Douglas fir for furniture

[Jaze Derr]

A local lumber yard carries a wide variety of clear vertical grain fir. I love Douglas fir, despite it's construction grade only reputation. I am designing a bedroom suite, and I was wondering what you all thought of mixing maple (either solid or plywood) with cvg fir as accent, such as face frames, legs, posts, etc?

Would maple and fir look nice together?

[Paul Girouard]

They are to close together in color, assuming you'd not be staining either species , but just applying a clear coat of finish.

Cherry accents Maple nicely , Cherry would also compliment VG Fir as well IMO.
VG Fir would go nicely with Walnut , nice dark Walnut , not sap wood Walnut.
My two cents anyway.

[Robert Engel]

I wouldn't think Fir is a good choice for furniture. My limited experience with Fir tells me its soft, rather brittle and subject to splintering.

[Brian W Evans]

I recently started watching videos on YouTube by a guy in BC who calls himself the Samurai Carpenter. He uses a lot of Douglas fir, I believe. You might check out what he does with it. Here's his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/6488jesse

[glenn bradley]

For the price of VG fir I can think of other more suitable material for furniture. I agree VG fir looks pretty cool. Woodsmith magazine makes many of their demonstration pieces out of it. For long term usability though, I would move up the janka scale; we're talking about something that is softer than cedar ;-)

[pat warner]

Made some stuff out of clear fir.
Can be quite striking.
However, in many cases, an annular ring will snag
and delaminate. There is no fixing that.

[David Kumm]

When I use fir for doors and cabinets, I put it in a kiln for a final charge. The MC is usually too high for furniture work and needs to be in the 8-10% range. Dave

[Brian Holcombe]

It pretty much must be old tight ringed and vertical grain to be furniture worthy. If it is, it makes for nice door panels. Sounds like that is the case, so I think it could be used to good effect. I would not mix with maple, rather walnut or something which offers a decent contrast.

[Robin Frierson]

I personally would not mix a softwood(doug fir) with a hardwood like maple. That said I have made a few pieces out of old growth salvaged douglas fir that are beautiful and have developed a beautiful patina over the years. Some of the old growth stuff has some of the tightest growth rings I have ever seen....its like old growth Huon Pine.

[Brian Holcombe]

The College of the Redwoods fine furniture students seem to do it regularly; http://crfinefurniture.com/projects/

[Mel Fulks]

Think that would be fine. There is precedent in pin striped suits with solid color tie.

[Mac McQuinn]

About 20 years ago I built a work bench with cabinet underneath from plans out of Douglas Fir and Nova Ply. I really enjoyed working with the DF and would jump to use it again if I could source it locally, the yard I purchased it from is now defunct. I found the DF machined and sanded very well. I embellished the bench with quite a few details with a router and there were several glue-ups done which worked out very well. I have no splintering, cracking or de-lamination of joints. I used a water based satin polyurethane for finishing and it looks as new still. Unfortunately my wife really liked it and figured it would make a great stain glass build/assembly bench and it somehow made it into her side of the basement. Well this gave me another reason to build the next bench which I did.

I think Douglas Fir could be used for a furniture project if the design accepts it. Something in a Craftsman style with mildly contrasting woods would work if your grains are carefully selected beforehand.
Good Luck,
Mac

[David Helm]

My entire house is trimmed in CVG Douglas Fir. I also have a fir floor. I have many built in bookshelves of fir. Our bed is Walnut and Doug Fir. Incidentally, Glenn, if you are talking about Western Red Cedar, Fir is harder. I happen to be very fond of CVG Doug Fir as a woodworking wood. I guess living in the Northwest may be part of the reason.

[David Helm]

Just another addition to the thread. Construction grade fir is generally dried to 12-14%. CVG Fir is generally much dryer. Around 8 to 10% or less.

[Andrew Hughes]

Like David Helm I am very fond of Douglas fir.So I look for old and new when I'm on the scout for wood.It will also test your ability as a woodworker since its both hard and soft.
Here's a table I made from reclaimed Fir.The house was almost a hundred years old and these were posts holding up the porch.30 + rings per inch.
I made this for myself.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I would totally use Doug Fir for certain furniture applications if it was clear vertical grain, older growth and tight grained. Concerning the Janka hardness of Doug Fir compared to Western Red Cedar (mentioned above), the fir (650-700) is nearly twice as hard as WRC (~350).

Doug fir can be splintery to work with, though. I have worked Doug fir many times during timber framing and you always have to be conscious and careful when cutting joinery and using a chisel aggressively. It can take on a beautiful finish with Tung Oil based stuff, in my opinion. I'm currently building a Roubo workbench using salvaged/orphaned drops from previous timber framing projects and am using Doug fir for the legs and stretchers. I think it will be plenty strong and hard enough for that application.

[Matthew Bradburn]

Well, I agree that fir and maple are close in color when newly milled, but of course the fir darkens a lot over time and the maple darkens just a little. I have maple floors vs. fir trim in my house, and it has sufficient contrast now that it's aged for a few years. My fir has a solvent-based finish, which may give a darker tone than water-based finishes.

[Ryan Griffey]

I use it on a regular basis. I mostly paint over it with milk paint, with the exception of fine cvg. It's plenty hard enough.

[Dave Zellers]

It pretty much must be old tight ringed and vertical grain to be furniture worthy.

Exactly my thought.

[Dave Zellers]

Geeze. Now reading to the end of the thread, I see that is pretty much everyone's thought as well!

:)

[Jaze Derr]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts. If/when the pieces ever get built, I'll post pics! :)

[Bob Falk]

I have made some beautiful pieces from old DF bleacher seats. Old growth, tight vertical grain. DF tends to splinter and chip, but painters tape helps with that. Funny how under appreciated this wood is. I have a bunch of 20' and 15' long vertical grain boards that I have been trying to sell for $3 a bf (about what I pay for red oak around here) and no takers......

[David Helm]

I have made some beautiful pieces from old DF bleacher seats. Old growth, tight vertical grain. DF tends to splinter and chip, but painters tape helps with that. Funny how under appreciated this wood is. I have a bunch of 20' and 15' long vertical grain boards that I have been trying to sell for $3 a bf (about what I pay for red oak around here) and no takers......

Here in the Northwest, CVG Doug Fir runs $7 to $8 per board foot. Obviously people in Wisconsin don't know what you are trying to sell.

[Mike Heidrick]

I would make sure it is dry enough from a BORG. Get a moisture meter.

[Joe Samorodin]

I use fir for a lot of projects as well, I often try to use it in such a way as the tannins bring out the colour and continue to deepen as it ages. I use rift,quarter,and flat depending on circumstance. It is not the easiest to work but I always like the results. Also I have been using a lot of hemlock for its grain diversity, using it in cabinet doors with a wash so the grain
is not obscured and the flat grain gives a tactile feel.

[Bob Falk]

Here in the Northwest, CVG Doug Fir runs $7 to $8 per board foot. Obviously people in Wisconsin don't know what you are trying to sell.

David, I agree that the Cheddarheads are not appreciative of this old growth wood. The only offer I had was for less than a buck a foot....
I have about 80 planks and a storage problem, so not sure what to do.

[Stuart Muncer]

Doulglas Fir is fine wood for furniture. I have build several small end tables and small cabinets for friends that look great. I have also used a s a complimentary wood both mahogany and cherry. It compliments the dark red growth rings in the Douglas Fir.

Douglas Fir does splinter easily so one wants to be careful when working in long grain direction. Pay very close attention to gain direction.

As several have already stated Douglas Fir ages beautifully.