wood choices for projects

[sapling111276]

I have talked to some people on here about getting a good wood vendor, but I have another question. How does one choose the type of wood to use for a project with little to no clue about wood species? I understand things like oak is a strong dense piece of wood, pine is really soft and not ideal for finish type pieces like cabinets and such. But I want to build a hall bench for the wife and I am trying to envision 2 pieces of wood that will be both contrasting and durable to stand the test of time. I want to join the pieces with domino type biscuits, glue and possibly headless nails. How does someone with no woodworking experience figure these things out? I want this thing to really pop without being gaudy. This will be the first thing people see when they enter my home.

[JosephThomas]

40 minutes ago, sapling111276 said:

I have talked to some people on here about getting a good wood vendor, but I have another question. How does one choose the type of wood to use for a project with little to no clue about wood species? I understand things like oak is a strong dense piece of wood, pine is really soft and not ideal for finish type pieces like cabinets and such. But I want to build a hall bench for the wife and I am trying to envision 2 pieces of wood that will be both contrasting and durable to stand the test of time. I want to join the pieces with domino type biscuits, glue and possibly headless nails. How does someone with no woodworking experience figure these things out? I want this thing to really pop without being gaudy. This will be the first thing people see when they enter my home.

Lots of learning from woodworkers with more experience (reading is ideal for me personally, you can learn a lot from certain youtubers as well if that's your thing but there's bad info out there too).

There's lots of subjectivity here... lots of considerations, depending on the project, here's a short list of the top of my head, but I'm not an expert, just a guy with thoughts:

• Is it a period reproduction / faux antique? If so read up on the specific species used during that time period and on that style of furniture
• Color: try to find a wood that matches the colors you want if possible and try to avoid staining a new color onto the wrong species.
• Indoor or outdoor? You'll have a few less choices if it needs to survive outside
• Wet area? Just like outdoors, a smaller subset of species can survive constant water, like in a bathroom or a countertop with a sink in it.
• Grain / figure. Obviously there's lots of differences here and it depends on whether you want the furniture to look simple/flashy...you might want the grain or figure to catch the viewer's eye, or you might want it to be muted so that their eyes are drawn to the joinery or the shapes of the furniture itself.
• What can you get access to locally (or order online) at a fair price? If a particular species is abundant nearby, I might lean towards that route...it would be be a more efficient use of local resources  and it's nice to say it came from local trees. (My town doesn't have any, so maybe that's why I'm envious of people who can say this, lol).

I would look up similar projects online and make a list of the species you find, and start researching those on these 2 sites: 

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/

http://www.wood-database.com/

[freedhardwoods]

This site is really helpful. It gives the wood properties as well as showing what it looks like when stained. - http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/articles/view/pro/24/267

[Barron]

I'd suggest finding examples of benches you like and the woods used in those examples.  Sometimes this seems like a forgotten resource, but your local library almost certainly has some books on wood working, wood and trees.  "With The Grain, A Craftsman Guide To Understanding Wood" is an excellent source on North American woods.  It's sold at Lost Art Press if it isn't in your library.  By the way, most libraries will order books for you if they don't have a copy of their own. Lastly, don't overthink it. If you end up not liking the first bench you build, make another one. 

[Andy Wright]

I would suggest starting with domestic species. Maple, cherry, and walnut are all friendly to work with and relatively inexpensive.

I experiment with new woods on small projects or when I find it on sale (sometimes my hardwood dealer will have shorts for a good price)

 

[sapling111276]

This is what I am looking to build. Hope the picture comes through

[drzaius]

That's quarter sawn white oak with a stain. Oak is one of the few woods that stain well, or look good stained. It's fairly hard wood & that is not a beginner project, so it you are new to woodworking it might be a good idea to pick a couple of simpler projects to develop skills.

Most would agree that nails have no place in a piece of furniture like that. It's a beautiful bench though & will be a fun project.

There are some great resources out there, and a lot of not so great ones. I'd recommend:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/

William Ng's Youtube channel

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[sapling111276]

Thank you drzaius. Looking at it, I know it will be a big project. Especially for someone without a jointer, bandsaw or planer. You think the lower section of the bench has tongue and groove boards? Bead board?

This bench is my first cabinet project and it was certainly a pain trying to true up all the boards but it was pretty square in the end (a pleasant surprise for me). I like the through tenons on the hall bench which will be new for me. I tried to cut my first dovetail joinery on a piece of scrap 2x4 that I milled down to 1". It didn't come out good. I used a dozuki saw to cut down to the shoulders and then I used a (I know now) dull chisel to clean everything up. Things began splintering and digging beyond my line marks. I put it off for now but I now have some smaller oak scraps laying around that I may try it on. I read up on dovetails a little and found that there are different pitches for the joints for different types of wood. Anyway, long story for what I was getting at... I just know that if I spend this kind of money on wood, I wanna take it slow and perfect my technique as I go along. No room for error.

[prov163]

If that's your first cabinet project then the bench won't be hard. It's a simple enough design but will challenge you some. Quarter sawn oak is a classic choice and very strong. You'll learn a lot on that project. If you make and post a project journal you'll get great feedback and advice from people who know their stuff. Oh, and always buy 20% more lumber than you need in case you make a mistake. Keep decent size offcuts for smaller projects. 

[JosephThomas]

5 hours ago, drzaius said:

That's quarter sawn white oak with a stain. Oak is one of the few woods that stain well, or look good stained. It's fairly hard wood & that is not a beginner project, so it you are new to woodworking it might be a good idea to pick a couple of simpler projects to develop skills.

Most would agree that nails have no place in a piece of furniture like that. It's a beautiful bench though & will be a fun project.

There are some great resources out there, and a lot of not so great ones. I'd recommend:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/

William Ng's Youtube channel

That's all I can think of at the moment.

All good info. You can also fumigate the white oak with ammonia to get that color, I believe that is the traditional method.

6 hours ago, sapling111276 said:

This is what I am looking to build. Hope the picture comes through

If white oak is super expensive in your area, I think African Mahogany or sapele would both be reasonable alternatives that you might be able to find for better prices. Either one has color variation but can be found with darker browns near that color (or will age to near that color given some time in the sun).

The lower section looks to me to be shiplapped, and each board is most likely sitting in a groove in the rails above and below them. Google "ship lap cabinet back" or similar things and watch a youtube video or 2 for more info if you want. 

[Coop]

OP, no disrespect, but without a planer and jointer, wood species may be your least concern. Your work bench turned out very well, but you used deminisionaled lumber. How will you get the backslats thinner than the frame, etc.? Not to discourage you, just wondering? 

[Ronn W]

 

38 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

OP, no disrespect, but without a planer and jointer, wood species may be your least concern. Your work bench turned out very well, but you used deminisionaled lumber. How will you get the backslats thinner than the frame, etc.? Not to discourage you, just wondering? 

I agree with coop,  Your bench will be vary labor intensive if you don't have a way to plane the boards to thickness.

I made a similar bench about 3 years ago. It was a fun project.  I used spaced slats around the bottom where your pic shows boards close together.  I used mortise and tenon for all the joints.  Mine was made of reclaimed redwood - very pretty but very soft -  not easy to work with.

 

Have fun.

[Marmotjr]

@Ronn W, That's  a very nice bench.  You said all M&T for the joints, but how did you do the seat slats?

[Eric.]

Skip the contrasting species, brad nails and biscuits.

Buy a pile of cherry, learn basic milling and mortise and tenon.

Build slowly.

Finish with oil.

Give to wife.

Build something else.

Keep it simple.  The more you complicate something, the uglier it's gonna be.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Eric. said:

Skip the contrasting species, brad nails and biscuits.

Buy a pile of cherry, learn basic milling and mortise and tenon.

Build slowly.

Finish with oil.

Give to wife.

Build something else.

Keep it simple.  The more you complicate something, the uglier it's gonna be.

Preach!  Nothing says newbie like 1) chunky projects and 2) maple and purpleheart, or any other highly contrasting species.  

Woodworkers love contrasting species because it is so.... woodworkery and you don't see it in commercial furniture.  But guess what?  commercial furniture is designed by professional designers and they know it is U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you UGLY.

I am guilty of this too.  Take a look at the masters.... Stickley, Krenov, Maloof... you won't see highly contrasting primary species for a reason.  Krenov used contrast, but he used subtle contrast, focusing on texture and slight differences in color.  

 

[Guest]

This should be required reading for all woodworkers.  It is behind a pay wall, but worth every penny of the annual FWW online membership.  This is the good kind of advice you can't get for free from the hipsters on yourube.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/membership/pdf/9575/011211038.pdf

[JosephThomas]

This should be required reading for all woodworkers.  It is behind a pay wall, but worth every penny of the annual FWW online membership.  This is the good kind of advice you can't get for free from the hipsters on yourube.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/membership/pdf/9575/011211038.pdf

Your link didn't seem to work. Not on my phone anyway.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Ronn W]

6 hours ago, Marmotjr said:

That's  a very nice bench.  You said all M&T for the joints, but how did you do the seat slats?

OK. I  lied a little. The seats slats are attached with countersunk and plugged screws The rest Is M&T.  in the case for the vertical slats that entire slat is the tenon and fits into the mortise.

[Marmotjr]

Thanks, still learning. 

[sapling111276]

I had considered the planer issue and was thinking that for the back slats, since the top and bottom would need to be slightly thicker than the back slats, I would try to maybe make the top and bottom out of 4 quarter board and then rabbet the back edge and possibly rabbet the back slats enough to bring them close to the front edge without exceeding the top and bottom profile.

I did use dimensional wood to make the frame and it was fun trying to get that stuff flat and square. My old craftsman table saw only raises up roughly 2.75" so for every dimensional piece of wood on that bench I made required me to cut the wood in various cuts flipping it each time depending on my needs (for straightening purposes) until I got the wood down to 3x3". This both took the bow out of some of the crapping wood, as well as cut off the factory curved edging also.

Also, like many on here have suggested, I considered buying a tool for the project i am working on, which in this case would probably mean I would be purchasing a planer.

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[sapling111276]

Preach!  Nothing says newbie like 1) chunky projects and 2) maple and purpleheart, or any other highly contrasting species.  

Woodworkers love contrasting species because it is so.... woodworkery and you don't see it in commercial furniture.  But guess what?  commercial furniture is designed by professional designers and they know it is U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you UGLY.

I am guilty of this too.  Take a look at the masters.... Stickley, Krenov, Maloof... you won't see highly contrasting primary species for a reason.  Krenov used contrast, but he used subtle contrast, focusing on texture and slight differences in color.  

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I am not looking for gaudy, I was looking for contrasting while still sort of matching. That is why I came here. I figured I would get insight on things I am still learning. Solid-color pieces are nice as well, don't get me wrong. I guess as I tread along, I am looking for things to test my skill set, and at the same time, make nice furniture that I can have in my family for decades to come. I realize that not all projects are going to fall together with no problems, but this is why I take my time and research and use that information to determine whether or not I am ready for the task at hand.

For example: I want a saw stop cabinet style table saw. I want a well built planer, jointer and bandsaw. I could go to harbor freight and spend a fortune on crap. I could possibly use that stuff to make a pretty decent quality item, but my heart and my head tells me to wait it out and do this the smart way so I waste as little money as possible. All of the above items would be a no-brainer if I was making money with this trade, so slow and steady is the answer for now. Not to mention that room is a factor for my current shop, which means moving everything out to my barn, but the barn needs structural work before I can think about moving out there. This also requires money. I planted a money tree a few years ago and funniest thing... Looks just like a pine tree if I didn't know better.

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[Coop]

OP, it sounds like you have the gumption but may be lacking in the tools a tad. The projected project looks fantastic. Good luck and keep us posted. 

[Janello]

Making a piece pop is in square, neat, tight tolerence joinery that is built to last the test of time. Not colors.

[sapling111276]

I was still kind of leaning toward color suggestions, not the obvious but thank you

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[collinb]

Something I've been flipping through lately is The Real Wood Bible.  I've not made functional use of it yet for any project, but it is informative. It shows how woods look after being finished. Because the appearance changes a lot.  This might prove helpful with more exotic projects later.