Wood color combinations

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Haynie

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This is a flat work question that pertains to pens in a round about way.

I am not able to get 8 or 10/4 stock in the wood I want to make my rocking chair out of without paying an exorbitant amount plus shipping. I am going to a small mill in Southern Colorado next week that I can get 5/4 of what I want. I bounced around looking for ideas for a while and came across this and this, which got me naval gazing about possible wood combinations.

What woods just plain go together? What woods just plain DON'T go together? You segmented pen makers would know best (told you this was pen oriented in a round about way)

Looking for opinions.
 
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Be careful using padouk or rosewood with any light wood because the color will bleed from the darker wood into the lighter one. Found that out with a cutting board.
 
Light woods like maple, IMO, go good with about any other color of wood. I didn't know that the color would bleed from some woods, though. That's good to know.
 
Now this question opens a slew of my own questions. Do you really know what you are doing??? Have you done flat work before??? If you are asking this question I am having some doubts. Depending on the design of your rocking chair and from what you have linked to, you better know what you are doing. There is so many compound angles to drill and cut and shape. I hope you have the tools to pull this off. I do not know your background. I am not trying to scare you off the project but hopefully you have some skills. You will need them. :smile:

As far as your question most any light woods go well with most dark woods. In your example the exotic woods which you will pay dearly for are accent woods. You need stable woods such as maple, walnut, mahagony, and oak for the main woods. You do not want to mix wild grain patterns of one wood with wild grain patterns of another. Remember when joining woods they will move at different rates so that needs to be a consideration. Joints with slats or spindles is always the weakest area of a chair. Layering is a possibility instead of getting thick solid woods. As far as bleed over that can be easily controlled. Also remember some woods darken over time such as mahagonys and someone mentioned Paduk. Rosewoods is probably one of the richest looking woods out there but will be expensive. Good for accent pieces. Yellowheart is another great looking wood combined with rosewoods or walnut. Yellowheart is a very stable wood.

Finishing will be another challenge if you mix too many woods. Good luck and hope you can pull it off. Love to see the finished product. Take progress photos.
 
Hard to beat Black Walnut and Curly Maple IMHO. And, you can make that, just going one step at a time. All my friends didn't think I could build a street organ, but I did, just one step at a time.
 
Thanks Paul. I have no doubt I can get it finished.

This thread was about pleasing wood combinations, not my abilities. I agree that maple seems to go with anything dark. I wonder though about cherry and walnut. In looking around the net this would appear to be a nice combination to begin with. In time though, as both woods age, would they still be a good combination? I wonder about the cocobolo and walnut combination as well, over time.
 
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Most woods will darken with age due to sunlight. Sometimes this can enrich a piece. I have used just about all combinations of the woods I listed. Another wood that I really like is called Shedua. Has alot of deep black grain running through it aong with some lighter browns. Could take the place of walnut. Have also used Jatoba in place of mahagony, Sapele is a nice wood also.

You can always alter colors of woods with dyes and stains. Sometimes when looking for items on the net this has been the case when that item was made so be mindful of that too. I highly suggest though whatever you do and whatever combination you use to get more than enough material at the same time from the same source. Not an easy thing to match grain patterns or colors of woods from different trees. Good luck and as I said take progress photos. Should be challenging but an interesting project.
 
chair

Just an opinion, but I really like the sound of walnut and either curly or birdseye maple. The contrasts would be stunning in a project such as a rocking chair. But as I said it's just mho:biggrin: I would love to see the process if you happen to post pics!
 
Cherry changes color, but it deepens and becomes more golden, and would still look good with walnut. In fact it would look better IMHO after it ages a bit. I love the look of cherry that has darkened. My dining room set is cherry, and it is 50 years old and the most beautiful deep fruity brown.
 
If...

you have never made something that is as complicated as a rocking chair, I would plan on at least 1-2 false starts. If you have never made a chiar seat before, I would get some practice making them. If you have never made cane back chairs before I would make a couple those before a rocking chair.

Cutting the rockers for a rocking chair can be a real challenge. Do you plan to cut each out of a single block of wood? Glue ups?

While I have never made a full size rocking chair, I have helped a friend. And while I have made furniture before, I am conservative enough to want to make sure I can do the individual pieces and want a practice run or two on some of the pieces.

But, hey, I'm very detail oriented and minimize my risks in furniture making.
 
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