[OP]
Member
Hello,
As I have said, I am a beginner. I am looking to build some random furniture(bookshelves, wine cabinet, etc.) I am planning on messing up some wood, so what would you suggest for wood that I will be happy with if I complete the project, but not break the bank(read CHEAP)? Something I can stain, no paint.
Seems like an easy question...
Member
Pine, Poplar come to mind. Depending in what part of the country you live. Red Oak is reasonable. Just jump in and don't get frustrated.
"You can lead them to Linux
but you can't make them Think"
Retired and testing my woodworking skills
Contributor
My vort s for Cherry. The cost is a bit more but I think you will be much happier with your finished projects. Depending on where you live you might find that it isn't too expensive. Poplar and pine are fine for painting but can be difficult to stain. Cherry can always be BLO'ed and shelac'ed (easy).
Member
The pine most commonly available is construction grade and not furniture grade. Sometimes this lumber will change dimensions as you look at it.
Considering all of the 'bad ' places you have to cut around, it's not so cheap in the long run. A clear finish on red oak is very attractive. This should drastically bring down the price of your project considering you will not need shellac, wood sealers and stain.
Red oak is fairly inexpensive, works fairly easily and the end result will look very professional.
Retired, living and cruising full-time on my boat.
Currently on the Little Tennessee River near Knoxville
Member
Oak is a fun wood to work with for all woodworkers. It machines well and will last forever. The grain is interesting and it takes stain well. Find a sawmill that kiln dries or an old fashioned lumber yard. We all mess up some wood but I just don't post pictures of my failures. Don't plan on buying quality wood from a borg.
[OP]
Member
Where is the best place to get red oak or any furniture lumber around you or me. I am in Spring/NW Houston.Originally Posted by Tony Bilello
Member
As I dislike red oak and I love white oak so I'll say alder. It is soft enough to plane well, hard enough to sand well, glues great and cheap enough to screw up a bit . I had oiled alder kitchen cabinets for 20 years till I ripped out the kitchen and used some of the cabinets for general storage and they still look ok. To me it's very user friendly. Soft maple would be my next choice.
Member
Ok Chris, you got it?
Pine - Poplar
Cherry
Not Pine - Red Oak
Fun Oak
Not Red Oak - White Oak so Alder!
Anything else we can help you with?
Member
Paul makes a great point here!
You asked about a cheap wood that was easy to stain. Lets review:
Pine takes stain like my backside unless you use wood conditioner but it is the cheapest by far. If you do go with pine, make it premium (without knots) for a beginner it is much easier
Poplar IMO is out because you will NOT like it stained. The colors are ugly ugly ugly and it does not take stain well. Now if you do decide to paint ... you got a winner!
Cherry takes stain in blotches and there is next to nothing you can do about it. Certainly not for a beginner to try to stain.
Red Oak you can get most anywhere, stains ok(ish) and does not cost too much.
White Oak is the most expensive of all suggested but take stains well and smells wonderful when you cut it. As long as you don't try to buy quarter-sawn it is still not terribly expensive compared to exotic lumber.
Alder is called the poor man’s cherry. It takes stain better than cherry and is cheaper than cherry but if you go for a high grade of it the price will go up dramatically. It may come with tons of knots which are dangerous for a beginner to deal with but not impossible.
These are just some things to keep in mind before you buy.
Dewey
"Everything is better with Inlay or Marquetry!"
Member
I like poplar, ash, alder, maple, and walnut. Poplar is dirt cheap, dimensionally stable, and really nice to machine but the grain is very boring. Its great to learn joinery with, and I use it a lot for drawers and doors that are going to be painted. I've found ash to be fairly inexpensive but it has more interesting grain. It machines ok but planing is difficult if you get swirly grain. I have a nice electric guitar body I made out of ash. Alder is cheap but it isn't terribly stable while drying and the grain isn't that interesting. Cherry and mahogany are nice to machine and nice looking too. Mahogany is really expensive but its easy to find good salvage pieces out of things like old church pews and packing crates. I like apple and pear as well, but those are difficult to find in large pieces. All of these machine pretty nicely, but the price is going to depend on the region where you live. Ash, alder, maple, and walnut are local species for me, and so is red oak, but I don't find red oak to be enjoyable to work with. Oak is too porous to finish without grain filler, and doesn't plane particularly well. Walnut is porous too, but certain finishes look fine without filling the grain. Walnut is fairly expensive everywhere but I managed to score a pretty good stash of it for free by cutting up some urban trees. Maple isn't too expensive as long as you aren't looking for a lot of figure. I have some nice big leaf maple I cut out of a downed tree.
I really dislike pine. A lot of beginners use it because it is cheap. I started out using it too, mostly offcuts and leftovers from the pine wall paneling my dad built into the log home he built in 1979. It is really hard to get fine furniture out of pine. It is unstable and it machines terribly. It dents and cups if you look at it wrong, its full of knots and pitch, it turns black if it gets wet, and it yellows with age. Pine is the path to frustration. I wasn't proud of any of my work until I started using better wood.
Some of my favorite projects were things I built out of salvaged or scrounged wood. What you can do with it is going to depend on what you have. Sometimes its just a little box or turned item, or sometimes its a table or chair or a cabinet door. I think learning how to scrounge wood is a good skill for a beginner or someone who is a bit tight on money. Then you can use the cash for tools!
Last edited by Josiah Bartlett; 01-22-2009 at 4:14 AM.
Member
I'm not sure of Texas wood prices, so I'll offer this instead. Start by building a few uncomplicated smaller projects so mistakes won't be so expensive. Large cabinets, shelving units, tables etc really eat of the board feet. Maybe work your way up to an end table in a month or so.
And get over to the finish forum, so you don't mess up your work on the last step, with a bad stain job
Member
Chris, in my opinion you should pick a domestic wood which looks good to you. You might like the open grain of oak or you may prefer the tighter grain of cherry or maple. Whatever you make is going to be around a long time. Would you rather walk past it and say to yourself "that looks really nice and I made it" or "there's that shelf I made. At least it was cheap"?
Stay away from the exotics and highly figured domestics like quilted maple which can be irritating to your lungs and wallet.
For my money, cherry with a BLO and shellac finish is stunning. The downside is that cherry burns easily when being cut and might require a lot of sanding.
You could also consider hardwood plywood with some kind of edge-banding for your shelving unit.
Member
Chris,
Poplar is a good wood to work with and some on this forum have reported good results in staining with it.
Another wood you might consider is common grade soft maple. You will have more waste with the common grade, but it is cheap enough that you will still find it economical. It will stain just fine.
I see you are in Houston. I just happen to have on my desk a price list from Houston Hardwoods. http://www.houstonhardwoods.com/
Their prices on soft maple #1 common, random size, rough lumber is $1.55 per board foot. The same grade poplar goes for $1.03 per board foot. They will plane the lumber for you for $0.30 per foot.
Have fun!
Member
Chris - Use red oak. Period. It's as cheap as any hardwood, has a nice grain, and will last. Just in my opinion, the pine, poplar, alder, etc., will look "cheap" and will cost pretty much the same as oak, maybe a little less.
Tony - I loved this line:
The pine most commonly available is construction grade and not furniture grade. Sometimes this lumber will change dimensions as you look at it.
Ever go to the BORG and cut open a bundle of pine 2x2's? It's like they're snakes that come alive when the bands are cut. Guaranteed to twist like pretzels by the time you get it home.
Member
I agree with what the others have suggested. Along with another steer clear of pine from the borgs.
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