Wood Alternative

Re: Wood Alternative

Matt Prusik

>Try white cedar. It's plentiful and inexpensive in New England. In fact I wish it was as plentiful and inexpensive here in NJ!!!

Re: Wood Alternative

Matthew J D'Avella, Kona HI

>how about white oak. Closed pores, good grain, beautiful color. Just my 2cents, I can take change.

Matthew J D'Avella

Re: Wood Alternative

Carl Schloemann

>Thanks, Matt. Mahalo, Matthew.

Matthew, the budget is so tight, I don't know if I have the penny to give you.

Carl

Southern yellow pine

Bob Hackett

>You can get it even up here in Maine if you go to Home Depot.It works better than either of the cedars mentioned or Doug Fir.We use it for boat planking so that should give you an idea about weather resistance.

MB

Re: Wood Alternative

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>In that case, mahogany is probably out of the question. Light (at least in comparison to white oak), stable, rot resistance, easy to work, and looks great under a clear finish.

Did you check WoodFinder? I see two dealers in MA and one in CT (Harris in Manchester) that carry Western Red Cedar. It may be a little more common in your area than you think. I know of at least one local lumberyard that carries it, who is not listed in WoodFinder, and we are not practically closer to the source than you are. Sometimes, you I have even found it at the Borg, but you would have to search through the pile for much that is straight grained and without knots.

Spanish Cedar

Brian, Boothbay Harbor

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Re: Wood Alternative

Carl Schloemann

>William,

I haven't checked on mahogany. Sounds good as well and the flooring on the porch is mahogany. To remain consistent, that's probably the way to go.

I checked Harris yesterday. They had some 2X6s, but no 2X8s and didn't particularly sound interested in making a special order for the small amount I will use.

Thanks.

Carl

Re: Wood Alternative

Jorge Casta�eda ~ East Penobscot Bay

>Carl,

Here in Maine I can just go to a lumberyard and if they do not have on hand either the Douglas fir or the western red cedar, they can order it and comes in a few days, it comes from Mass. Around here they keep both and if you rummage the pile you can find what you need.

a few months ago I bought beautiful mahogany for a door for the same price that they were asking for the douglas fir.

white pine

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>I have made several screen doors out of white pine and it has done well in this application.

Chiseling softwood

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>If you use a softwood (cedar, pine), practice your sharpening skills a lot. Getting a clean cut on the endgrain of a softwood is one of the ultimate tests of a sharp chisel (and one I fail regularly). The wood tests to collapse and pull out if your chisel's not truly sharp.