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Curly maple is a great choice. Or you could find some light wood that's spalted. This is cherry and pecan.
Steve S.
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How about curly cherry to go with regular grain cherry for the rest of the chest. By just using it on the drawer fronts, you could afford to spend some dollars to get some knock out figure. If you are just pleasing yourself then the following suggestion won't apply. There is a lot of variation in people's sense of appropriate color/grain combinations. I do not like glaring differences when it comes to accenting woods. Judging from some of the comments I see from other's comments about pieces with lots of contrast that are sometimes shown here, it is clear that others don't share my belief and quite possibly, I am in the minority. Just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ken
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Ken Vick said:
...glaring differences when it comes to accenting woods...
I'm with you Ken. High contrast mixes of woods does work in limited cases. When it does work it's often in very formal pieces. A formal look on a more contemporary design...ehhh.... (for me). You also have to consider where the piece will sit and what will surround it.
Of course there are rare exceptions. I'm attempting one now..hope it works.
The mixed wood pieces I tend to like are where the woods are fairly similar. When the piece is viewed from a distance it looks 'together' and when you get closer you start to notice the differences...and then it gets really interesting.
Everybody's taste is different..
Kevin
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What about curly beech or flame birch. They are both lighter woods and they have a more subtle figure. I am also a big fan of using crotch figure. This is a horrible picture of one of my sons beds I built. Is is light curly cherry and avodire crotch. There or a few lighter colored crotches that would work or you could go darker and use walnut crotch. Take a look at veneersupplies.com at some of the options.
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Ken Vick said:
How about curly cherry to go with regular grain cherry for the rest of the chest. By just using it on the drawer fronts, you could afford to spend some dollars to get some knock out figure. If you are just pleasing yourself then the following suggestion won't apply. There is a lot of variation in people's sense of appropriate color/grain combinations. I do not like glaring differences when it comes to accenting woods. Judging from some of the comments I see from other's comments about pieces with lots of contrast that are sometimes shown here, it is clear that others don't share my belief and quite possibly, I am in the minority. Just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ken
I agree with Ken about the contrasting woods.
I would use curly (figured) cherry myself. Bob Kloes, who goes by Big Bob on this fourm, sells very nice figured cherry and ships from Wis. If you can't locate him here, this is his blog / web site access / contacts.
http://bobkloes.blogspot.com/Or, try veneer and you will have many choices that appeal to you.
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I like the idea of curly cherry as well. If you want extra contrast you can add it by using dye or contrasting shellac to pop the grain as in
this video . If you are using TransTint dye you can put it in
Orange shellac or whatever is cheapest. If you like you could use Thai Seed or Garnet shellac to emphasize the grain on the drawer fronts. If you go this route make sure to keep good notes for repairs or if you want to duplicate the finish. Make sure to test on scrap or the inside of a drawer front first.
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Ash is light-colored and has a pronounced grain.
If I had 8 hours to cut down a tree, I'd do it in 15 minutes with a chainsaw and drink beer the other 7:45 hrs.
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There are a couple of pretty good magazine articles on the subject:
Wood issue 153
Fine Woodworking issue 211
Also. One other suggestion: Try using some cherry sapwood for contrast.
Sorry for the poor quality photo.
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Curly maple is my vote. This pic was taken several years ago. The cherry has darkened some over time to a deeper red.
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