I built my old bench forty years ago. It was state of the art at the time, but it, like me, is getting long in the tooth, and I'm Jonesin' to built a new one. The old one was poplar - a bit soft - cheap - fairly stable, and it didn't abuse the wood that was being worked upon it. So now I'm looking at a couple hundred feet of something, and that's where the cheese gets binding. I'm in Tucson - not one of the woodworking centers of the world. The wood supply options here are pretty slim, so I'm looking for you guy's regional knowledge. I need a bunch of KD 8/4 soft maple, alder, poplar - something that will yield a nice bench without taking out a bank loan. I'm willing to drive within the southwest to pick it up. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.