# What type of wood for a built in study



## datoney (Feb 18, 2011)

Hi all, I am a newbie to this forum, this is my 1st post. I am looking at building a study. I plan on building all of the cabinets myself and giving it a built in look. I will be staining the wood, no paint! I want the end product to look beautiful. So here is my question, what type of wood do you think I should use, here are some things I am thinking. No Oak, to expensive and I don't like the grain, also very 70's, 80's kitchen look (no offense to anyone with oak!!!!  ), I want a wood that is not to expensive, that is easy to work with (no pine!). only the cabinet doors, draws and drawer fronts and frame around the cabinets need to be real wood the rest of the cabinet can be made of other material....suggestions please  Any pointers would be much appreciated as I am still a bit of a novice at the art, but I truly love it. :thumbsup:

Thanks

datoney


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## loosebolt (Feb 2, 2011)

cherry, maple and quarter-sawn oak to name a few. not a fan of oak ether but love the look of quarter-sawn. some other species may be cheaper but could be more difficult to work with and/or a nightmare to stain.dont know if i helped any as other people here are far more quailified to answer your question than me.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

You pretty much limited your options when you said no oak because it was too expensive. In my experience oak is about the least expensive wood that I would consider for such a project as you have in mind.

I would suggest that you visit your local lumber yards and find out just what wood they sell that you like and can afford.

George


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## Just Bill (Dec 29, 2008)

Rough cut wood, of any species, from a lumberyard is quite reasonable, but you have to do all the work. As for a specific wood, that is a personal choice.


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## sausagefingers (Oct 1, 2008)

GeorgeC said:


> You pretty much limited your options when you said no oak because it was too expensive. In my experience oak is about the least expensive wood that I would consider for such a project as you have in mind.
> 
> I would suggest that you visit your local lumber yards and find out just what wood they sell that you like and can afford.
> 
> George


Yeah what he said. Anything other than oak or maple is going to be relatively expensive. You could use poplar, it's cheap and it has cool grain and color variances, but I have never seen it stained and have no idea what it possibly would look like. I like to use it for painted projects to keep costs down.


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

sausagefingers said:


> Yeah what he said. Anything other than oak or maple is going to be relatively expensive. You could use poplar, it's cheap and it has cool grain and color variances, but I have never seen it stained and have no idea what it possibly would look like. I like to use it for painted projects to keep costs down.


Poplar is a great wood for built-ins and is often used with a stain to simulate cherry.
Try a scrap......


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GeorgeC said:


> You pretty much limited your options when you said no oak because it was too expensive. In my experience oak is about the least expensive wood that I would consider for such a project as you have in mind.
> 
> I would suggest that you visit your local lumber yards and find out just what wood they sell that you like and can afford.
> 
> George


I agree. Another thing to keep in mind is if you need the three thicknesses of plywood and solid wood in the same species.












 







.


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## datoney (Feb 18, 2011)

*Awesome Responses*

Thanks to all who responded you have really helped , I always thought that Oak was the top of the line and more expensive as it takes so long to grow etc, I guess I was wrong. Also I thought Maple was really expensive to. What about Alder (is that how you spell it?) I know that is a soft wood, would that be a good choice? Thanks again to all who posted 

Datoney


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## wooddude9 (Sep 6, 2008)

I've used many diff. woods in the studys I have built. Alder is fairly priced ,easy to work with and stain. You can check out 1 I built by entering (Alder Study) in the search at top of page. go to the 1st and 2nd page to see more pics and good luck


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## Locodcdude (Oct 24, 2010)

Poplar..? That's about it for what you're asking for. You could use maple, birch, cherry, ect, but then again, you limited yourself to something so small, my only suggestion would be poplar or pine. They do sell pine that is very nice, and clear. It stains well, and looks great for cabinets and built ins. There again, you limited yourself so much where it's tough to do anything for yah.
http://101woods.com Check this site out, and you can see different prices and grains of wood.


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## datoney (Feb 18, 2011)

*Incredible Study! Selected Alder as my wood of Choice*



wooddude9 said:


> I've used many diff. woods in the studys I have built. Alder is fairly priced ,easy to work with and stain. You can check out 1 I built by entering (Alder Study) in the search at top of page. go to the 1st and 2nd page to see more pics and good luck


Thanks Wooddude! We had decided on Alder before we saw the beautiful workmanship of the study that you built. Just incredible, it makes me want to do a better job. Thanks so much for posting.

datoney :thumbsup:


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## datoney (Feb 18, 2011)

*Another quick question!*

Where do you guys get your wood? Any online vendors that you trust, I personally like to see my wood and hand select it, but just wanted to see if you guys had any other tips. 

Thanks

Datoney :smile:


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

datoney said:


> Where do you guys get your wood? Any online vendors that you trust, I personally like to see my wood and hand select it, but just wanted to see if you guys had any other tips.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Datoney :smile:


When I cannot get what I want locally, which is frequently, I go to 

walllumber.com

George


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

Very seldom do I find acceptable wood at a lumber yard, I go to the saw mill and hand pick exactly what I want. The one, but major, down fall is you're limited to local woods.
Fortunately, we have just about everything I've wanted here.
Putting your location would help, some one here may know just where to get your wood.


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## datoney (Feb 18, 2011)

*Thanks RickC*



Rick C. said:


> Very seldom do I find acceptable wood at a lumber yard, I go to the saw mill and hand pick exactly what I want. The one, but major, down fall is you're limited to local woods.
> Fortunately, we have just about everything I've wanted here.
> Putting your location would help, some one here may know just where to get your wood.



Thanks RickC I live in Utah, and it seems quite hard to get stuff here, anyone out there live in utah and can point me in the direction of a good place to get wood?

Thanks all

Datoney


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