What's the best wood for me?

[mackmack]

I have been using MDF recently and painting it. It's alright but I would rather go for a more natural look and stain it.

I really know nothing about all the different wood species(pretty much only used ply and MDF so far).

Cost is the prohibitive factor here. I'd like to find the least expensive wood available that will still look decent when stained. I am primarily making smaller indoor box-like projects. I plan on making many of these which is why I need to keep the cost of wood as low as possible.

Can anyone suggest the best wood for me? Thanks like always.

[SARGE..g-47]

It would be helpful to define exactly what these indoor boxes are and there intended use, mackmack. Sorry to not be able to reply yet, but the details are vague enough that a well thought out answer is not possible, IMO.

Regards...

[JR]

Which kinds of wood are available to you, mackmack? If you've only got Home Depot as a source, you'll probably be looking at a choice between oak and maple. They'll have poplar there, but that's mostly suitable only for painted finishes.

The difference in price between oak and maple is negligable. Oak tends to have a deeper grain, offering a more rustic look when finished. Maple is generally smoother when finished, but can be a tad finicky when accepting stain.

If you've got a hardwood dealer nearby, there's a whole different set of options. Do you have a jointer and planer? Those tools may be necessary to work the roughcut woods frequently found there. But the wood options are too many to make an answer to your query, until Sarge's questions are answerwed.

JR

[mackmack]

They are 8"x4"x4". They are the base of a small indoor fountain. I have a clear acrylic box the same dimensions which will go into it as a liner to protect the wood from the water. They aren't actually boxes, because there is no lid or top where the water goes. Like slightly elongated rectangle flower boxes I guess would be the best description.

I have been using titbound to just glue the edges on the mdf and ply and it is more then strong enough as the acrylic insert is the thing that is really holding the water.

If you guys need anything more specific please let me know. I have seen pine around and it looks really smooth... how does that compare to oak and maple?(I had always assumed oak and maple were expensive?). Since I want to make and sell these eventually, price is by far the most important factor(if I were making just one for myself I'd probably just get the best wood).

Thanks for all your help.

Also, I do have a few HD's and Lowe's close as well as 1 or 2 lumber yards. I don't have a planer though.

[Russianwolf]

pine is cheap, but like maple doesn't accept stain well. There are tricks for both to help this out though. 1) use a sealer between the wood and the stain. 2) gel-stain doesn't penetrate as far and gives an even finish on both.

If I were you, I would make some of each and price them accordingly. That way your customers have options and can get very different looks.

[SARGE..g-47]

The guys have already covered the cheapest route in wood which is pine and poplar. Would be nice if you had re-saw capability to re-saw down to 1/2" or 5/8" stock as it sounds the structual quality is not at stake.

Hmmm... I going to throw a out of the box suggestion at you. The MDF has worked and it it cheap. You just don't like the paint job. How bout instead of painting it, you poly it with not finish to give a golden amber color?

If you try this, make sure that you have removed all glue excess that might have got on the surface from glueing and that includes finger-prints. The MDF is extremely smooth, so sanding is not necessary... except you will want to sand it lightly with 180 or 220 grit to slightly rough out the surface for adhesion with poly on that first coat.

The problem will be that you really need 3 wipe on coats of poly and dry time between. The first as the base. 2nd to fill anything remaining and last to equalize all. That is time consuming and may not be what you seek if you are trying to produce these for sale unless you make a run and poly all of them at once.

The paint is the simple solution as poly and staining soft-wood opens up a new can of ugly worms in what you are doing..

Regards...

[cwsmith]

Because you are asking for something inexpensive, I'd probably recommend pine, but go with a better grade to eliminate any knots. Then use a gel stain or something like Minwax's Polyshades, which contains both stain and polyurthane. You can also purchase 1/2 inch thick stock at your local lumber yard and you may find this more suitable to your design, especially since the plexiglass liner is the main structural piece.

If you have a market for your work, then I'd probably broaden my offering a bit and provide oak and maple in your product line. You are right, in that it is more expensive; but (IMO) not so much that your customer's would be turned away by any added cost for the richer grains and colors. If that proves successful, there are more exotic (and more expensive) woods that you could go after. The size you describe (8 x 4 x 4 inches) is such that small quantities of exotic woods would be available through mail order, if not locally.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

How many of those things are you making? It is such a small project that can't see where Red Oak would be cost prohibative, even at Lowes prices. They also have varying thickness of Red Oak. Sounds like you could buy 1/4" thickness stuff to make these projects.
Pine is going to be a pain to stain. It gets very splotchy without pre-stain sealing and using a high quality thick gel stain. There are material and time costs to consider when going the pine route.
Poplar is a very neutral wood. Takes stain ok and is harder than pine.
If you use Maple you would likely not stain or color the wood, rather leave it natural and wipe it down with some poly.
There are a ton of other woods out there, however most are more expensive than those listed above. It depends on the look you are going for, but I would think the Red Oak or Maple would be the way to go for simplicity of finishing.

[JimD]

You may want to look for a wood supplier and then look at what they have for a good price. They will often reduce the price on what they want to sell the most. Mine had ash for a good price and also hickory. Ash looks something like oak. Hickory has less open pores and lots of color variation. For little boxes like you are talking about, you might even want to talk to a cabinet shop about their scraps.

Jim

[Knottscott]

mackmack....keep your eyes peeled for curbside tables and furniture, garage sale finds, discards from work, family freebies, etc. I've accumulated more free wood just by "tuning in" to the opportunity. People throw out the darnedest things....I could make a pretty long list of some very good stock I acquired for free or for dirt cheap. I rarely go out and pay retail for wood, and my racks are overflowing.

[drumpriest]

Pine is inexpensive, poplar as well. I don't have the "paint only" prejudice about poplar, I've used it to great success using stains and/or clear finishes. Like most woods, you can find gems if you look for them. I've found some very intersting pieces of poplar ranging from greens to purples.

Oak and Maple are inexpensive for hard woods. Maple will stain, but you need to use either a water based stain or a gel stain. I personally wouldn't stain maple though, it looks great as is.

For small projects like that, Oak or Maple would probably still be very affordable if you buy it from a hardwood supplier (local lumber yard), rather than from a box store.