Which Wood Would You Use?

[joseph j shields]

I'm building a couple of blanket chests for 2 charity auctions and need your help....PLEASE:D:D:D:D

I usually use cherry, maple & walnut (never used oak before :eek:). But with the economy the way it is, I have to economize and I have some free quarter-sawn white oak... so I plan on using it to make the chest below. I will use oak for the frame and top. I plan on using a contrasting wood for the panels (solid or veneer)

MY question to you is..... what wood would you use for the contrasting panels:confused::confused::confused::confused:

Like I said, I have never used oak before... so any finishing/working/staining tips would be appreciated as well....

Thanks!!!

-jj shields

http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/830738.jpg?rand=272541440

FYI... I'm considering running the panel grains horizontally like the picture below:




http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00286QZBW/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

[Aaron Hastings]

Depends what you want the look to be.


Personally, using QSWO for the frame, I'd go with a tight grain like maple for the panels. That should keep it within budget. Either one of those woods can be dyed or stained easily to get the color combo you want.

[joseph j shields]

Depends what you want the look to be.


Personally, using QSWO for the frame, I'd go with a tight grain like maple for the panels. That should keep it within budget. Either one of those woods can be dyed or stained easily to get the color combo you want.

Aaron,

Thanks! I have some unbelievable (very white) birds-eye maple veneer (14" wide and 8ft long :eek: with lots of quilting) ... your thoughts??

-jj

[David Christopher]

personally I dont think oak and maple go together well

if you want contrast, why not stain part of it and leave the other natural...then finishing will be uniform

[Joe Kieve]

I agree that oak and maple don't go well together. Why not just use oak all the way around and put a light stain on it.

BTW...are those cherry saw horses in the thumbnail photo. My goodness...

You do beautiful work!!

joe

[Andrew Gibson]

The thing that comes to mind for me is Ash panels. ash has strong grain like oak and a light color. You could stain the oak to whatever color you want and keep the ash light. And depending on what you get, the ash can have a lot of interesting color in it.

That's just what popped into my head.

[Justin Freund]

I like ebonized oak and maple together. Maybe too contemporary for this project, but its one way to use them together.

[Darnell Hagen]

Were I you I'd use the nice straight grain QWSO for the rails and stiles, and plainsawn oak ply for the panels. Oak ply is fairly inexpensive, try to find a sheet with big cathedrals, and do your best to centre them in the panels.

I'd avoid a big contrast, especially if it's for a charity auction. Some people find it too loud, and you want to appeal to the widest audience.

As far as the grain direction goes, the horizontal is cool, especially with the continous grain, but it looks strange. Keep the panels vertical, cathedrals pointing up.

[James Phillips]

Since Oak is open grained and a little rustic, I would stick with another open grained wood, but maybe something plain grain-wise. Truth be told I love white oak for the entire piece. Some woods mix well and as much as I like QSWO I do not think it works real well with a contrasting wood.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

There is a very timely article in the latest Fine Woodworking magazine. It shows various combination of woods that work together and don't. It's commendable that you use your skills to donate to a charity. I'm sure the chests will be perfect. Have you considered using oak ply. Quarter sawn white is the traditional choice of wood for mission style furniture. It's popular right now. If the ply is too dear, you can make poplar panels and paint them. Distressed white panels would look great with brown oak.
fmr

[Paul Ryan]

Oak and Hickory look good together and will produce a nice rustic look if the white oak is quarter sawn. It depends how much hickory runs you if it is economical or not, hickory is just a little more here than oak.

+2 on no oak and maple together. Personally I dont like maple for many things it is too blah for me.

[Dan Forman]

Another vote for ash, and it's relatively inexpensive too.

Dan

[Glen Butler]

Oak and Hickory look good together and will produce a nice rustic look if the white oak is quarter sawn. It depends how much hickory runs you if it is economical or not, hickory is just a little more here than oak.

+2 on no oak and maple together. Personally I dont like maple for many things it is too blah for me.

This is kind of what I was thinking. Glue up some rustic hickory panels. That should make for an interesting piece. The rustic panels set in clear oak would look nice. You could even give the oak a little bit of a stain and leave the hickory natural.

[Steve Kohn]

Another vote for ash, and it's relatively inexpensive too.

Dan

+3, I like the combined looks of oak and ash. And with the ash borer there is sure plenty of stock available. I also vote for the vertical graining.

[tyler mckee]

I think i would just use QSWO for everything, would look pretty similar to the picture below. I really dislike flat sawn oak, but love the look of quarter sawn.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/409504.jpg

[Mike Cruz]

While not a fan of staining wood (I prefer to use the natural colors, and contrast by using different kinds of woods), in this case, I would say the economical (and visually pleasing) solution would be to use your free wood for the entire project and stain either the panels or the rest of it.

[Van Huskey]

While not a fan of staining wood (I prefer to use the natural colors, and contrast by using different kinds of woods), in this case, I would say the economical (and visually pleasing) solution would be to use your free wood for the entire project and stain either the panels or the rest of it.


That would be my first choice, the second would be ash, the thrid would be plain sawed oak as another poster mentioned with large cathedrals in the panels.

[Mark Woodmark]

IMHO oak doesnt match up well with any other domestic hardwood. I agree with some who say staining to get a contrast is the way to go. Because of the grain in oak, I would do something suttle.

[Brian W Evans]

Lots of good advice here. I'll add my vote for ash. It's open-pored, can have a similar grain, and is lighter than the oak and will provide some contrast. Plus, it's cheap.

I love the effect of the horizontal grain in the photo, but I'd stick to vertical as others have said. The effect of the ray flecks in the oak with the horizontal panels would be overwhelming.

[John Harden]

I'm a big fan of QSWO. I'm just finishing up a shoe bench my wife wants and used it for both the frame and panels. I included some photos below to give you some idea of how the grain looks when assembled. To me, the QS panels go nicely with the QS rails, stiles and legs.

If you decide to go with contrasting woods, I agree with the fellows who say to use something more muted. My vote would be to use QSWO for the panels and another wood for the rest.

EDIT: Just noticed you asked for finishing tips. If you want the wood to be a natural color, just use boiled linseed oil (BLO) to pop the grain. Flood the surface, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, then wipe off all the excess with clean, white towels. Let this dry for at least 3-4 days if not a week or two. You want the smell to go away, which takes awhile. Lot's of ventilation is needed. On the piece in the pictures, I wanted it darker, so I mixed up some garnet shellac and added alcohol soluble, mission brown powdered dye to it, testing it on sample pieces until I got the color I wanted. Two coats on everything darkened it nicely and helped even out the tone and coloring. The finish is Waterlox original. Two coats on most everything with three on that bottom shelf as it will be subjected to moisture from the kids shoes which will be inside wicker baskets.

Regards,

John

[Darnell Hagen]

Bookmatched panels, quartersawn grain on all leg faces, nice work, John.