LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner
2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Dark_Lightning 
#1 ·
Making Figured Maple Wainscot for a restaurant







Over the summer one of my instrument building customers told me he bought a restaurant. It seemed out of the blue but I wished him well.

Then I realized that he was not telling me this coincidentally. Rather, he wanted the restaurant's interior to pay homage to the exotic instrument woods he uses to build guitars.

I invited him out to the warehouse to take a walk and see if something inspires him.

Unfortunately, there were some limitations. Not the least of which was budget - there wasn't a lot allocated since the wainscot idea occurred late in the project. Also, exotic tonewoods are expensive, generally speaking.

Then there was the logistics. He wanted wood wall paneling in a wide width combination of 4",5",6" faces. Since it's applied to the wall, the lighter the better, for installation purposes.

We saw a bundle of Western Pacific Coast rustic figured maple which met all of the criteria. Also, it's the lightest weight specie of maple available, less dense than both sugar maple and red leaf maple.

Finally, to reduce the cost and spread the resource a little more efficiently, we ran a scant knife profile so we could thin kerf resaw 2 profiles from each 4/4 board. It's just on the wall anyway, right?

And to finish of the project…some tasty ramen!



This was a fun project.

If anyone is in Southern California, the restaurant is Ramen Song in downtown Redlands.


View on YouTube
 
See less See more
1 4
#4 ·
That is some amazing figure! Given what figured maple costs here in sunny Cal, I can understand budget constraints. As far as looking at wood, I'm the same way. My wife and I went on a cruise many years ago and I really admired the veneer on the decor on the ship.
 
#5 ·
That is some amazing figure! Given what figured maple costs here in sunny Cal, I can understand budget constraints. As far as looking at wood, I m the same way. My wife and I went on a cruise many years ago and I really admired the veneer on the decor on the ship.

- DarkLightning
Exactly! In restaurants, cruise ships, hotels, etc. whenever I've seen really _figured T&G paneling it has always been veneer. It usually has great figure but veneers have an unnaturally uniform appearance, in my opinion. This looks like solid wood (because is it.)
 
#6 ·
That is some amazing figure! Given what figured maple costs here in sunny Cal, I can understand budget constraints. As far as looking at wood, I m the same way. My wife and I went on a cruise many years ago and I really admired the veneer on the decor on the ship.

- DarkLightning

Exactly! In restaurants, cruise ships, hotels, etc. whenever I ve seen really _figured T&G paneling it has always been veneer. It usually has great figure but veneers have an unnaturally uniform appearance, in my opinion. This looks like solid wood (because is it.)

- Steve
...and that makes all the difference! I've used veneer in the past, and unless it's a small project, that side-by-each repetitive pattern is just too obvious.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top