I would like material suggestion

[Greg Deakins]

Hello, its been a while since I have posted, hope things have been going as planned for all. I would like a suggestion on a good species for making small quantities of items such as candle holders, or wine racks. A wood that is easy to mill, taks a stain well, doesnt fuzz too much, doesn't chip too much, just an all around density that isnt too hard on smaller tools. Cherry is good, but a little high end for my uses. Poplars and aspen tend to fuzz up, cedar is a little fragile and oak or exotics tend to be difficult on a small machine, with burning and density. Wish I could make em all out of bubinga! Anyway, any suggestions would be nice.... thanks, Greg

[Prashun Patel]

Walnut's good - especially since on small items it's premium price doesn't make a whole lot of difference. But I think it's a sin to stain it significantly.

To be honest, the EASIEST to work with for me has been good ol' Red Oak. it's cheap, stains easy, and machines well. Only prob is if you like it smooth, you gotta fill the pores.

[Rick Moyer]

There's a reason cherry and walnut are so popular for fine woodworking. I don't really have a better solution for you.

[Tony Joyce]

Try Alder.

Tony Joyce

[Larry Fox]

What about maple.

[Richard Wolf]

Mahogany

Richard

[Prashun Patel]

I woulda selected cherry and maple, but they're not brainless to stain - which is what he wanted...

[Greg Deakins]

darn, at one point I had access to as much cherry as I could build with, do have a little walnut laying around, sound like good suggestions, thanks for them. I dont know much about alder but will check the description. Red oak is a little more forgiving than white, but doesnt smooth out like cherry. Anybody heard of lyptus? it is available in lots around here, it works well but is hard. Eliminating the stain process could cover the difference in price should I choose a material that looks good without it. Thanks for the input!

[Brent Ring]

+1 for Alder - Cheap, Machines well, and finishes nicely - if you put a nice finish on it:cool:

[Jeff Willard]

Mahogany

Richard

My thoughts too. That or walnut. And unless you are trying to match another finish, no need to stain it.

[glenn bradley]

+1 alder as cheap. +1 mahogony as it wprks beautifully and can be finished with just an oil and top coat.

[Greg Deakins]

well I decided to give mahogany a try yesterday. WOW! What a dream to work with this stuff on this scale. A while back I used some mahogany but it was over 8/4 and at that thickness everything is tricky. For the little things though, this stuff was a great suggestion. Already got two coats on a few little items I made yesterday.