Softwood for table tops?

[Cornwall360]

Just started in the table making game.
Mainly been doing cabinets, but turning my hand to tables.
I’ve got some poplar and ash on order, but Just wondering if anyone has tried softwoods for table tops? Like pine or larch? Even fence posts, CLS stud, ect ect
Trying to keep the cost down, but obviously thinking about hardness and suitability for table tops, they’re going to be stained and cat lacquered.
Cheers

 

[niall Y]

For kitchen/farmhouse, tables it would be quite normal to use pine The late Alan Peters talked of using Whitewood for table tops. I adopted this idea for a dresser I made for my old kitchen. The idea however was not to finish them , but to keep them scrubbed and bleached.
The trouble with pine is that it will pick up various dinks and knocks that will compromise any nicely stained and sprayed surface. So, if you are using cat lacquers, they would have to be stripped off, before refinishing, just to maintain the look. It might be best to use an oil of sorts for the tops this will a least give the customer the option of keeping them looking at their best.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Just wondering if anyone has tried softwoods for table tops? Like pine or larch? Even fence posts, CLS stud, ect ect

Softwoods, pines in particular have long been used for tables, mostly kitchen or country type tables. Douglas fir is another popular choice. The main initial consideration generally is to source material which has been kilned to a furniture grade target i.e., somewhere close to 8 - 12% MC and to avoid construction material which is dried to ±20% MC target. If you must use the latter material you really need, to minimise future large shrinkage and/or distortion, to reduce the moisture content to somewhere close to 10 - 12% prior to using it for making furniture destined for habitable buildings. The usual method to acclimatise material is stickering up the boards in a place that reasonably closely replicates the conditions in which the piece will see service, e.g., inside a habitable building. Slainte.

 

[recipio]

Your problem is that pine doesn't take stains very well. The alternate hard and soft grain give a very uneven finish. I used Douglas Fir for a few tables in the past and lacquered them. They look nice but are soft. The best overall timber that will give a close grained look and take abuse is the poplar /sycamore family and they will accept almost any finish.

 

[eribaMotters]

I have made several kitchen and kitchen/diner tables. A simple eggshell painted poplar frame and a top usually of oiled iroko always looks good and requires little maintenance. I've used pine boards for the tops on a couple that wanted a more "country kitchen" look and these have remained unfinished, requiring a scrub and bleach maintenance. This is more work but they still look nice.

Colin

 

[peter-harrison]

If you want to stain it, I’ve had good results using washing soda and/or vandyke crystals on pine. Especially washing soda as it affects both kinds of grain.

 

[pe2dave]

For kitchen/farmhouse, tables it would be quite normal to use pine The late Alan Peters talked of using Whitewood for table tops. I adopted this idea for a dresser I made for my old kitchen. The idea however was not to finish them , but to keep them scrubbed and bleached.
The trouble with pine is that it will pick up various dinks and knocks that will compromise any nicely stained and sprayed surface. So, if you are using cat lacquers, they would have to be stripped off, before refinishing, just to maintain the look. It might be best to use an oil of sorts for the tops this will a least give the customer the option of keeping them looking at their best.

Surely the dinks and knocks are a part of the story? I agree on an oil (or time) as a finish.

 

[BucksDad]

My Dad made our family kitchen/dining table out of pine 40 years ago and my parents still use it today. I think he’s refinished it once in that time but it’s done well and as @pe2dave says, dinks, knocks etc all part of the story and history

 

[niall Y]

Surely the dinks and knocks are a part of the story? I agree on an oil (or time) as a finish.

It really is a case of "horses for courses" and does depend on what class of table you are making. I don't think pine would in any way, be suitable for say, a board- room, table, or even a smart, dining table.
The problem with some finishes on softer woods like pine is that they are compromised when the wood is knocked allowing dirt and any spills to get through to the surface below. While this can be acceptable on these more rustic forms I would be cautious about using pine tops, on other, more sophisticated tables - no matter how beautifully they have been finished.

 

[Stevekane]

I built our garden table from fence posts and construction timber, actually joists, and once planed and sanded it looked great and would have sat quite happily in the house. Bigest hassle is is the way construction timber is cut it lends itself to cupping but if you allow for that its fine.

 

[okeydokey]

Would ply be worth considering - depends on use and final location of prospective table