Best Wood for Getting Started

[Patrick Cox]

Hi,
I am a new woodworker and new to hand tools. I am in the process of purchasing my basic tool kit of a few key saws and planes. And I have a few projects planned out... Saw Bench, Tool Box, Front Porch Bench (need to build something for the Mrs!)...etc. My question is regarding the type and condition of wood I should start with. My assumption is I should start out working with pine because I believe that is an easier wood to work with. Agree? And then in what state should I buy wood for my first projects. I am worried about starting out with totally rough wood as I am afraid I will get overwhelmed with the whole process. I will be working primarily with hand tools. (Other than a power drill.) So I don't have a planer or jointer or table saw. So any thoughts on wood selection for a beginner would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Bob Glenn]

I would start with yellow poplar. It is easy to work with hand tools, relatively cheap and takes almost any finish really well. Pine is great also, however, most of it available at home improvement stores, is full of knots, making it problematic. Welcome to the group. Bob

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I too would recommend poplar as apposed to pine. I love pine, but it requires supper sharp tools to do fine joinery.

[Patrick Cox]

I would start with yellow poplar. It is easy to work with hand tools, relatively cheap and takes almost any finish really well. Pine is great also, however, most of it available at home improvement stores, is full of knots, making it problematic. Welcome to the group. Bob

Thanks Bob. We have a pretty good lumber yard here that is open to individuals for small purchases on the weekends. So I will go in there and ask about yellow poplar. And what about condition of the wood? I am assuming they have different options like S2S, S4S...etc. Thanks.

[Phil Mueller]

I would go at least S2S. If you plan to rip the pieces to width, edge finish won't matter.

Another option is to take a look at radiata pine at the BORG. It's Monterey Pine, straight grain, knot free, and pretty square off the shelf. It's relatively pricey, but there's far less prep.

With any lumber from whatever the source, take your time to sort through the pile and get the pieces with as little bow, twist and cup as possible. I also try to look for boards with consistent running grain.

With that said, I agree with the above that poplar is a good way to go.

[Doug Hepler]

Patrick,

I agree with earlier recommendations of yellow poplar and radiata pine, but neither is a good choice for outdoor furniture, radiata pine is especially prone to rot. Consider cedar, cypress or redwood as easy to work wood for outdoor furniture. Have a look at this essay: http://plaza.ufl.edu/chepler/Notes/Outdoor%20Wood.pdf

Doug

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Patrick and welcome to the Creek.

I work a lot of pine and with a good coat of paint or sealer it holds up well in the weather here. If clear poplar is less expensive than pine, then the poplar might be your best choice.

Most of the time my choice is to use the least expensive woods unless someone is paying me to make something of a more expensive wood. Western pine can be a challenge. It can move a bit even on the drive home from the lumber yard.

You listed some projects:

And I have a few projects planned out... Saw Bench, Tool Box, Front Porch Bench (need to build something for the Mrs!)...etc.

I like Charles Neil's Youtube video > Make a 5-Board Bench with Charles Neil < It inspired me to change it a little:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?214308-A-Six-Board-Bench

Here is my build of a saw table, bench, horse:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?146777-Saw-Table-Project

Show us your projects when you finish one.

jtk

[Malcolm McLeod]

Take a look at bald cypress for your porch bench if available in your area. It holds up outdoors quite well, and although classed as 'hardwood' (deciduous), it is fairly light, soft, and works easily by hand.

[Luke Dupont]

I agree with suggestions in regards to Poplar. It's a wonderful wood to learn on and work with; soft, straight, tight grained, durable (though prone to denting), light weight, and very free of knots usually.

It's also fairly beautiful, especially as it ages. Beware that it does not take stain well in my experience, though. It seems to be too tight-grained, like Maple. May have just been the particular stain I was using though.

Of course, the wood should suit your project. Pine is a good option too, but I would suggest the Radiata pine that people have suggested over other varieties. Something like southern yellow pine, or knotty white pine will cause you needless frustration as a complete beginner, I think.

[John Glendening]

As a starter project, the saw bench will be great. You'll end up with a good "tool" (the saw bench) and have some good joinery experience. There are lots of styles, shapes, and methods for making one. Schwarz has a decent design that gives you a sturdy properly sized bench for sawing - build two, same size for later using long pieces in your next projects. Best part inexpensive BORG 2x material, that doesn't really require extensive prep.

Then you'll have something to progressively build some things from nicer wood, such as the tool box and the bench.

Dive in, most of all have fun!

[Reinis Kanders]

Eastern white pine is great, works easily and you will learn how to sharpen to work it nicely. My local HD has 3/4" thick 11.25" wide No.2 pine that quite often does not have too many knots. I walk by the pile when I am there and cherry pick the best pieces. I do the same with 5/4 pine they sell, made a small bed for my kid from 5.5" wide knot free planks.
Pine works well for stools and stuff for kids because it is very light and one does not have to worry about kids damaging themselves. As long as you build it properly it is strong enough, it will get dinged, but that just ads to the character and teaches you to chamfer properly:)
Poplar also dings easily, but it is heavy, so I do not really see much of a benefit there.
Cost-wise though No.2 cherry picked pine from HD is hard to beat though.

[Andrew Hughes]

My vote is Alder,It's not very expensive although clear will set you back more then boards with knots.
I find it way more interesting then popler or pine.
Its also very easy to work.If there aren't too many knots.

Aj

[Joe A Faulkner]

Given your location, you likely have access to poplar at a very reasonable price. In my opinion it is much easier to work with hand tools than pine. I just did a quick google search of sawmills near Lexington. Bagdad Lumber carries 4/4 poplar at $1.75 sq ft. http://www.bagdadlumber.com/lumber-products.html They also have clear cedar at that price. For your saw bench you might want one or two boards of 8/4 stock.

[Patrick Chase]

I'll third all of the folks who suggest poplar, with one caveat: It's a bit of a "hero wood". By that I mean that it's spectacularly easy to work and forgiving of grotesque technical flaws. This is particularly true when carving, where its compressibility will allow you to execute cuts in ways that won't work at all on harder woods, so if you practice on poplar you may very well be programming your muscle memory with habits that you'll have to unlearn to progress.

IMO pine has a similar issue inasmuch as it works very differently from most hardwoods. It's easier to work in some respects, harder in others, but altogether not representative. If you plan to do a lot of work in pine like Jim then that isn't an issue, but I don't think it's good practice for typical hardwoods.

FWIW I used (and still use) a lot of Birch when starting ojut. It's about the same hardness as the woods I care about, but cheaper and available just about everywhere.

[Patrick Chase]

Given your location, you likely have access to poplar at a very reasonable price. In my opinion it is much easier to work with hand tools than pine. I just did a quick google search of sawmills near Lexington. Bagdad Lumber carries 4/4 poplar at $1.75 sq ft. http://www.bagdadlumber.com/lumber-products.html They also have clear cedar at that price. For your saw bench you might want one or two boards of 8/4 stock.

Wow, those are amazing prices by California standards. MacBeath wants quite a bit more than that for just about everything... :-)

[Pat Barry]

Hi,
I am a new woodworker and new to hand tools. I am in the process of purchasing my basic tool kit of a few key saws and planes. And I have a few projects planned out... Saw Bench, Tool Box, Front Porch Bench (need to build something for the Mrs!)...etc. My question is regarding the type and condition of wood I should start with. My assumption is I should start out working with pine because I believe that is an easier wood to work with. Agree? And then in what state should I buy wood for my first projects. I am worried about starting out with totally rough wood as I am afraid I will get overwhelmed with the whole process. I will be working primarily with hand tools. (Other than a power drill.) So I don't have a planer or jointer or table saw. So any thoughts on wood selection for a beginner would be appreciated.

Thanks!
I would go to the local BORG, spend some time picking through the construction lumber to find the nice pieces that don't have much bow, twist, warp, knots, splits, breakouts, etc and start with that. Careful selection can get you going so that you can work on skills such as cutting to length and width, making basic joinery, rounding over or chamfering corners and edges, glue-ups, etc, etc. I find that if you go the BORG (other other lumberyard) during off peak times, you can pick through the boards and find lots of good material. Just make sure you leave the stuff in order and not tossed about willy nilly like the bulk of the customers do. The thing to be most careful with is to recognize the material isn't really dry and that you need to let it dry and acclimate before use. I like to stack it and allow nature to take its course in my garage (not right on the concrete floor though). A rack on the wall or stacked on top of a bench is fine. For outdoor bench cedar can be a good material also.

[Patrick Cox]

I would go to the local BORG, spend some time picking through the construction lumber to find the nice pieces that don't have much bow, twist, warp, knots, splits, breakouts, etc and start with that. Careful selection can get you going so that you can work on skills such as cutting to length and width, making basic joinery, rounding over or chamfering corners and edges, glue-ups, etc, etc. I find that if you go the BORG (other other lumberyard) during off peak times, you can pick through the boards and find lots of good material. Just make sure you leave the stuff in order and not tossed about willy nilly like the bulk of the customers do. The thing to be most careful with is to recognize the material isn't really dry and that you need to let it dry and acclimate before use. I like to stack it and allow nature to take its course in my garage (not right on the concrete floor though). A rack on the wall or stacked on top of a bench is fine. For outdoor bench cedar can be a good material also.

Great suggestions! Thanks!

[Andrew Pitonyak]

The suggestion depends on the project. For an outdoor bench (to sit on), not sure I would go with poplar. I like poplar, easy to work, light, etc. if you cut flawless hand cut dovetails in poplar and then switch to oak (or the other way around), the characteristics of the wood change the dynamics a bit. For sure I would use poplar for a saw till unless I had wood just sitting around, then I might just use what I have or can find.

The wood you choose for a bench top or vice may be more important than something else like a saw till. If the wood will be outside, then choose a wood that will perform well outside.