alder for entry bench?

[Matthew Hills]

The next item on my honeydo list is an entry bench for storing shoes. Wanted to sound out the idea of using alder.

Around here, it is probably the cheapest hardwood, seemed to work okay, and doesn't have the tone problems that poplar does. Still a bit soft, so prone to dings.

We'll probably be dying it to get the dark color that my wife wants. Would be nice to use mahogany, which has been pretty amazing for the small pieces I've worked with. But think that would get pretty expensive if I screwed anything up.

Any other thoughts on suitable woods? (Poplar seems to be more work for the color and just as soft and no cheaper; maple seems to have more issues with coloring and tends to be about 2x the cost here; birch?....)

Matt

[Jamie Buxton]

You've pretty much got it. Alder is inexpensive. It is somewhat softer than woods like maple and oak. Particularly if you're going to stain it, it'll do just fine.

In my dealers, alder comes in two grades: "superior", and "frame grade". (I dunno why alder has its own grading names.) Superior is nearly all clear. Frame grade might be called #2 common in other woods; there's lots of knots. Superior is around $4 per bdft. Frame grade is less than half that. Knotty alder might be a good effect for a shoe bench. But the knots do beat up planer blades.

[Pat Germain]

I'm currently working on a shadow box and I'm using alder. I like that stuff. My alder is the lower grade varity. I had to cut out some of the clear sections for the shadow box. It wasn't that difficult.

I typically don't like to use stain. My customer wanted a low price and a cherry finish. So, it's alder with General Finishes Warm Cherry on top. Alder seems to take that cherry stain quite nicely after a thorough sanding with 220.