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Thread: Douglas fir for furniture

  1. #1
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    Douglas fir for furniture

    A local lumber yard carries a wide variety of clear vertical grain fir. I love Douglas fir, despite it's construction grade only reputation. I am designing a bedroom suite, and I was wondering what you all thought of mixing maple (either solid or plywood) with cvg fir as accent, such as face frames, legs, posts, etc?

    Would maple and fir look nice together?

  2. #2
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    They are to close together in color, assuming you'd not be staining either species , but just applying a clear coat of finish.

    Cherry accents Maple nicely , Cherry would also compliment VG Fir as well IMO.
    VG Fir would go nicely with Walnut , nice dark Walnut , not sap wood Walnut.
    My two cents anyway.

  3. #3
    I wouldn't think Fir is a good choice for furniture. My limited experience with Fir tells me its soft, rather brittle and subject to splintering.

  4. #4
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    I recently started watching videos on YouTube by a guy in BC who calls himself the Samurai Carpenter. He uses a lot of Douglas fir, I believe. You might check out what he does with it. Here's his channel:

    https://www.youtube.com/user/6488jesse


  5. #5
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    For the price of VG fir I can think of other more suitable material for furniture. I agree VG fir looks pretty cool. Woodsmith magazine makes many of their demonstration pieces out of it. For long term usability though, I would move up the janka scale; we're talking about something that is softer than cedar ;-)
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 12-03-2016 at 9:06 AM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  6. #6
    Made some stuff out of clear fir.
    Can be quite striking.
    However, in many cases, an annular ring will snag
    and delaminate. There is no fixing that.

  7. #7
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    When I use fir for doors and cabinets, I put it in a kiln for a final charge. The MC is usually too high for furniture work and needs to be in the 8-10% range. Dave

  8. #8
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    It pretty much must be old tight ringed and vertical grain to be furniture worthy. If it is, it makes for nice door panels. Sounds like that is the case, so I think it could be used to good effect. I would not mix with maple, rather walnut or something which offers a decent contrast.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  9. #9
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    I personally would not mix a softwood(doug fir) with a hardwood like maple. That said I have made a few pieces out of old growth salvaged douglas fir that are beautiful and have developed a beautiful patina over the years. Some of the old growth stuff has some of the tightest growth rings I have ever seen....its like old growth Huon Pine.

  10. #10
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    The College of the Redwoods fine furniture students seem to do it regularly; http://crfinefurniture.com/projects/
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  11. #11
    Think that would be fine. There is precedent in pin striped suits with solid color tie.

  12. #12
    About 20 years ago I built a work bench with cabinet underneath from plans out of Douglas Fir and Nova Ply. I really enjoyed working with the DF and would jump to use it again if I could source it locally, the yard I purchased it from is now defunct. I found the DF machined and sanded very well. I embellished the bench with quite a few details with a router and there were several glue-ups done which worked out very well. I have no splintering, cracking or de-lamination of joints. I used a water based satin polyurethane for finishing and it looks as new still. Unfortunately my wife really liked it and figured it would make a great stain glass build/assembly bench and it somehow made it into her side of the basement. Well this gave me another reason to build the next bench which I did.

    I think Douglas Fir could be used for a furniture project if the design accepts it. Something in a Craftsman style with mildly contrasting woods would work if your grains are carefully selected beforehand.
    Good Luck,
    Mac
    Last edited by Mac McQuinn; 12-03-2016 at 9:54 PM.

  13. #13
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    My entire house is trimmed in CVG Douglas Fir. I also have a fir floor. I have many built in bookshelves of fir. Our bed is Walnut and Doug Fir. Incidentally, Glenn, if you are talking about Western Red Cedar, Fir is harder. I happen to be very fond of CVG Doug Fir as a woodworking wood. I guess living in the Northwest may be part of the reason.
    Bracken's Pond Woodworks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  14. #14
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    Just another addition to the thread. Construction grade fir is generally dried to 12-14%. CVG Fir is generally much dryer. Around 8 to 10% or less.
    Bracken's Pond Woodworks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  15. #15
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    Like David Helm I am very fond of Douglas fir.So I look for old and new when I'm on the scout for wood.It will also test your ability as a woodworker since its both hard and soft.
    Here's a table I made from reclaimed Fir.The house was almost a hundred years old and these were posts holding up the porch.30 + rings per inch.
    I made this for myself.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Aj

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