Wood Strength charts...Where Can I find one?

[Ted Baca]

I am going to make a bed and want to make it all out of wood including the rails. I had seen somewhere years ago a chart showing deflection and support information for different woods per feet of span. Anyone know where I can find that? I would like to keep the side rails down to a 4" heigth if possible and can go 2" wide if need be, and wood suggestions that will accept paint well. I had thought of Popar but not sure how strong it is.:confused:

[Chris Mahmood]

My library has a copy but if yours doesn't this is an amazing book: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=45997&cat=1,46096,46109

[ken gibbs]

Lowes has the book showing engineering (span loading) requirements for specific wood species. Look in the "Deck" book. If you are cheep, just pick it up and read. If you arenice, buy it for about $15.00.

[Richard Shaefer]

strength and stiffness are different properties. wood is good stuff and, as long as you're reasonable with your sizing, it should be fairly easy to build a strong enough frame. If you want something that's stiff fairly resistant to deflection, then you want to rate hardness of the wood. a Janka scale is probaby the most relevant point of reference for you.

[hank dekeyser]

Just happens to be in my favorites http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/species_guide/index.php Google is your friend - WHy build it out of wood , just to paint it ?

[phil harold]

I could say that the denser the wood the stronger it would be as a general rule
maple or birch would fill your needs in strength and painting requirements
also remember 2 pieces of wood are stronger than one so if you want 1.5" two pieces of 3/4 laminated will be stronger
poplar could be another choice

for info on wood, look here:
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/several_pubs.php?grouping_id=100&header_id=p

[Howard Acheson]

Go to www.woodbin.com and then click on "woodworking software" and then "sagulator". It's a calculator that will output the sag of various species of wood based on the physical dimensions of the wood. Input the dimensions of the board(s) and it will calculate the amount of sag.

Asking a question about the "strength" of wood will not give you the answer you want. There are too many variables. "Strength" is a subjective term. Does it mean how far a board will bend before it breaks. Does it mean its resistance to bending.

While at the WoodBin, click on "Woodworking Reference" and go to the section on "beds". There is some good info there too.
"

[Tom Walz]

Engineering tips.com has a group devoted to wood engineering.

http://www.eng-tips.com/

Besides the sources mentioned, you might try the USDA.

Tom

[Forrest Bonner]

I have used The Sagulator a couple of times and it is good to have. But it assumes that the shelves are face-side up. For the bed rails I think they would be edge-side up and The Sagulator would not give a correct answer.
Forrest

[Ted Baca]

Thanks to all for your help. To answer Hanks question, the bed must match a lite grey dresser and chest of drawers. It is a type of pickled finish that I will struggle to match at best. By the way that Woodbin site is very cool.

[Suzanne Launer]

If the "Hardness" of wood is of any value to you, I see you can view that info here:
http://www.thinboards.com/WoodHardness.aspx

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> But it assumes that the shelves are face-side up

The Sagulator doesn't make any assumption about the orientation of the board. Using a 1" x 6" board, if the board is going to be oriented with the 1" side up, just input the 1" as the depth and the 6" as the width. Works just fine that way.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have used The Sagulator a couple of times and it is good to have. But it assumes that the shelves are face-side up. For the bed rails I think they would be edge-side up and The Sagulator would not give a correct answer.
Forrest

When you mentioned that sagulator assumes "face-up", are you referring to the grain orientation of the board?

There is a note on Sagulator about using it to measure sag in beams which is essentially what a bed rail is. Just switch the depth and thickness dimensions in sagulator.

7. This calculator can also be used to measure beam deflection. Because beams are typically positioned on edge, use "thickness" to represent beam depth and "depth" to represent the thickness of the beam. The shelf span parameter represents the beam span.