What kind of wood to use?

I would use mahogany. It's easy on the tools, easy to work with, readily available, relatively inexpensive, and rather pretty.

Kevin

I have made perfectly nice bookcases out of pine. If you want to go a step up, maybe ash or soft maple.

Poplar is cheap, but I would rather use pine.

You are going to have a heck of a time getting everything square with a just a circular saw; but it can be done if you are careful enough.

Unless he lives in the Houston area, then Mahogany tends to be a much more expensive wood that say, Walnut, Soft Maple, Oak, or Cherry.

What would be the appropriate tool, a table saw? Any recommendations on the brand?

Delta Unisaw or a General 350. Probably not in your budget though. How much do you plan to spend? Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net

I am partial to oak. It can be obtained for reasonable costs and it does not demand high surface finish. Moreover, I would start with plywood with a good veneer finish rather than working with solid wood. Your major panels would be the plywood while solid pieces are used for trim etc.

Dick

Geez Ed, read the OP; he wants to spend as little as possible.

To get a real saw, you have to spend at least $400-$500. All the saws in that price range are more or less the same. If you feel lucky, you can buy a used $400 saw for about $200; however you should have someone knowledgable look at it unless you feel really lucky. Anything cheaper isn't going to give you the results you need; you might as well stick to a circular saw. Speaking of which, I use one, with a very secure cutting guide, for making crosscuts too big for the table saw. It is really slow, but works. Someday, maybe, I will build a sled.

Where do you live?

Here in CT, Mahogany is $3 more than walnut, and almost three times the price of oak, ash, birch, and maple.

Barry

When I was in Dallas, it was the same price as maple, maybe slightly more, depending on width and thickness.

Kevin

I'm in Pennsylvania, now, but I haven't had to buy any wood, yet. Anyone know a good supplier in western Pennsylvania?

Kevin

Wood prices vary so much, depending on demand and location. Look for a good deal on hardwoods like maple, ash, beech, walnut, oak, etc and us that wood. I doubt you'll find cherry at a good price (due to the current demand on this wood), but who knows? Popular is another wood to consider if you are going to paint, and this is a good secondary wood for parts that won't be seen. Not have a decent table saw/jointer means you'll spend more time to get straight even cuts. Don't you have a hand plane?

Gosh, I would not call mahogany inexpensive. Not my neck of the woods anyway. Cherry is not cheap, but a lot less expensive than mahogany. But if you can get it for $5 a board foot, go for it!

birch plywood

MOE,

This is not a slam, I'm just putting your request in context. I saw your workbench posting on ABPW. It's great start, simple and utilitarian (completely appririate for what it is).

This is a serious question: do you wish to build furniture, or a sewing tool, or both?

I suspect that you have a few projects in from of you before you're on to fine furniture. Wood species is more of an aesthetic choice than anything else.

Do NOT rule out sheet goods...Cabinet-grade plywood, MDF, melamine for laminate (formica) over particle board or MDF. Getting a large flat surface with solid wood can be a challenge for a newbie. Sheet goods can solve that problem to some degree.

Cheers,

Steve

For a small budget I'd recommend a low-angle block plane to clean up the saw marks on your cuts. You can also straighten out slightly crooked cuts, bevel edges, block in pieces that are a tad oversized etc.

"MOE" wrote in news:ixWjc.86156$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.tampabay.rr.com:

something like that. Face the edges with strips of solid wood of the same or similar species (e.g. if you use oak ply, use oak for the edging, if you use birch or something similarly light colored ("blondewood" or "appleply") use maple or poplar). You may find oak tricky to get a good grain pattern on the edging.

John

Maybe $150 - $200.

No, I don't have a handplane. I guess I need more tools. This'l take a while, but I will do it - God willing.

Steve:

Not taken as a slam. You got the picture clearly. I appreciate your advice.

I began by wanting to build a piece of sewing furniture (sold in the market for about $2K). Then I figured the need for a workbench in order to do this safely and comfortably. Doing the workbench was so enjoyable that it looks like I found myself a hobby. Everywhere I look now I look to see how the furniture was built. In my house I see so much potential: a window seat, a cd storage cabinet, storage for the garage, bookcases, and on and on. It looks like I've caught a bug! Moe