How good are Edge Glued Hard wood boards to make furniture?
I saw these boards in Home Depot that come wrapped up in clear plastic and are supposed to be good to make basic home furniture such as shelves, chairs, among others.
What I’m doubtful about is the lightness of these boards, compared to pine wood which seem to be more durable and much heavier.
I’m wondering how these boards would work to make a children’s table and a couple of chairs.
The name on the plastic wrap is Edge Glued
Hardwood Board
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“hard wood” lol im so immature even at 21 lol
I think they would work for children’s size stuff, however you may consider glue and a box of small finishing nails and pre drill the holes so the wood wont split
edge glued hardwood boards are fine for furniture making but large pieces of natural wood tends to move (expand and contract} with changes in humidity. especially across the grain if you don’t allow for that movement in your design your joinery may fail or your wood will crack, twist, or warp.
i’m not positive but i think the boards your asking about are aspen. if they are a light colored wood with very little grain figure that’s probably what they are.
consider using plywood. all home improvement stores sell an oak veneered ply in various thicknesses. you can find several types of veneers at a hardwood supplier if you don’t want to use oak. plywood is a better choice for many types of furniture because it eliminates the movement problems. you have to cover the plys on the side to make it look good. there’s many ways to do it. the easiest is a veneer tape that irons on, or you can cut thin strips and glue them on, or you can cut wider pieces and rout a decorative edge. you can use the same species or a contrasting one.
That lumber would work just fine for what you want to do.
In reality, when you take smaller pieces of lumber, and glue them up to make a bigger piece, it is actually stronger, and more stable, than a piece of solid lumber, of the same dimensions.
If you plan on painting this project, I would recommend that you use Poplar (also found at most building supply stores like Home Depot, and Lowe’s). Poplar is a hardwood, but has a less pronounced wood grain than Red Oak – that means the wood-grain doesn’t show through the paint as much as the Red Oak. Its also less expensive, hehehe. Poplar is actually a very strong wood, but it takes tooling very easily. A lot of adult furniture is built with Poplar – anything from structural components in a restaurant booth seat to ‘cherry finish’ furniture such as armoires, collector’s cabinets, and entertainment units. Often such furniture has cherry veneer, but poplar solids stained to match the veneer. Poplar is stronger than pine, by the way. Poplar has a light creamy color to it, sometimes with a light purple, and/or green color streaking to it. Its more ‘white’ than pine usually is.
When making children’s furniture, the strength of the lumber is rarely a problem – so pick your lumber based on the finish you want to achieve. If you like the look of pine, go ahead and use it. If you’re going to paint it, then, again, I’d strongly recommend poplar. Other species are available, like aspen, ash, red oak, etc., and should be chosen if you want to use those particular wood grains.
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