> >For
> the best furniture wood I prefer a slow-growing tree with tight grain.
> These are candidates but I will refrain from cutting them as long as
> possible.
>
I use quite a bit of black walnut in my craft. A walnut log will have that
black (hence its name) heartwood and a white sapwood layer. The sapwood is
much softer wood and shrinks and checks a lot as it dries. A young tree, a
tree
less than thirty years old, and a tree that has had quick growth will have a
small heartwood and a large white sapwood. It will not make good furniture
(or
instruments). Very old trees (sixty or so) , or trees that have grown slowly
will have a very small sapwood and mostly dense heartwood.
The denisty of the wood varies greatly from tree to tree. For most
applications the denser the better, but I can make best use of the less dense
wood, and
fortunately for me this usually makes the lumber #2 grade. If it has a few
knots, checks, and/or sap pockets AND its less dense, I can most of the time
get it for #3 grade.
The closely related butternut wood is ideal as it is almost always lighter
weight and it's not very expensive by rather rare.
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