I want to start building furniture and have a little bit of experience with carpentry. What is a good, cheap wood I can start with? I want a hardwood. I know poplar isn’t very high quality, but is it good enough to just play around with and make a few small projects?
hardwoods
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poplar is the cheapest hardwood but for “fooling around” try pine it makes fine furniture and it’s easy to work with
yep #2 pine, will have some knots… but it is soft and easy to work with…
pine is ok if you plan on painting it…i always get splotchy results when i stain it…oak is reasonable where i live…cherry is easy on the tool edges…go right to a local mill to get the best lumber prices…
Mahogany is a nice hardwood to work with, not over priced and not hard on your knives and blades. Looks great clear coated and will darken as it ages.
Poplar is a great wood and is sort of in the middle but the grain if poplar is able to stain up and you can fake it to look like other more expensive woods and it is good enough to do anything you’ll need look in your house you’ll probably find poplar in use, I have a mantel that mixes in a poplar piece that you won’t be able to tell me which one it is.
try oak, its tough wood and really nice if you get to make something with it , all the others are soft woods……
maybe consider cherry, also a good wood
Hardwood really isn’t the best to “play around” with. Its expensive. Depending on where you live, I wood (pun intended) get pine or fir or redwood to play around with. Popular is not available where I live so I can’t tell you anything about it.
oak and ash are good woods because they take stain evenly and are strong and durable. cherry has a tendency to burn unless your tools are razor sharp. maple is good if you want a light colored wood, it’s closed grain doesn’t take stain well and looks splotchy, same thing happens with pine but for different reasons. poplar is good for painted projects, when you sand it the fibers tear and the wood has a hairy appearance, it makes stain look muddy.
many of your projects will require plywood. home improvement stores like Lowe’s only carry oak, pine, and birch veneers. oak is also the most available hardwood. it’s also a very good firewood so you’ll have a use for those pieces that you cut to short. lol
Poplar is better than good enough .
It is hard enough to “machine ” well for all sorts of joinery.
Even “fine” furniture will often have a poplar carcass.
It will also accept stains & finishes very well.
Not the most glamorous , but a nicely built piece made of poplar is nothing to be sneeze at.
Not much in the fancy grain department , but the color variations can be very nice.
Use it all the time.
Best regards
