Need advice choosing wood

[Michael Panis]

Hi SMC,

I'm about to start a new project building bookcases for the family room. I made a "practice" set (pictures below).

bookshelf1a.jpg

bookshelf2a.jpg

(They actually came out better than I expected, but I also learned a lot which I'll incorporate into the real bookshelves.)

The practice bookshelves are made of poplar and birch plywood.

I'd appreciate any advice in choosing wood for the real bookshelves. I'm thinking cherry or red oak. The room's floors are oak, and the LOML has some mission furniture in the room that I suspect is red oak with a dark cherry stain. Should I expect it to be much more difficult to work with harder woods like oak or cherry?

Any other advice is also appreciated (techniques, finishing, etc.).

Some background...The real bookcases will have 3 sections, not 2, and be a bit higher. All the trim, including the stopped flutes, was routed. Almost all the boards were matched so the grain continues across two side by side shelves and wraps around the mitres. The finish is General Finishes stain and gloss urethane. Hopefully you can't tell, but the bookcase is modular. It easily comes apart into 7 pieces for easy transport. Since these were only practice shelves, I spaced the upper shelves a little tightly for all but paperbacks.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Harder to work with Cherry or Oak??
Naaahhhh Cherry often has silica in it and can dull tools but it's nothing a trip to the grinder can't fix.

Oak Ply can present issues when cross cutting the veneer grain as it tends to splinter up a bit.

[Tom Henry]

Harder to work with Cherry or Oak??
Naaahhhh Cherry often has silica in it and can dull tools but it's nothing a trip to the grinder can't fix.

Oak Ply can present issues when cross cutting the veneer grain as it tends to splinter up a bit.

When you cross cut ply, raise your table saw blade a 1/16 above the table and make your first cut running the ply backwards across the your table saw. Then raise your blade and make the full cut.

[Ron Blaise]

Harder to work with Cherry or Oak??
Naaahhhh Cherry often has silica in it and can dull tools but it's nothing a trip to the grinder can't fix.

Oak Ply can present issues when cross cutting the veneer grain as it tends to splinter up a bit.

But I've cut a ton of Cherry and never noticed that problem. Maybe it has to do with where you get your Cherry. I got Allegheny Black Cherry last time and it mills, saws beautifully. I had to drum sand the highly figured boards because of chip out and Cherry does has sap pockets. I have had a friend of mine tell me that he doesn't sell Yellow Popular grown where I live because the trees suck up sand through the roots (our soil is very sandy). I saw a stack of boards that he had like that and they were loaded with sand. He said best state for Popular was Tennessee. I suggest if you do use Cherry, not to stain it. It will deepen in color in time.

[scott spencer]

Shouldn't be much harder to work than birch or poplar, though the oak has an open grain. Cherry is more prone to burning than the other woods but it's manageable

Re: the wood choice, sounds like oak is a logical choice given your floor and furniture...it's usually cheaper too, but cherry would be very nice too.

[Mike Cutler]

I vote for Cherry. It is much finer in appearance over time than oak, in my opinion.

For a plywood bookcase, that's pretty nice

[Bob Reda]

Not harder to work with, just more expensive