Black walnut is the premier American hardwood. This species from the eastern United States has been exported worldwide due to its unrivaled beauty and timeless beauty. Walnut has a light yellow to pale brown sapwood, and deep, rich chocolate brown heartwood. Streaks of grey, purple, reds and greens can be found throughout, especially on air-dried specimens, although many of these colors will fade to varying degrees of brown with oxidation if not promptly sealed with a UV inhibitor. It features a generally straight grain with a medium texture, but highly figured pieces from around branches and splits can result in truly stunning pieces of figured lumber. Black walnut is a very durable to rot but can be susceptible to insect attacks. Straight grain pieces will machine easily, while the difficulty increases with the variations in grain direction on highly figured pieces. Walnut has been used for cabinetry, furniture, millworks, gun stocks, musical instruments, paneling, veneer, turned and other specialty items for the novice and professional woodworkers alike. It has a janka hardness rating right around 1000, and weighs 3 pounds per board foot. Walnut is sold as both FAS (clear) and rustic (knotty).
VARIATIONS AND OPTIONS
4/4 refers to lumber that was cut at 1 inch thickness
15/16ths has been skip planed (a majority of the surfacing work has been done, there may be a few spots that are still rough, but the grain of the particular piece of wood should be visible)
13/16ths is commonly called finish planed. This should be ready for sanding and finish
Ripped 1 edge is lumber that has been run through a straight-line rip saw. This allows for easy squaring on a table saw.
Sanded refers to a select few lumber options that have been run through a belt sander and are 100% finish ready.
5/4 lumber was sawn at 1.25 inches in thickness.
6/4 lumber was sawn at 1.5 inches in thickness.
8/4 lumber was sawn at 2 inches in thickness.
10/4 lumber was sawn at 2.5 inches in thickness.
12/4 lumber was sawn at 3 inches in thickness.