Woodworking With the Different Wood Types

[joeladam]

The type of wood that makes up the lion's share in any piece of furniture is a solid wood or wood that has been cut from the trunk of the tree. Of course, the type of wood that is chosen for the woodworking project will greatly determine the beauty and the strength of the finished product.


Cedar:
The western red variety is the most common wood type of the cedar family and as its namesake indicates it has a reddish hue to it and it is relatively soft. Cedar is probably most recognized by the aromatic smell of the wood itself. Since cedar can withstand moist environments without rotting, it is most used for outdoor projects and furniture.

Redwood:
The redwood type of wood is much like that of the cedar in the sense that the redwood is also very moisture resistant and as such is used for outdoor environment types of projects. The Redwood type is relatively soft as well and easy to work with.

Pine:
This wood type comes from several varieties of tree including White, Yellow and Ponderosa. All of these wood types make very good choices for most furniture woodworking projects. Pine is also relatively soft and easy to work with.
Pine generally will accept stain pretty well as long as you seal the wood first. Sap can be a bit of an issue particularly with the Ponderosa pine wood type, so be mindful of that. Most all homecenters will carry pine, but you'll probably find the better grades at an actual lumberyard.

Fir:
Also referred to as Douglas Fir, this wood type is very soft and has a bit of a reddish or brownish tint to it. Fir is most generally used for building material, although it can be used for some specific furniture woodworking projects. Fir doesn't really have a grain pattern that will pop out at you and it doesn't accept stain all that well. So, if you're on track to use the fir wood type in your project, it would be best if it was a project that you are going to be applying a coat of paint to. The Douglas fir is one of the hardest of the softwoods category.

[Ella Rollins]

Great tips.. Thanks for sharing..

[TomFromStLouis]

Call me Captain Obvious here, but you have only mentioned softwoods, and woodworkers in most areas of the US at least have many hardwood options too. And for furniture or other "fine woodworking" I'd be willing to argue that the hardwoods offer many superior choices over softwoods.

[Gary G™]

Actually SYP longleaf typically has a much higher Janka ranking than DF.
SYP longleaf is often around 870 compared to Fir's 660.
And, radiata pine is about 710.
SYP is harder than numerous hardwoods.

[Admiral]

Actually SYP longleaf  typically has a much higher Janka ranking than DF.
SYP longleaf is often around 870 compared to Fir's 660.
And, radiata pine is about 710.
SYP is harder than numerous hardwoods.

True dat, but really, of domestic species most fudge make furniture out of oak, maple, cherry and walnut.  That being said, I've made pieces of SYP and white pine, but tend toward the aforementioned woods.

[Gary G™]

Absolutely.
I've a couple of pieces from SYP, a couple from Antique old growth Heart Pine, and a couple from Carribean Heart Pine (sweet timber), however most of the pieces I've built are from Black Cherry , Black Walnut, curly Maple, Bloodwood, or Mahogany with Black Walnut leading the pack.

[EdL]

Where did you steal this one from?

Ed

[Gary G™]

The OP is from this previous post:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Woodworking-Wi...id=3806710

I'm guessing this isn't an attempt to plagiarize; I'm guessing something else is going on.

[Steve N]

True dat, but really, of domestic species most fudge make furniture out of oak, maple, cherry and walnut.  That being said, I've made pieces of SYP and white pine, but tend toward the aforementioned woods.

Ok, this is the second post I've seen of the OP's, now I fully understand your comment in the other one