walnut or maple

[Matt B]

I have been cutting patterns by Sam Custodio and have been using maple since it is a strong wood with closed pores. My process to prepare wood is to purchase 1" wood, resaw it in half and plane to thickness.  I really like Walnut, but it does have open pores. Is it strong enough for scrolling when about 1/4 to 3/8" thick?  I know I can try it myself but I will ask for opinions anyway.

Thanks,

Matt

[Denny Knappen]

Hi Matt.  I used 1/4" Walnut, but not for fretwork.  I did a 1/2" Walnut trivet and it cut without any problems.

[JimErn]

I've used 3/8th walnut both as the major piece and as inlay, it cuts and finishes well

[dgman]

Matt, just because a wood has open pores does not make it weaker. Woods with open grains may be weaker, but not necessarily open pores. I use Walnut all the time for fretwork. I even use it for ornaments usually in 3/16” without any problems. As with any hardwood, you want to orient the pattern for the best possible grain strength, but it should be fine to cut.

Edited December 23, 2019 by dgman

[Jim McDonald]

I've done 1/4" walnut for ornaments--but they don't get handled much so the wear and tear is not a problem.

 

[bcdennis]

I work with 1/4 Walnut for ornaments and such and it works great.  No problems at all. 

[Bill WIlson]

I've used 1/4" walnut, red oak and other open grained woods for fretwork.  They hold up fine.  I've gone down to 3/16" thick with no real problems.  I've done thinner, but you have to be selective in the pattern if you use 1/8" hardwood.  If I want something that thin, I typically go to BB ply.   Like any other wood, narrow cross grain sections will be fragile, but I don't think walnut is inherently weaker than maple.

[Matt B]

Great. Thanks everyone for sharing your experience. 
Matt

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I agree with others. Walnut is fine for scrolling fret work so is red oak which I use alot of and is more open grain than all of them. Mahagony is good as well.

[Gonzo]

I will agree with the others. I use 1/4" maple with 1/4" walnut quite a bit. No problems at all. Which is really cool, because we all know how beautiful of a contrast they are when used together.