Opinions for tool cabinet woods

[Adam Cruea]

Hickory is terrible stuff to work. Tough and stringy is the indeed the first word that comes to mind. The wood equivalent of eating broccoli rabe ( i don't know why restaurants insist on serving that stuff).

I think it was a little nuts of you to build an entire bench by hand out of it....then again from this point on everything else will feel like cake.

I agree QSWO is much nicer. Despite its hardness it works fairly easily with handtools.

I'm a "go big or go home" type. I have no regrets making my bench from hickory, other than all the XXL shirts my wife got me are now tight in the sleeves and shoulders.

I remember when I started working QSWO after planing down the stuff for my bench. . .I about threw the plane out of my hands.

I still have about 30bf of hickory left. I've make a couple of mallets out of it. They are *NICE* and they don't mar easily. I also made my shooting board out of that with jatoba runners.

Stan> Thanks for the detail and suggestions. I do have a router plane, and a plough plane. . .this could be an excuse for me to get a shaper. :-D I was just going to make some *thing* and slap it together, but now that you're poking my idea center in my head, I might actually try to make a nice cabinet.

What hardware would you suggest to go with the QSWO? Something dark or something light? I like the red oak idea Chris has, too. . .

[Stanley Covington]

Stan> Thanks for the detail and suggestions. I do have a router plane, and a plough plane. . .this could be an excuse for me to get a shaper. :-D I was just going to make some *thing* and slap it together, but now that you're poking my idea center in my head, I might actually try to make a nice cabinet.

What hardware would you suggest to go with the QSWO? Something dark or something light? I like the red oak idea Chris has, too. . .

I think the hardware selection would nee to match the design details. But for a working, manly, tool cabinet, I suspect something in simple black iron, whether light or heavy in shape, would be well suited. Simple and understated and not something found at the Borg would probably be best, IMO.

Stan

[Stanley Covington]

Stan> I like the red oak idea Chris has, too. . .

Adam:

Red oak is cheap and plentiful, but it has some serious failings when compared to white oak.

1. RO is humungously open-grained. Unless you fill the pores thoroughly and finish it with a protective finish creating a flush surface (very prone to damage and chipping and peeling and UV damage over the years) dirt will collect in the pores. This is why red oak antiques always have what appears to be black stain in the grain.

2. RO is very durable, but compared to WO, it tends to splinter and split and is not nearly as pleasant to work, in my experience. Now if you were building this for a customer, and they wanted cheap, or specified RO, then you would have no choice, but if you want to enjoy the experience, RO is not going to be as enjoyable as many other woods.

3. RO is not as stable as WO. Some will get upset at this, but the undeniable fact is that the radial and tangential expansion/contraction characteristics of RO are dismal. This means tolerance and clearance problems over times and seasons, and maybe even cracks. Warpage is a serious concern. With care, of course, these can be overcome, but silk purse/sows ear.

I shun RO. It is not worth the time invested. Honduras mahogany is exceptionally stable. QSWO is very good. Almost any wood you might consider for a cabinet like this is significantly better than red oak.

Stan

[gary Zimmel]

A little late to the party.. But my vote would be a shop full of cherry cabinets.