Finding the Right Wood for your Kitchen Cabinets – Hickory
One of the most popular woods for cabinets and furniture is hickory. Very strong, stiff and shock resistant, hickory provides years of great looking wear, looking nicer as it ages. Because this is an extraordinarily hard wood, it is very resistant to scratches and dents.
There are two different natural colors in hickory: the heartwood and the sapwood. The heartwood ranges in color from a caramel brown to a deep auburn color. The sapwood, the newer wood around the outside of the tree, is white to very light brown. Over time, wear and tear and touching by hundreds of hands will cause the colors to deepen and take on a richness that lends itself to feeling antique and rustic.
Hickory tends to have a very straight grain with slight waves. Arching and waviness is exposed when the wood is cut. The combination of multiple rich colors and grains make hickory one of the most distinctive woods for cabinetry.
Hickory veneered panels or plywood are unlikely to have the same patterns. Because of the nature of the wood, it can be very hard to match the panels.
Because of the density and hardness of the wood, stain doesn’t take as well on hickory as it does on other species. A stain will be used to just soften the natural colors.
Primers and paints are definitely not recommended. Not only will you lose the beautiful wood, but the variations in color will come through paint, making it look stained.
One of the nicest things to do to hickory is a glaze. Glazing will bring out the depth and fire form the wood, drawing out the wood’s natural accent and beauty.
There are some companies that will add aging elements to the wood, such as splits. For the impatient, this might be attractive, but for the most part, hickory deserves to age on its own as the aging process adds more character to this beautiful wood over the years.
Hickory will have some dark spots and streaks that add to the character of the wood. The knots in the wood range for dark brown to black. They tend to be small but very visible. The wood also has mineral stains through it. This combined with light and dark grains, knots and other inconsistencies that add to the character and styling of the wood.