hickory cabinetry and rustic, hand forged style black iron pull hardware.

Where does one buy ebonized ash? I've heard of it but never actually seen a piece in the flesh, so to speak. Sure is pretty.

John

[Mark Hennebury]

I have made tables from pine, red oak white oak, maple, birdseye maple, walnut, Cherry, cherry with ash, birdseye maple and cherry, and probable a few more species that I can't think of right now.
I kind of lean toward Cherry, Cherry and Ash. Red Oak is not my favorite, Birdseye Maple is too busy for a table, Walnut is nice.
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[Phillip Mitchell]

Where does one buy ebonized ash? I've heard of it but never actually seen a piece in the flesh, so to speak. Sure is pretty.

John

The ebonizing is 100% done as part of the finishing process similar to the stage at which you would stain/dye (if using it). I’m not aware of anywhere you can buy it already Ebonized, though that could be nice as it was a fair of work.

The table above is normal White Ash and I followed a traditional ebonizing process from a Brian Boggs article in Pop WW some years back. It involves making your own iron/vinegar solution, additional tannin “enhancement” with quebracho bark tannin powder/tea solution, and a clear (in this case) top coat applied on top. The table got a Milesi 2k low sheen poly and the chairs got Rubio pure. It was a ton of work but was exactly the look the clients wanted, so it was a success. Bigger upcharge for traditional ebonizing next time, though.

I made Ebonized samples initially for the clients in Ash, red oak, and I think Walnut and they really liked the grain characteristics of the Ash, though it did take a bit more tannin enhancement compared to Oak to get it truly black.

[Warren Lake]

You can get different blacks with a goudey black wiping stain and combinations of NGR stain if you want it darker. Their stains were better than others on the market at the time. Then good finish on top as flat will mark easily. The benefit of the goudey wiping stain is you will get it 100 percent into the pores if you use care and no light pores. Havent used the Melisi, almost for some high gloss stuff, has a good reputation but if i remember correctly has Isos in it so you should use fresh air if so.

Saw Ash at a show that came burned or browned or some process which made it dark brown then could be used outside for decking and they claimed it would last very long. The process is maybe used in some guitars as well and makes them more stable. Maybe it was Guthrie who was talking about it while demonstrating one of his newer guitars. I remember him saying playing different climates around the world his guitar was getting ticked off and the process done on the one he was talking about was more stable.

[Phillip Mitchell]

You can get different blacks with a goudey black wiping stain and combinations of NGR stain if you want it darker. Their stains were better than others on the market at the time. Then good finish on top as flat will mark easily. The benefit of the goudey wiping stain is you will get it 100 percent into the pores if you use care and no light pores. Havent used the Melisi, almost for some high gloss stuff, has a good reputation but if i remember correctly has Isos in it so you should use fresh air if so.

Saw Ash at a show that came burned or browned or some process which made it dark brown then could be used outside for decking and they claimed it would last very long. The process is maybe used in some guitars as well and makes them more stable. Maybe it was Guthrie who was talking about it while demonstrating one of his newer guitars. I remember him saying playing different climates around the world his guitar was getting ticked off and the process done on the one he was talking about was more stable.

Thermally modified *insert species here* is what you’re talking Warren, I think. I’ve handled it a few times, though not really used it and it was oddly light/hollow feeling compared to normal tree wood.

[Mark Hennebury]

They do "baked" Birdseye and curly Maple.

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[Jim Dwight]

I'm not sure it goes with hickory but it might depend on the stain used on the hickory. I have natural hickory flooring in part of my house and it has a LOT of color variation and kind of a rustic look to me. My 10 foot long dining room table has a natural cherry top and a base made of softwood finished with black ink used as a stain and covered in polyurethane (water borne). If your hickory still shows significant color variation cherry with sapwood showing might be a reasonable alternative. Might have a similar rustic or casual look. I have a little sapwood showing in mine but deliberately minimized.

I also made the 10 chairs from a Woodsmith plan modified for taller people. I put the back slats vertical since I think it makes the chairs look a little more formal than ladder backs. The back slats are mostly poplar dyed black but the end chairs have two center slats of cherry. The rest of the chair frame is cherry with more sap wood showing than the table top and the seats of the chairs are black denim material. My kids help decide a couple things and enjoy it when they visit. It was quite a bit of work but I like the result.

[Derek Cohen]

I am planning a new dining room table in the near future. It will have a Hard Maple top and Jarrah skirts and round legs.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

Where does one buy ebonized ash? I've heard of it but never actually seen a piece in the flesh, so to speak. Sure is pretty.

John
It's a finishing technique...it doesn't come that way. :D Some folks use india ink; some use Rubio; etc.

[Myles Moran]

Hickory would be great, but would end up weighing a ton.

That's not an understatement. I did our kitchen table in hickory, primarily since we let the cats climb on it, so it'd hold up well (it's a good quarantine area for them when we're cooking so they stay off the counters). It has 2 butterfly leaves tucked underneath, and when we open the table up, its a good effort between the lifting and pulling the slides apart.

It looks great though. Probably should have looked at thinning the middle of the top to 3/4 instead of leaving it all at 1" for weight.

[Prashun Patel]

I would and have used any of the 5 popular domestics around Central NJ: Walnut, Oak (red or white), Maple, Ash, Cherry.

The choice is context dependent.

Contrary to popular belief, oak makes a perfectly fine writing surface - even if you don't grain fill it.
Walnut and oak are known primarily in their flatsawn orientation, which reveals dramatic grain. But you can get very subtle, clean results with "vertical grain" walnut or riftsawn red of white oak.

Ash is a perfectly strong, workable choice, but is a little underwhelming aesthetically. But it's a fantastic value and functionally close to perfect.

[Kyle Brookshire]

Thermally modified *insert species here* is what you’re talking Warren, I think. I’ve handled it a few times, though not really used it and it was oddly light/hollow feeling compared to normal tree wood.

I bought what they called smoked red oak, online from Woodworkers Source a few months ago. I think this is the same is you’re talking about. It seems to be just normal red ok that had some sort of heat treatment to darken and preserve it. It also made it smell like a campfire when working with it.

So far I made a nice tabletop for a patio table from it, and still have a couple boards left to figure something out.

[Mike O'Keefe]

I made a kitchen table this winter out of quarter sawn white oak. It's my favorite wood. Second choice would have been walnut. I think these types of wood are very durable. Mike O'Keefe

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Has anybody ever used alder?

[Andrew Hughes]

Has anybody ever used alder?

I have Ken it’s nice to work but a little soft for a table top. If everyone checks their knives and pistols at the door you won’t see dents. That’s what I do with my outlaw friends
Out west we see Alder with lots of knots or superior with mostly clear.
I can post a pic of a table if your interested
Good Luck

[Ken Fitzgerald]

And the winner is? I just got back from my woodporn dealer in Walla Walla. I had trimmed the list to cherry or black walnut. I heard a month ago he'd just got a new shipment of walnut in stock. When I called yesterday asking if he had walnut he replied he had a lot of walnut. When I asked about cherry he said he wasn't sure he had enough left for a dining table, he'd have to check his inventory. I told to not waste his time. Today the wife and I drove over and bought 50+bf of nicely matched 4/4, nicely matched 6/4 and some matched 8/4 in black walnut. I will use the 8/4 to glue up 4 table legs. The legs will be octagonal with a small turned portion 5" from the bottom. The 6/4 will become the tabletop and the 4/4 will become the frame.

The only hardware left to buy are threaded inserts, screw-in leveling legs and the latches for the top.

Thanks for the input folks!

[Steve Jenkins]

Just a “for what it’s worth “. I drill the bottom of the legs with a forstner bit that allows me to recess the adjustable feet out of sight. The only time a foot is visible is when it’s needed.

[Jack Frederick]

Wow, Kent, that gives me all the flash-backs they promised me back in the 60’s