All walnuts are open pored wood. Maple and Myrtle are closed pore wood. Within the walnuts, some wood of any variety can be MORE open or closed pore. Just being more open pored doesn't mean this wood is soft. I am finishing a faily open pored piece of Claro right now which is the damnably hardest piece of any kind of walnut I have EVER worked. Many places I had to use a file instead of sandpaper. It has been cut out maybe 50 years and has tempered to amazing hardness and has cost me all kinds of time in finishing.
Now the ONLY advantage of English (Juglans Regia) is that it cuts so well. Black and Claro and Bastogne are rather chippy. English works much easier and cleaner. You can use larger cutting tools without the worry of chipping you get with the other walnuts. The other walnuts are often harder, but they are still chippy. Thus, English takes less time to finish. You have to fill all walnut pores (one way or another).
