Cherry with walnut doors?


stu_slack

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I'm building the Wall Cabinet (just getting started) and now sourcing the lumber. I have enough Cherry for the box/frame, but not the door panels. Wondering what might go well with cherry. Thoughts?

I saw this ad on Craigslist for Black Walnut - not too far from me: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mat/2164094932.html. May go grab on of 'em...

Cheers -

Stu

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Hey Stu, welcome to the Guild.

I don't think there are any rules on which woods go together, so it's going to be dependent on the effect you are going for. First thing I would do is decide whether you want a darker panel or a lighter one. Both choices could look good, but obviously with different effects. For darker woods, I'd think about Walnut. For lighter, maybe a nice figured maple? Some special boards with a nice figure could really be highlighted on this project.

Here are some other posts about other woods with Cherry. There's pictures, you may want to check them out.

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I'm building the Wall Cabinet (just getting started) and now sourcing the lumber. I have enough Cherry for the box/frame, but not the door panels. Wondering what might go well with cherry. Thoughts?

I saw this ad on Craigslist for Black Walnut - not too far from me: http://sfbay.craigsl...164094932.html. May go grab on of 'em...

Cheers -

Stu

No idea what your experience level is so just a few thoughts.... and pardon me if you already know this.

I've combined cherry and walnut before and they can do well together... especially at first. Two things to watch:

1. Walnut can get kind of gray looking at times.... make sure to pick some that has good warm brown tones to go with the cherry.

2. Walnut will lighten slightly over time.... cherry will darken fairly drastically from the yellowish pink tone and turn to a deeper reddish brown over time (all depends on sunlight).

So what looks like a lot of contrast at first will over time turn into much less.

Personally I love to combine lacewood with cherry. As the cherry ages they compliment each other very well and lacewood panels create a very interesting centerpiece. (I usually buy lacewood veneer and and veneer 1/4" ply and use it as a center pannel).

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Thanks for the input guys. I was thinking about doing a veneered panel but that's probably a bit too much for me right now - so I'll try to keep it simple. In the link you sent the mentioned quarter sawn sycamore - but couldn't find that at our local shop (and they called around)...

I picked up a nice stick of 5/4 Walnut (5" wide) that I'll resaw and glue to make book matched panels on both sides. I hope that's not TOO difficult and comes out OK! :-)

Stu

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In the link you sent the mentioned quarter sawn sycamore - but couldn't find that at our local shop (and they called around)...

You probably know this, but quarter sawn sycamore is sometimes called "Lacewood". Wikipedia says:

Lacewood is a common name for lumber made from the wood of trees of species Cardwellia sublimis.

The term may also refer to the wood of the American Sycamore, which has a similar appearance when quartersawn.

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Thanks - nope I didn't know that bit of info...

Here's what I think I'll do. Instead of wood panels, and since it'll be in the bathroom (we totally need storage space in our master - so this is perfect), I'm thinking I'll do two frosted glass panels instead of wood. Perhaps it's cheating, but that'll look nice in my bathroom. Plus - I'm going to widen it a bit (need to measure out the space) and possibly add a towel rack on the bottom...

So - something similar to this: http://www.homedecorators.com/images/items/detail/m5216510.jpg

Stu

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