What ins of wood??

[Tim Geary]

I'm building a coffe table. I plan on using 2" thick wood for most of it. The base will be painted white and the table top will be wood. What kind of wood should I use for the base? Should I be using pine or basswood to keep the weight down? Or should I use birch cause it won't dent as easily?
thanks for the advice

[Mark Kornell]

Tim,

A coffee table isn't particularly large, so the weight difference between basswood and birch is not that big. I'd use something hard and, because you are painting it, something that has a non-pored surface. Birch, maple and beech would all be good choices. Cherry, too, but that's likely expensive for something that will be painted.

[Richard Shaefer]

I'd go with poplar.
workability wise it's identical to cherry and its got a good tight grain that takes paint well.
I would not use basswood. you'll dent it by sneezing at it.

[Tim Geary]

Thanks for the advice. That's what I thought about the softer woods but when I called the lumber store in Montreal the person thought I should use those.

[Bill Adamsen]

Poplar is inexpensive and easy to work, and holds paint exceptionally well. It would work well for your painted base. According to the government (http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/ch04.pdf), (see Yellow poplar) it is not nearly as hard as the other woods mentioned (birch, cherry, maple). I don't think of poplar as something which would receive a natural finish, though I have stained and finished poplar very successfully when it needed to match other woods. Of the other woods you mention, American cherry jumps out as the (my) favorite for a natural finish. Sometimes for projects like this I just go with what's readily available.

[Wade Lippman]

I would probably spring for maple,but poplar ought to be fine if you are cost conscious.
Consider gluing your 2" up out of thinner pieces. 9/4 poplar will be expensive, and painted it won't matter.