American Black Walnut

American Black Walnut

Nothing else in the yard looks like walnut, and that is the whole reason to buy it. American black walnut (Juglans nigra) is the one native temperate hardwood that arrives genuinely dark, a deep chocolate brown straight off the board with no stain and no trickery, and it is why it ends up in the pieces people are proudest of: dining tables, staircases, veneered panelling, bespoke kitchens and instrument work. It is stable, it machines and carves cleanly, and it takes a finish as well as any timber we sell. Imported from the United States and stocked in our yard for delivery across Ireland in thicknesses from 26 to 65 mm, kiln dried, with FSC and PEFC certified supply available on request. Sold by the cubic foot and priced on enquiry.

Why American Black Walnut?

Beyond the colour, walnut is a genuinely easy timber to work. It is only moderately dense at around 660 kg per cubic metre, so it is kind to tooling and to your back, yet it holds crisp detail and resists denting well enough for a table top that gets daily use. It is dimensionally stable once dried, which matters on wide panels, and it steam bends respectably.

Two honest points before you order. First, the sapwood is pale cream and the contrast with the heartwood is stark, so on a run of matching components you either specify heart only and pay for the higher yield loss, or you design the sap in deliberately. Second, and this surprises people, walnut lightens with age rather than darkening. Direct sunlight will pull a rich chocolate towards a warmer, lighter brown over a few years. It is still lovely, but it is not the colour you signed off in the workshop, so keep that in mind for a top under a south facing window.

Installation guidance

Let it acclimatise. Two to three weeks stickered flat in the room it will live in, off the floor with air to both faces, is the difference between a table top that stays true and one that cups in its first heating season.

Allow wide panels to move. Slotted fixings, figure of eight fasteners or buttons let a top expand across its width against the frame instead of splitting. When machining, take light final passes: walnut is soft enough that a heavy cut will bruise the surface, and the bruise only shows once the finish goes on.

Finishing & maintenance

Walnut is an interior timber, so this is straightforward. A penetrating hardwax oil is the usual choice: it deepens the colour, keeps the surface feeling like wood, and lets you repair a scratch by scuffing that area alone. A lacquer gives you a tougher, more spill resistant film if the piece will take hard use, at the cost of whole surface stripping to repair.

Avoid anything that yellows, including oil based polyurethane, which pushes walnut towards an orange cast that fights the natural colour. We stock finishes that suit dark hardwoods, so ask us which to pair with yours. Either way, wipe spills promptly, clean with a barely damp cloth, and keep the piece out of direct sun to slow the natural lightening.