Benches made from BORG wood.....PICS/designs, tips, tricks, sock it to me!!!!!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Ha! Never heard of BORG. My BORG has the worst wood ever. It literally has knotts so big that the board breaks in half when you pick it up. I am amazed that they can sell this stuff. As for the "furniture grade" woods, they only stock the red oak and poplar. I'm sure that logistics is an issue for them, but I would love if they would stock more high-end wood. Heck, even if they just had clear-grained fir, I'd be ecstatic.

I used to be able to get purple heart locally, but not so much any more. I can get mahogany, but it is too dark for a bench. My supplier just got some cumaru decking, which is a S. American wood very much like teak. It is also a bit dark, but not as dark as mahogany. I was thinking about trying to bleach some and see how light it gets. Ultimately, it is not terribly expensive to ship here, but the issue is that the wood has to be fumigated prior to shipping. That can be a problem, but the really good retailers know about this and can get it fumigated for you.

[Daniel Rode]

The local BORG here stocks a premium selection of some type of fir. I'm not sure what it is but it's actually pretty nice stuff. Straight clear, even grained. *Seems* to not have much tension. However I never buy any. First off, it's really expensive. I can get cherry cheaper and poplar for half as much. Secondly, it comes pre-milled at 3/4". By the time I flatten it and remove the marks from being thrown around, I'm lucky to get 1/2" or 5/8". The oak and poplar have similar issues. It's often nice but expensive and I hate pre-milled stock.

I can take a drive out to a local Amish kiln and get better wood for less money. It's all skip planed and I can get 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 8/4, etc. I'll take a kiln or sawmill any day.

Ha! Never heard of BORG. My BORG has the worst wood ever. It literally has knotts so big that the board breaks in half when you pick it up. I am amazed that they can sell this stuff. As for the "furniture grade" woods, they only stock the red oak and poplar. I'm sure that logistics is an issue for them, but I would love if they would stock more high-end wood. Heck, even if they just had clear-grained fir, I'd be ecstatic.

I used to be able to get purple heart locally, but not so much any more. I can get mahogany, but it is too dark for a bench. My supplier just got some cumaru decking, which is a S. American wood very much like teak. It is also a bit dark, but not as dark as mahogany. I was thinking about trying to bleach some and see how light it gets. Ultimately, it is not terribly expensive to ship here, but the issue is that the wood has to be fumigated prior to shipping. That can be a problem, but the really good retailers know about this and can get it fumigated for you.

[Judson Green]

My BORG has "select" grades too but just way to expensive. Once I spied a Qsawn red oak board but even though the BORG doesn't price it any differently than its other red oak board it was still to expensive.

Something else to remember, that lumber has been sanded - the silica embedded in it will dull your tools.