My Custom Walnut Table Tops
Dark Walnut Table
My wood table tops are built with softly colorful boards, rich highlights of color and some em natural markings. Not only is the artistic finish I apply to these dark walnut table tops uniquely individual, the boards themselves shine with surprising warmth and color. Each table has a custom walnut look, no two are alike.
When walnut is dried in a commercial kiln, it is not just dried. It is dried and steamed, dried and steamed, etc. Walnut lumber has an unusual quality. When steamed the colors in the wood will bleed together creating a uniform brown board. The manufacturer furniture companies want this effect. I do not. This is why I built my own solar kiln.
My custom walnut is dried without steam using only solar energy and an electric fan. The process is slow but produces gorgeous boards with faint hints of teal and rose or other unexpected colors. The sapwood remains light and I include small amounts of it in my dark walnut table tops.
From the time I have the logs sawn until they are fully dried takes about eight to twelve weeks during the warm months. The supply is limited but it is worth the wait. The result is stunning dark walnut table tops with striking sapwood highlights.
