I'm interested in making the "Classic Oak Plant Stand" from Woodsmith #147, but looking over the materials it's going to cost me $50 just for the legs.
Would I be foolish to glue up leg blanks from doubled-up 3/4" select pine and stain it something respectible? Is the line down the leg going to be very noticeable? Any advice on making this stand for less money?
Mike
The line will be barely noticeable but the grain change will be obvious. Rip a wide piece and fold it over so that either side of the rip cut are adjacent. You may be able to hide the grain change or have it look really interesting. The opposite side will have a screwy pattern so turn that side in.
Good luck!
Poplar is, well, popular for prototypes. Less resinous, better grain. Far better than pine, but softer than oak. FWIW
I'd skip the pine if you can- if you take a look around at your local hardwood dealer, they've usually got something less expensive than oak, but nicer than pine. Ash would be a good choice, and you can't see the glue line much at all with it if you match the grain.
Where are you getting your wood prices? I made a fern stand from maple and it looks great. You can use just about any wood, although a hardwood is better than a softwood. Sometimes your wood supplier will have an excess of a specific wood and cut the price down to move it. Oak is not particularly in demand right now, but supplies vary depending on your location and time of year.
The only places I know to get wood are Home Depot and Rockler. HD only carries 3/4" stock. Rockler carries larger, but the price per inch added up to $$ quickly.
Maple is nice. And I think I shouldn't even be trying to make the stand out of pine or poplar, since that style (mission?...craftsman?) is typically oak.
I bought a nice poplar board at HD the other day for around $12 that I'm going to make a scale-down version of the stand with (i.e. 3/4" square legs instead of 1-1/4") and see what it looks like and how sturdy it is.
Mike
Find a hardwood lumberyard. The prices at Rockler and HD border on criminal.
I take that back. The pricing at HD *is* criminal - even for pine. And the pine you get is crap.
HD sells S4S 2x2s in oak and poplar. They're a little pricy, but not very, considering S4S.
Yeah, you can glue up two 1x2s to make a 2x2. Why not? And if you want to work in pine, which in my opinion is perfectly respectable stuff, you can start with a carefully-selected 2x4 as a blank and dimension it and finish it, and believe it or not, it can look very good. Why the hell not?
Poplar can be fun if you don't approach it wishing it were something else. SWMBO picks through stacks of it to find the most bizzarre purple and green pieces and wigged-out grain. Stain it natural, and it's most interesting.
If you're starting with construction grade I recommend using the widest boards, you can find that include the heart of the tree. Rip out the heartwood and you've got 2 quarter sawn 2x whatevers to work with. More stable and usually clearer then the 2x4 which can come from surprisingly small trees. I used to do this with 1x12 shelf boards before they dropped so far in grade it became too much work. I once managed to get a clear 1x8, but only 1. Joe
Because it isn't properly dried for furniture-quality projects, so it may not be good looking for very long?
"Dry" in the pine and hardwood sections are not used in the same context as "Dry" in the framing lumber section of the same supplier.
That said, I've used 2x's that were stored inside for a long time to make nice looking shop items, once the boards were jointed and planed. This goes double for very clear, vertical grain fir boards. Pulling it off the construction lumber rack, taking it home, and using for something that requires precision dimensioning, is asking for trouble.
Yeah, dimensional lumber I've used this way tends to have been sitting around for a long time. I've never gone and bought a 2x for the express purpose of making a nice board of it. I tend to experiment with stuff in the cutoff bin.
Still, I've seen bookcases built with brand new construction-grade lumber, and they turned out nice and have aged well. Probably wouldn't be my first or second choice, though.
I have successfully used carefully-selected pallet wood for furniture projects. If you look around you can find planks that are thick enough to flatten and glue together for leg blanks, and sometimes the thicker framing members of the pallets are usable, too. I have found tropical hardwood, as well as lots and lots of oak pallets. I like the "rustic" used wood look so the nail holes don't usually bother me, but look around and you may be able to find unmarred lengths suitable for planter stand legs.
There is a local recreational equipment store that has some store display furniture that is made of rough-sawn wood similar to pallet wood, lightly sanded to make it smooth, but still retaining the saw marks, then covered with a durable finish (probably poly). Looks real good, and I'm thinking of making some simple furniture that style for my office.
Be careful milling it.
Some pallet wood, especially stuff originating overseas, is soaked in insecticides and/or preservatives.
As someone else said, find a better place to buy hardwood. What I do is drive to Hartville Hardware once a year when they put oak on sale. Last time, I got it for 2.20/bf and it's FAS grade. (Although that's only
4/4 .. 1 inch thick). I get enough to last me all year.There's a local source that I can get oak for around 2.60 bf. 2 inch thick stock is slightly more expensive, but not very.
Another option is to call Woodmizer and see who has a Woodmizer (portable saw mill) in your area. Some of those guys even kiln dry the wood they cut. You can often get a good deal there. Certainly a good deal compared to HD or Rockler.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.