Black Walnut Wood Slabs & Rough Cut Lumber | Alderfer Lumber

Common Trade Names: Black walnut, American black walnut, eastern black walnut, Canaletto, black hickory nut

Scientific Name: Juglans nigra

Color Range: Light pale brown to a rich chocolate brown heartwood with darker streaks, often with gray, purple, or reddish cast. Sapwood is yellow-gray or white with figured grain patterns.

Availability: Popular, widely available

Janka Scale Hardness: 1,010 lbf (4,490 N)

Average Weight per BF: 38 lbs/bdft

Common Uses: furniture, cabinetry, wood paneling, wood accent walls, gunstocks, tonewood, trailer decking, commercial shelving, turning objects

 

What Is Black Walnut Wood?

Black walnut lumber is a premium quality wood and one of the most valuable hardwood species. It has a rich and unique color and grain pattern favored for a sleek and traditional to modern interior finish. Its straight grain wood has swirls that finish to a high polish. The rough lumber has good dimensional stability and shock resistance, which is easily workable for many woodworking projects.

 

American black walnut is used by many woodworkers, especially in formal furniture and antique-themed homes. It is used for wood flooring, parquetry, and shiplap paneling, creating an illusory raised surface when constructing tongue and grooves.

 

Durable, widely useful, and aesthetically beautiful, the black walnut lumber is unsurprisingly costly, being one of the finest hardwoods.

 

Where Is Black Walnut Sourced From?

Black walnut is the only native hardwood tree in the United States that thrives in central and eastern parts. It may be growing in groups or individually, scattered among other trees. Black walnut is particularly present in Missouri, Ohio, and Kentucky, with some species scattered in Southern Canada.

 

Early American settlers discovered that black walnut lumber is quite resistant to decay. Thus, they traditionally used its wood as a fence post, box beams, poles, and shingles. It is hardwood with reliable strength and durability. It is dark, hard, and dense with a tight grain that offers exceptional tensile strength and dimensional stability.

 

What to Look for When Buying Black Walnut

American walnut is excellent for many types of woodwork, from novelties to large inspiration projects. Its rough-cut hardwood lumber is ideal for creating a rustic and aesthetic design, such as a headboard, desk, or sign panels.

 

When buying black walnut rough sawn lumber, choose thick and longboards. Remember that you will lose some of it when planing and rough-sawing, so provide a few inches of clearance. Always consider the usable building material more than aesthetics as hardwood rough cut lumber is not sold as pretty, even the top-grade rough sawn lumber. But depending on your project, the lumbers with fewer knots are better.

 

Pros and Cons of Black Walnut Lumber

Black walnut is an excellent option for custom-made millwork used in home improvements. It does not resist intricate carvings, which are suitable for custom trim, custom molding, crown molding, and many more.

 

Pros

• Strong and durable
• Shock-resistant
• Beautiful appearance
• Easy to work

 

Cons

• Expensive
• Prone to insects

 

FAQs

How strong is black walnut lumber?

Black walnut is heavy and dense with a density of about 660 kg/m³ and stiffness of 1,680 million lbf/in². These are good indicators of black walnut lumber strength.

 

Is black walnut used as tone wood?

Sometimes, black walnut is used as a laminate tonewood for all types of guitar, including fret and neck. As a dense and heavy wood, black walnut can provide bright tones, tight low-end, and good sustain.

 

Where to Buy Black Walnut

Black walnut wood is a luxurious rare tree with high demand but often short supply. This prompts it to be considerably pricier. Local wood suppliers and some online wood sellers may occasionally have them in their stocks.

 

If you want quality rough-cut hardwood lumber like black walnut, you may check Alderfer Lumber Company Inc. We sell reasonably-priced domestic and exotic timbers for the best value. We stock up our inventory for availability to have everything you need in one place.

 

We have different-sized rough-cut lumber and live edge slabs for all kinds of woodworking needs. And if you can’t find what you are looking for, email us. We will send you our available inventory that may not be posted on our website for a wide range of wood.