Hey knot!

[Xaotic]

A friend is planning to build a desk and is considering the woods for use in construction. He is looking at either bird's eye maple or curly maple for the top and wonders whether red oak, cherry, or walnut accent the maple better?

He's planning on ordering the materials here:

http://houstonhardwoods.com/hardwood_products.php

and has many other options available.

What would your suggestions be?

Thanks

[Mntsnow]

Sorry but I had to look at the thread as I'm just nosey ;) ....but I have no input to add sorry...

[sao95]

I'd say any will work as an accent, depends on what colors he wants to pop in the room. What's he got to match? I'm not knot, but I'm nosey and I answered anyways :)

[knothead]

Hi, Xaotic! :)

Maple is one of my favorite woods, since its pale tone mixes beautifully with many others when I want a 'two-tone' kinda thang.

I would advise against mixing it with Oak, though. Just doesn't work.

Walnut, which finishes to a deep cocoa brown, is my go-to when I want a LOT of contrast (see the pic of the briefcase).

Cherry is a good choice when you want to 'warm up' the maple; Cherry finishes naturally to a caramel color, then it darkens very nicely with age (see the computer pic).

Honduran Mahogany is also very good; although its surface texture may clash, unless you know what you're doing in the finishing phase.

LMK if there's anything else you need. :)

[knothead]

Hadda re-size that briefcase pic.... ;)

[StandrdDev]

Wow Knot. That computer cabinet is gorgeous!!! Is that one of your creations?

Stunning....

Sigma

[knothead]

Thank you, Sigma, yes it is...the one I'm running on! :)

I wish I had a pic on file of just the TOP of this table...it's curly Maple inlaid with Mahogany, with a Walnut square at the Mahogany nexus. You have to use your imagination to 'see' it, but it does show how nice these woods can work together. :)

[StandrdDev]

Wow Knot! Are the legs on that one ebony or black acrylic?

YGPM.

Sigma

[Xaotic]

I'm definitely a walnut person, here was my initial take:

I know someone on another forum that is a professsional woodworker and will ask his opinion. My personal choice would probably be curly maple with american walnut for contrast. This should have a very nice appearance and be very durable.

for reference here is his site:

http://www.waiteworks.com/wood/index.htm

and an interesting, though very expensive, case:

http://www.waiteworks.com/cases/cases.html

I did give your site as I know the quality of the work. I spent a couple of years delivering raw materials for architectural millwork companies.

I'd link to the post, but it's in a private area. I'll link here and see what happens. He does have some questions on finishing, that I have no clue how to answer.

Thanks,
Jim

[Creatures]

Sorry but I had to look at the thread as I'm just nosey ;) ....but I have no input to add sorry...

sry but isnt this SPAM O_O the admin is spaming O_o

Creatures

[mickwish]

sry but isnt this SPAM O_O the admin is spaming O_o

CreaturesYes, Creatures, your post was spam!! :P And what do we do with spammers around these parts.... :devil:

:eek: I just realised THIS post is spam too!!! :eek:

:tease:

Cheers
Mick

[knothead]

Wow Knot! Are the legs on that one ebony or black acrylic?

HAH! :D Actually, they're (Maple) cast-off pieces from another project...and black lacquer. The design of the table was suggested by those two curved pieces, plus a board of curly Maple that was just the right size! :eureka:

The devil's hands are my ideal playground, or something like that... :tease:

[Cowboybooter]

Aah, Alexis! I always drool at the sight of her!

:D

Bob

[knothead]

Aah, Alexis! I always drool at the sight of her!


:lol: :lol:

Um...Bob...you ARE referring to the comp case, right? :P




(I named it after my eldest daughter)

[Cowboybooter]

Absolutely! The case! Yep! Lexi and I have never met!

:tease:

:D

Bob

[Penguin4x4]

Heya knot, I'm the one building the desk. Thanks for the help man; I've decided to use cherry and curly maple. Now as far as finishes, what did you do to the Alexis case to make it look like that? I'm looking for almost the exact same look with my desk. Thanks again, man





Hmmm, nice little community you guys have here, I just may stick around, :cuffed: :beer:

[mickwish]

Howdy Penguin4x4. :cool:

Feel free to stick around this little community. It's a great place, at least IMO!! :D

Cheers
Mick

[knothead]

Hiya, Penguin! Pleased to meet ya! :D

From what (little) I understand of your desk, I would recommend Polyurethane as a desktop finish. Not as pretty or workable as Shellac or Lacquer, but it's pretty immune to spills and other accidents. It's my "go-to" for tabletops, as a general rule.

Please feel free to post here for anything we can help you with; you're correct, it's a pretty cool Community! :)

[Penguin4x4]

Hmm, change of plans. I'm going to go with a cherry veener MDF and maple veener MDF (mainly because it's cheaper). Does this affect the finishing proccess at all? As far as usage, it's basically going to be a computer/homework table, so it's gonna see a its fair share of abuse, :D

[knothead]

Oh, okay, Penguin! :)

In THAT case, you can do a very good job with Maple plywood!

Using veneer over MDF* would cost a fortune, be uneccessarily labor-intensive, and with dubious success...

But if you cut the Maple ply in such a way that the dimensions allow a trim of solid Maple all the way around (say, 1-1/2" to 2" wide), you can create the illusion of a solid Maple top, plus you can inlay it with Cherry striping.

It's a perfectly good way to go; ask at the lumberyard to see some Maple ply, you'll be surprised how good it is! :)

And yes, it finishes just as well as solid Maple. Keep me posted, buddy. :D


(*MDF: Medium Density Fiberboard...sorta like particleboard, but MUCH better.)

[Penguin4x4]

Using veneer over MDF would cost a fortune, be uneccessarily labor-intensive, and with dubious success...


Well the actual product is MDF core cherry (and maple) ply and costs like 60 bucks per 4x8 sheet; No veneering would be done on my part. Sorry for the mixup, :lol: :lol: :spit:

[Roswell_NX]

(*MDF: Medium Density Fiberboard...sorta like particleboard, but MUCH better.)

*cough* *cough* *sneeze* i had a terrible time sawing that stuff....takes a long time to cut and the sawdust causes allergies...*grabs cleenex* *cough*

Roswell:puke: