[Warren]

the wood up above stated is walnut is red oak with a medium walnut stain.

Seems a bit extreme to use Cocobolo or one of the exotics though would nice. Just that wood is getting harder to get, no more Honduras mahogany for example though they do cut there for their own factories to make premium doors, Marvin door does this they bought up a factory there. Some of the old boats on Lake Muskoka done in Mahogany and teak are just stunning.

When I make furniture I select wood from prime lifts, oF that about 10-15-20 percent is prime grade wood. When I make my wood bed I will use boards that are of a certain grain type that I prefer and I will pick boards that are about 1/2 wider to an inch wider than finished width, joint them and rip them to size. I will also machine the wood then let it sit on its edges then re machine it, this give it a tension release. Also good idea to put a couple of dadoes in the bottom same as they do for hardwood floors, this is done to take some strength away so the board if it is wanting to move is less likely or will move less. Picking boards that are not so wild and centered heart will make a bed that looks nicer in any of the more common woods so wood selection to me has alot to do with the final look

I would pick boards with centered hearts, this looks the best in a table top as you can have straight grain joining to straight grain then the look just flows right accross. Will not show as much on the wood bed as the metal strips divide it up.

I see alot of oak beds and the grain really is not very pretty but oak is a coarse wood anyway depending on where the tree grows. Colder climates and strong winds like say the Michigan area the boards will have a tighter finer grain, closer growth rings and be heavier and denser than say in Pensylvannia.

Padouk is not a good choice, there are two main types and both darken quickly one of them very quickly, I did a craft show once and something that was in the sun for three days went from a bright orange red to a very dark and boring burgandy colour. A finish with a UV barrier would help but some say only slow it down and not prevent it. Cherry also darkens quite a bit from sunlight, if you left something sitting on cherry for several sunny days it would probably show once you moved it.

Unless you dont care about a big colour change I would stay away from Padouk. Some of the other exotics like bubinga you mentioned I dont know about or just havent used them yet. Bibuinga stinks to plane, it can have grain running one way on one half of the board and then grain running the other way on the other side. Not jointer or planer friendly.

They use IPE on high end decks, I think it might work well it is a very heavy hard wood and the dust is terrible, sticks to everything and is probably a bit toxic, Ipe oddly has a high fire rating I think I was told it doesnt burn.


Warren