Black Walnut — A Prized Wood for Woodworkers

Featured in Architectural Design magazine, Beacon, New York-based independent contractor Mark H. Luedeman creates custom-made furniture pieces. Mark Luedeman uses a variety of quality wood in his projects and experiments with different design styles to achieve new looks. One of his favorite woods to work with is black walnut, which is coveted by woodworkers.

The only dark wood native to North America, black walnut has a rich coloring that can range from creamy white to dark chocolate depending whether sapwood or heartwood is used. It also has a dense, tight-grained surface that can be polished to a smooth finish. With proper finishing techniques, woodworkers can bring out amazing grain patterns in the wood.

Black walnut is prized for its strength and stability, and many woodworkers particularly enjoy working with the unusually-shaped “burls” section from the tree’s lower trunks to make chairs, tables, and other specialty furniture pieces. The wood is also frequently used to make sculptures, musical instruments, relief carvings, and paneling.