Why do people hate sapwood?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มี.ค. 2021
- Hoity-toity woodworkers say don't use sapwood. Do they have a point?
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The name of my part time business is “Knots and All.” I have been using the boards with knots, checks, splits, and sapwood for years to make beautiful furniture.
Like the name of your business! Wish you the best of luck
Love the name! My part time business is called TCA construction. Trim Covers All. It's not a real business, but when my friend and I get together and build crappy projects, trim covers all of our mistakes.
Bugger - another great name taken! I love knots (as long as they are stable) and sapwood, though I am not yet at the level where I can incorporate a split board as-is into most work.
@@robandsharonseddon-smith5216
Epoxy and CA glue are my secret, don’t tell anyone
Knots are awesome once you stabilize them with epoxy. The grain around the knots end up being way more interesting to look at than a piece made of quartersawn.
I made a foot stool with a top that is straight grained. And while it was easy to work it’s so homogenous that you can’t even tell it was edge glued from like four different pieces. The seems are basically invisible even to the guy who made it. And it’s utterly boring to look at.
I’m n the other hand I made a headboard that has a knot on one end of it and a tornado of heartwood grain swirl surrounding it. It’s gorgeous.
I’m currently making a coffee table out of a wall t wood that came from a slab. I purposely chose the slab that had S curving grain and another that had about four knots in it.
In Norway, I hear you have to be a forester for a year as part of your furniture making training. Understanding what it is, how it grows and how it moves is critical to fine furniture design and construction. Yet again, Stumpy brings a year of wisdom to us poor folks shopping at HD picking over 2x4's . Thank you again sir!
I do not know what you hear about Norway but I assure you that Ikea rules here! And woodworkers...more like for nice fine bild houses, furniture...very little!
@@peterboltoc4928 I apologize if I mischaracterized it. I read it from either Tage Fried or Sam Maloof discussing the understanding of wood before working with it. Seemed to make sense.
@@TheWoodFly No need to apologize! That it happened before. like 20-30 years before. Now convicts have nice workshops and they make some stuff, or there is quite a fashion about epoxi table boards and a lot of chinese stuff and... wait for it...Ikea...But there are a lot of misconceptions about this country until you get to live in it. Yes it might be a school with some student, no more then 15 that does what you say it does. But not in general. You want to see over 500 years style of wood working? See the Maramures gates in Romania. They also have what they call the churches built with no nails, which is common in Norway ,Russia, Ukraine,Germany, Romania and so on.(do not stop on Borgund Church in Norway)
Do what you feel like but please don't throw any piece of wood away: you can use it on another project or if it is rotten or full of bugs in Hugelkultur or reduced to chips in the compost pile. A hug from Portugal.
The delivery of knowledge on this channel is outstanding. Please keep at it!
I second this statement by taking time to make a sentence response. I'm always learning something new from these videos.
This is by far the most knowledgeable woodworking channel I follow. The way James delivers the knowledge is top notch as well.
Sapwood is the new live edge, starting now!
Thank you for another great video. The idea of celebrating the natural diversity of wood seems to be not so popular. Recently I met with a cabinet company, looking at Hickory, and the salesperson told me that the downside is that the wood isn't uniform in appearance. They also had cherry, but suggested the stained finish since it will appear uniform. I guess this is what people want, but I prefer the appearance of natural wood, color variations, even knots, all make for a beautiful and unique piece. If I wanted my stuff to be uniform I could either paint some MDF or buy some IKEA stuff that has a photograph of grain printed on them,
What happens when trees get startled? They pith their panths. As always, thanks for the insights.
Does “panths” mean something wood related? Or is it a typo? I looked it up but couldn’t find anything. Seems like “pith in their trunks” or “pith their plants” would work better.
@@CarlYota 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I like yours better!
I so appreciate how you debunk traditional beliefs in a respectful manner.
Stumpy Nubs is increasingly my number one woodworking resource on TH-cam. I enjoy a furniture-porn video as much as anyone, but this channel is all about insights and useful knowledge. Subscribed to the new e-journal too. Keep up the great work.
"Hoity-toity woodworkers" Love that old expression. Great Video very helpful Thanks.
I made a plane handle from a small apple tree in my yard. The tip of the tote is sapwood (white) while the body is a nice dark brown. I like it!
Great job explaining this dilemma people have James. I've been building furniture over 40 years and was told by many, remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
How clear you made this to understand. Thank you!
I just finished restoring a table (Italian) made at least 100 years ago.(my guess is around 1890). As I sanded the wood down in parts, I found that there was some sapwood there that was carefully stained to blend in. It indeed corresponded to the areas that had literally pulled apart. But if one considers that the cracking started only 5 years ago when the table was moved from Italy to the USA, I would argue that sapwood is pretty darn stable and only cracked due to changes in humidity and ambient temperature or perhaps humidity it endured in transit. While I do woodwork as a hobby, my profession is biomedical research. As such, I truly appreciated the 'cellular' explanation of how these 2 woods differ. Honestly, I did not know that the tree deposited all the 'waste' in the inner cells. Fascinating!
In the case of Black walnut, freshly sawn boards can be steamed to artificially get the sapwood to more closely match the heartwood. It's a time consuming process, and the lumber must be dried afterward, but it works. I carve a lot of walnut, and sometimes the only way I can tell a piece has been previously steamed, is that the gouge suddenly slices through the grain much easier as it passes from the heartwood into the slightly softer sapwood.
Thanks, I was wondering if there was a way to darken sapwood after harvest.
You can make a dye from the walnut wrappers (unsure of the english word, but the shell comes in a soft coating), and stain the light areas (v just plane it away)
@@WeedMIC thanks, handy to know -- we have a walnut tree.
Thanks for the great information.
As a beginner woodworker I have learned so much watching you channel, especially on the safety side. This will help me avoid sounding like a complete idiot when I start getting actual wood beyond the "by the pound" end cuts for practice.
Great Video, I think your comment at 4:35 says it all about what past furniture makers would have thought about sapwood!
We won't call you Sappy Nubs...but your videos and website are top...notch!
I don't review all the comments in the videos, so I'm unsure if this was shared. This is the first video with the Stumpy Nubs logo upside-down. :-)
Another nugget of truth from the master of common sense woodworking.
If a “real woodworker” doesn’t appreciate that beautifully warm artful piece of furniture you’ve created; then they should buy a welder.
Reading through the comments shows you have discerning and smart audience. Inevitably someone else has made a comment that says better what I wanted to say. James, you are a real prince and scholar among wood workers.
I ain't scared of no sap wood! Nice talk. Thanks for the content.
I milled some walnut after it sat for a year then it sat as lumber for over a year outside. The dark part kinda stained the sap wood dark. You can still tell a difference between the two in the furniture I made but it looks really nice to me and everyone who's seen it
I like natural wood and not staining. We have a lot of cherry what we used for cabinets at the mountain house. Dad made the cabinets and left some of the sapwood on the boards. Makes for a very nice looking piece.
I love using sapwood to give pieces a unique look. Glad to see someone I respect feels this way as well.
I love the contrast of the sapwood and try to celebrate it in my projects.
It might also be important to mention that modern kiln drying processes will cause some of those chemicals responsible for coloration of heartwood to seep into the sapwood and cause the color difference to be less noticeable. I can see it in the walnut pieces you are arranging for your drawer fronts. Compare that to naturally air dried lumber and the heartwood and sapwood will maintain dramatic differences in color. Especially in woods such as walnut that have dark colored heartwood. This is something I have taken into consideration when using walnut from a tree we cut down, milled and dried ourselves. If I were to buy it from a lumber supplier that sells kiln dried wood, I would be more likely to utilize the sapwood as the contrast is not so stark.
Great video and great presentation of information as always! You do a great job of equipping us with knowledge so we may make our own decisions with the tools and knowledge we need!
Mesquite, which I use because I have plenty, has an abundance of both sapwood and heartwood. I even use the pith but often have to fill it with superglue in my small gift items. I cut the pith out for large projects. I think it adds character to include all and found with mesquite that, when dried, the sapwood is as hard or harder than the heartwood.
I have learned to embrace boards with some sapwood it in years ago, as one of my favorite wood suppliers often set those boards aside for me as most ppl turn the nose to them, I would get Fantastic deals on the boards, and the projects I was making with them at the time, looked Unique and embellished by the sapwood, I remember getting funny looks at a wood dealer when I picked out a bunch of morado with sapwood in it, while everyone else was un-piling the load to find the figures wood. Some of my favorite wood with sap is, morado, walnut, Cherry, I love Cheery with funky sapwood shapes on the face of the boards.
Congratulations James, on passing 500k. Glad to see and you deserve it!
I like the look of sap wood especially in musical instruments I love the contrasting colors of the wood.
There was so much information in this segment! Thank You James👍
Great info, I didn’t know the sapwood expanded and contracted differently.
It's because the "mix" of components is different. Think of it as hardwood being the "bones" of the tree and sapwood being the "veins" of the tree.
Thank you for this. The internet is so full of contradicting "facts", it can be very intimidating to even start woodworking as a hobby, especially if you, like I am, are a person who reads up and gathers information for ages before trying something out.
You made all the same points I've pointed out in this debate to people (customers,employees, ect.)I'm glad there is a video that I have someone making the same points I can refer to as well.my judgement is trusted since I'm a 45yo arborist & furniture maker,but it is still nice to be able to point someone to another source.
Keep up the excellent work&keep um coming!if I knew how to sand pictures, I'd send a few with some pretty original pieces with sapwood inclusions...Anyways,
Take care!
🖒
Thanks for all the great wealth of knowledge you share with everyone! Paul
Another great class in Stumpy School. Keep it up, I never tire of learning.
My brain just learned something brand new, thank u nubs just gain an inch more of knowledge.
Thanks for great video James!
Good stuff Stumpy, thank you for sharing.
Awesome video!!! Just another reason why this my favorite woodworking channel hands down!
This video convinced me that you would make really great videos on any topic woodworking or otherwise.
Another great video James. Seven minutes or so of interesting and educational content. Thank you. 👍🏻
Incorporate sapwood with your project gives a lot of character, in moderation, love it
I have quite a bit of old walnut that came from a tree on some property I inherited. There is a significant amount of sapwood, but my preference is the beautiful look of the darker heartwood in my projects. That said, I find it hard to scrap so much of the lumber that I paid to have rough-sawn. Walnut is probably one of the hardwoods where the difference between sapwood and heartwood is most apparent. It can be very pretty, though, if used in certain projects where you plan where it will or won't show.
Another chapter of good information! Thanks for sharing.
Love this James. That walnut sap wood is gorgeous.
Awesome article, as always. Coming to your channel, I always know I am going to learn something useful.
Excellent and well-reasoned information, as always. Thanks for the no-nonsense approach to sapwood.
Yet another perfect video. I created wooden keepsakes and recently completed on entitled "Tressa" made of cherry and has heartwood displayed creatively.
Thanks again for your video.
Thanks for sharing knowledge in a non-condescending way. I appreciate that.
I prefer to use a mix of sapwood & heartwood because of the variations of colors, tones & effects at your disposal.
This is especially true with poplar, natural maple & birch. Sometimes i'm lucky to find some driftwood with very unique colors. One such piece I finished with clear shellac & it brought out colors of deep dark browns, purples & reds, greens & golds, including areas that shimmered almost like metallics.
It must have been contaminated with something because it would gag you when cutting or jointing it. It called for a respirator to continue but it was worth it.
As always, very informative. Thanks for the video.
The carving is now level, much more aesthetically pleasing. Thank you.
Great content as usual, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Great video and discussion! Bravo!
Thanks for another great video. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Educational, and beautifully presented/illustrated - some of those trees must have been amazing to see. Thank you :)
Hi James,
This channel constantly gives some of the best information delivered excellently and has certainly helped me make good choices in tools.
I was looking at your website and it looks really good now.
Great job, keep it up!
Fascinating, thought-provoking, and highly practical from a man who lives in the “woods.”
I heard the terms. Now, I saw the show. Excellent, concise and understandable. Thank you, James. If you ever come over for dinner, don't worry, I don't serve soup. I shake too.
Your information is always enlightening. But, this was outstanding. I am new to this craft and this video was amazing. Thanks.
I'm a novice in wood and woodworking and appreciate this information. I'm starting to do projects with solid wood and not just plywood. I wondered why the piece of cherry that I got had such a light streak, so thanks!
Thanks much for this video! As always, extremely informative, especially the information about the (in)stability sapwood can have - I knew nothing of this before. I use poplar a lot for doorway and closet mouldings where hardwood would be excessive, and the sapwood / heartwood contrast gives a unique look, particularly when stained - it really makes the long narrow boards "pop."
outstanding video, keep up the great work. As always your channel is a wealth of knowledge 🤙
I love the look of sapwood as it accentuates the beauty of the grain. During my formative years, everything I do was made from lumber yard pine boards. Nowadays, the whole damned board is like sap. It was probably when I got into turning that I awoke from the heartwood fog and embraced the wonderful ribbons that sapwood provides. If it is a small project, take me to the firewood stack!
Great information here, and a beautiful example of incorporating sapwood into a design with that dresser. I would love to see an episode dedicated to the subject of designing and marking out planks of arranged wood to make a dresser/TV stand/etc like that. Keep up the great work!
Just hearing your voice is enough conformation to realize that, I’m in the right dimension. Your publications are very informative, and worth all my attention. Thank You Mr Hamilton, As always you give a of yourself, utilizing your wealth of knowledge, and give freely. Receive my acknowledgment. Thanx again.
Thank you, never understood this before.
Great info, sir! Thanks!
Great explanation, Thank you🙏🏻
Thanks for sharing that, well said!
Thank you for the great informative video!
I'm currently making a vase out of only sapwood. It's the best looking part of the tree in my opinion.
Very Interesting!!! I learn new stuff everyday!!! Thank You!!!! 👍😎
VERY good advice thank u.
I use it I'm a fan of the color variety i think it makes a more visually interesting piece.
I love it Stumps, didn’t know all the terminology or background however the appearance I find terribly appealing.
Good one ol’boy.
Bob
England
Very sensible, I love variation in color.
Very helpful information.
Joe White
Made in The Stockade
Wow! What a great video, thank you. I use Cedar sapwood on the sides of my bird houses with sapwood ends facing the front, people love the contrast.
Keep doing what you do
I always learn something new from you.
I hope you decided on the "Georgia O'Keefe" layout for that glue-up .
Congrats on half million subscribers, well deserved! Your channel is definitely underrated and it is just a question of time when you get 1M subscribers!
Give me two and a half more years. I'll get there...
@@StumpyNubs Nah, more like in this year. Your videos are extremely well made and helpful to beginners and advanced woodworkers. I always pick something from your videos, and even if I don't, I find them very entertaining. Keep up the great content. Greetings from Croatia
Love the color of shelves
Great info! thanks!
Great tutorial. 👍
Exelente video, siempre lleno de muy buena información
Great information I did know this.
Some really beautiful wood there, dude! 😃
I totally agree! It can make a piece even more beautiful!
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Thanks for sharing with us James, I agree. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. At today’s wood prices who can afford to pass up the bargain wood? Fred. 👏🏻👏🏻👍👍😁
I still use mostly 2x6s for my project stock. I actually really like the blue sapwood and made it a trademark of mine to have one area of each project be mostly accented by it. Usually one leg of a table or bed etc.
Great info.
I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.
From an absolutely technical standard the only living cells in the tree trunk are the cambium: The layer between the bark and the sapwood. The sapwood is responsible for transporting water and nutrients but it does this via capillary action as opposed to active transfer of these substances.
I was wondering how long before someone found a reason to say "Hmmmmm ACTUALLY....."
@@StumpyNubs LOL
Could you talk about the benefits of using gum wood for furniture? There's a good bit of confusion of it's uses.
The random patterns that appear in wood is what makes them visually interesting to me and it's why I like natural wood furniture so if more variation is introduced because of sap wood then all the better. If you want a peice of wood furniture to be effectively a solid color then you might as well paint it. I even like to leave knots sometimes which makes shopping easy too because many people spend a bunch of time picking through lumber trying to find boards with no knots.
I agree that the natural intricacies of wood is what make it beautiful. But there’s a difference between wanting something to be a solid homogenous color and not wanting a cream streak on a dark chocolate tabletop. Walnut sapwood is particularly offensive because the contrast is so great. That makes it fine for some projects but not all.
A lot of time you do want the piece to overall be the same tone. Obviously you are going to get variations, but if you stand back thirty feet and your eyes aren’t blending it to a single color than you’ve got massive variations that aren’t suitable for the aesthetic that most people want.
Some are f the most beautiful wood is species like canary wood where you get color variations. But the color variance has to blend. Stark sapwood/heartwood variations out it in a different category. And I can’t agree that the more variance the better.
This is coming from someone who has a headboard and matching desk that is made of hickory sapwood with a massive heartwood streak down the center. I purposefully arranged
Boards to sandwich full heartwood boards in between boards that were naturally half heartwood and sapwood. So it looks like a massive slice was taken out of a huge tree.
I love those pieces but it’s not something I want to do in every piece of furniture I make. And I damn sure do not want hard joint line between sapwood boards and heartwood boards.
This makes it difficult to build big walnut pieces because finding enough boards that have no sapwood on either side is near impossible. Tables are easier to manage because nobody looks at the bottom or f tables. Console cabinets are tough because people do look interact with the inside of cabinets. I can see why people don’t se walnut plywood for such things.
Watched from Yosemite Kentucky .
I am a big fan of "swirls" and out there looks, which is why Poplar is one of my favorite woods. I am a borderline hobbyist who sells a decent amount of my work, but not anywhere near enough to make it a job. Yes, the price is a consideration, but the ability to get those deep greens, grays, cream colors, and the rainbow if you are lucky, is really a treat in my opinion. I like oak, but, I honestly think it is a little boring sometimes. Granted, I don't have a high end lumber dealer near me, so I use box stores and a local lumber yard that is hit or miss, but I continue to keep going back to Poplar when I want something with a real pop.
Sure, it will all darken and brown over time, but I don't think that is a reason to avoid cool colors and figures. In fact, it makes the art quite ephemeral in nature, which means enjoying it in the moment is even more important, as it will not look that cool forever. I actually think part of why my pieces do sell are that they are very different looking than traditional boxes and cases, as I often go for the extreme looking boards, and people who share my taste and want a piece at a reasonable price can find that happy medium with poplar.
My point is that for any hobbyists out there who want to experiment with some crazy colors and patterns at a cheap price, check out the poplar at your local store, and make sure to check regularly because you will see wildly different boards every time. If you see one with the rainbow pattern at a box store, make sure to grab it! I check every week and have had quite a bit of luck. Nothing with a full rainbow, but enough of it to make some small boxes that have a majority of it on the faces.
Great video, as always, Missure Nubs.
Look at hickory. You can often find pieces that are cut from the transition from sapwood to heartwood. So you get those natural curve color lines.