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(02-18-2020, 09:43 AM)Rob Young Wrote: This.
I've done so on request due to price a few times. Looks fine but will dent. I try to spend a bit more time easing edges, almost to the point of a visible chamfer, as a way to combat the dings that corners of legs endure.
I can get clear poplar for about 1/2 the cost of hard maple. Soft maple falls in between, but tends to be a mix of species around here so can be "softish" or "hardish", just depends on the batch.
Lowes carries maple. The color is all over the place from board to board so I never use it.
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(02-18-2020, 09:57 AM)Cooler Wrote: Lowes carries maple. The color is all over the place from board to board so I never use it.
Yep. HD and Menards are in town for me and expensive. Only ever get small pieces there if I need to test an idea or patch something. But I do occasionally look through their bunkers. Found several pieces of quilted maple at HD before. Even with their pricing, it worked out better than the stuff marked as "quilted" or "figured" at a yard.
However, Menards has competitive pricing on plywood and the one near me frequently has the "american" version of baltic birch 9 and 11 layer ply.
Otherwise it is worth my time and a little gas to drive to a "proper" lumber supplier. For under 100BF quantities I go to Metro Hardwoods in Independence, MO. They have everything indoors and I can pick and choose every stick. Good selection of domestic species and they generally have about 15 or so "exotics" on hand.
For >100BF I will use Liberty Hardwoods (they are the parent lumberyard of Metro) and they will bundle and drop on my driveway. Been a while since I've ordered that much material in one go.
TL;DR -- shop around and keep notes
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. -- G. Carlin
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(02-17-2020, 04:25 PM)jteneyck Wrote: You're right, poplar will take stain much easier than maple. The downside is it dents a lot easier.
John
It looked like he was only using the maple for the "undercarriage", so I figured durability was less of an issue.
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(02-19-2020, 08:15 PM)Ridgeway Wrote: It looked like he was only using the maple for the "undercarriage", so I figured durability was less of an issue.
I don't know about that. Legs like on that piece tend to take a beating.
John
