Help on veneer selection

Question:

I have a job that the designer wants done to match a sample of pecan he gave me. I got a sheet of hickory which was said to be close to pecan. The problem is the designer does not like the dark and light that hickory has. Sigh. What wood species has similar graining and color as pecan/hickory without as much of the dark and light color variations?

Answer:

Hickory and Pecan are very similar woods. Only experts can easily tell them apart. As a result, we use the same veneers for both. However, both species can have totally different looks depending on the amount of heartwood and sapwood present in the veneer.

When ordering either of the two, you must specify the color you want. It can be the two toned variegated color which you obviously received or it can be all uniform color, either light or dark. What you’ve got isn’t wrong. It’s just not the right veneer for your project.

We currently stock five Hickory Veneers and four Pecan Veneers. Here are the five Hickory veneers. Click them to open their pages in new windows to see larger samples and the sizes and backers available:

Sometimes the best way to match a veneer to your sample is by sending a digital picture of the actual piece you need to match, but be aware the digital images may look different on our computer monitors than they do on yours. If you still have questions, feel free to contact our technical support staff anytime.

Oakwood Veneer Tech Support
Your source for veneering information