Wood Options for making Painted Wood Furniture

[sams93]

My other half wants some bedroom furniture to match a bed I recently made. She has decided she wants them to be painted wood, with oak tops, and has given me some style ideas she likes (the photos).

Obviously I don't want to be using nice (and expensive) oak for the whole unit, what (cheaper!) wood options do I have for making the painted bits - Ideally I would choose to buy rough sawn and plane up myself.

I'm located in east sussex if that helps anyone point me in a good direction.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[Misterdog]

Ash is a cheaper alternative if you wish to see a grain, or Tulipwood (Poplar) which is easier to machine and smooth.

 

[MARK.B.]

I would hazard a guess that those units are made from MDF or another man made board and not solid timber.

 

[sneggysteve]

I would use MRMDF

 

[Doug71]

I would use Tulipwood and MRMDF

 

[rogxwhit]

You could fake it up with mdf. But for god's sake don't waste good ash wood if you're going to paint it - that's tantamount to a criminal act. By painting wood at all, you're already sailing close to the wind. Yes, tulip wood is a cheapish hardwood with even texture & w/o knots, but it's Yankee stuff so there are a lot of 'food miles' in it over here.

But the paint's the clue to it all. Don't waste real wood under a layer of paint! Don't denigrate the gift of life in such an underhand manner! Go full hog, blatantly. Use resin. Use formaldehyde. Use anything. Get as far away from the forest and the real planet we live on as possible. Use MRFXPWERF!

Or send your wife on a correction course. :-(

 

[JoeS]

Get a new wife i think.

 

[niall Y]

Tulipwood, is the obvious one that springs to mind, You can run beautiful crisp mouldings in it. Failing this, you could try Whitewood, but you would need to plug any knot holes and resin canals with wood, otherwise it will bleed through the paint even with knotting applied.
I'm not adverse to using MRMDF. But it is pretty soulless compared to timber. I have on my list of jobs to do, a set of painted doors for my kitchen units. These I will be making from Ash. The effect I am after requires that the wood has a noticeable grain pattern ( and Ash certainly does) .This will show through, even with paint applied, whereas painted MDF might just as well be plastic

 

[Agent_zed]

Looking to do something similar in the future and was probably going to use pine and plyboard for the inserts. Local lumber yard is pretty good at letting me look through the stack and I've had a fair few pieces with only 1 or 2 small knots in a 5m length. Think the trick is to buy wider boards as they have to come from the inside of bigger trees which have less knots. Only trouble I've had is one piece when I cut it in half decided to go banana shaped on my as there must have been internal tensions that were released.

 

[sams93]

I will take a look into tulipwood as this has come up a couple of times now in the conversation! Thanks

 

[Ollie78]

+1 for tulipwood for anything with a moulding or an exposed edge or corner and MR MDF for panels ( then you don`t have to paint the edges, which is the most annoying bit ).

Ollie

 

[Spectric]

I cannot see anything wrong in painting real wood, yes it is more expensive and I am not thinking of Walnut or some exotix species but real wood machines nicely and even when painted has the real wood look. I used Sapelle for the paneling in my bathroom, it was ten times more expensive than MDF and about three times dearer than redwood but it looks nice, pine would have been fine if I was happy with the knots.

 

[johnnyb]

I find painted wood pleasing it allows you to read the peice without distractions. just the shapes.

 

[Mike.R]

As has been suggested, tulipwood for the framework and MDF for panels and drawer fronts. Moisture resistant MDF rather than standard for a better job.
Prime with Zinsser and paint with Johnsons eggshell, they'll mix to any colour you like.
Actually, as it's bedroom furniture you can use Little Green, Farrow and Ball... anything she fancies... but when you get round to doing the kitchen, use Johnsons.
I can imagine your wife will be very happy.
Happy wives, happy lives.

 

[JBaz]

For painted cabinets I use MRMDF for the most part and Tulip for small section parts that need more strength, like window bars and carcass frames or mouldings. I have made cabinet doors entirely out of MRMDF using 22mm for the frame and 12 mm for the panels. I made my kitchen using this and in 10 years of use there is no cracking round the panels and no warping.

You have to seal the edges of MRMDF before priming and I find that wet rot treatment soaks in really well and dries very quickly.

I spray the cabinets with automotive primer and then hand paint with 3-4 coats of Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell (thinned quite significantly) after installation. Then I can repaint as wear requires.

 

[Jorny]

There is nothing wrong with painting wood, only philistines claim otherwise. Painting nice hardwood is of course unnecessary. Build it in pine or another suitable wood. Painted mdf looks like painted mdf. Painted wood looks like painted wood. The difference is important. Choose a traditional type of paint that wears nicely.

In Sweden vernacular furniture was painted if you could afford it. Some examples:

 

[thetyreman]

I'd go with tulipwood for the carcasses and solid oak for the tops, you could use regular MDF for the panels, I don't see the point in using MRMDF as it's more expensive, I'd be showing her some designs before going ahead and making anything.

 

[johnnyb]

I like beech for painted stuff tulips a bit soft ( and american) there both a bit unstable tbh. having priced some oak at over £10000 per cubic metre! I'd not hesitate to use lipped mdf.

 

[frankendoodle65]

Add one more voice to the pine brigade here, I've not had any issues with it for painted furniture. Just pick out the boards with the fewest knots and you'll save a few quid over any other option. Red wood over white any day, it machines better and takes a few more knocks before it shows the wear.

 

[Jones]

Redwood is ok for mouldings and if you don't have a spindle you can buy a wide range. You may have to fill knots and use knotting under the primer but you can get a good finish. Tulipwood aka Poplar or beech or lime maybe available at a good price locally. For the carcasses and drawers ply or MDF will work well, personally I prefer ply.