Wood

[midol]

Hey, i am going to be attempting my first DIY shortly and i need some advice.

I want to use a wood that is around 1-2cm thick that i can get in large sheets, well, at least 4ft long.

Also, would you suggest i do joints (I remember doing dovetails and stuff in shop A though i sucked at them) or just slam the corners together with some screws?

After i have done the canopy i will be doing a stand but i want to get the canopy right first, on the stand i will definatly be using proper joints because i need it to be strong.

Anyway, advice on woods to use please!

Edit: Also, i know that to get nifty corners (Edges, whatever) you use a router but they are mighty expensive, i can get a 1/4 an inch or something for fairly cheap but is there any other way to get cool looking edges or will i have to save up for a router? (Keep in mind i am a 17 yr old student with no job :P )

TIA

As for the corners do how you like it. You could do the corners at an angle (cut both sides at half of 45 deg whatever that would be)

For the stand you need some screws or something. For the canopy just a couple nails in each corner and glue would hold it (The glue is the main thing that holds it the nails just hold it until the glue dries)


For the edges if you dont have a router just get some wood trim that you like.

[StickyTuba]

Here's a question or two to think on while you are trying to decide about which wood to use:

Are you going to paint or stain your wood?
- If you are going to paint, then you can use just about anything.
- If you want to stain then you may want to look at hardwoods, like oak, or cherry, etc.

Do you want to have screws, nails or biscuits connecting the canopy?
- Screws can hold the wood together wonderfully, but soft wood allows for the screws to sink. Again, if you are going to paint the canopy, then I would sink my screws in, put wood filler over them and paint over that.
- Nails work well and used with glue will give you similar results to screws, however you will have an easier time if you plan on staining the canopy.
- Biscuits, IMO would work best, but it is expensive and somewhat time intensive. You also need a biscuit jointer or plate jointer, which can be an investment. This, I think, would be an option for you if you were going to be doing a lot of woodworking in your future. Otherwise I would go with screws or nails.

In regards to what you can use for wood:

- I like to use Trim for the edges, it is light, and it comes pre-cut so you do not need to use a router. To get the angles for corners, you can purchase miter boxes for less than 20 bucks at your local hardware store. Granted they are not the top of the line models.
- You also can purchase 1/4" plywood, usually in your necessary wood veneer (oak, cherry, etc) at a Lowe's or Home Depot for relatively cheap. this is easily cut, either at home or at the store and then just nailed or screwed to your edges.

I hope that this helps.
Please keep us updated as to what your progress is.
Good Luck and have fun.

Oh yea...

For the canopy EX you need to paint, stain, finish it. Remember it will ALWAYS be around water and will be wet.

I painted the inside of my canopy with white oil based paint. I used a super gloss that is really shiney. It acts as a reflector too, as well as protecting the wood. I put about 5 coats on (two were thinned out, kindof acted like a primer)

For the outside if you are staining it you need to put some clear coat on there (3 coats is the MAX on most cans, and 3 coats is pretty good)

[StickyTuba]

Sorry, I almost forgot:

There is a multitude of different woods out on the market, ranging from very expensive to cheap.

Again, if you are going to paint then I would use the cheapest stuff you can find.

Staining basically comes down to 2 things:

1. Your favorite wood and the grain of the wood

2. Your favorite color of stain.

I don't know your experience with stains but I found that I had to look at a couple of different ones before finding the one I liked.

I purchased a couple of small cans, 3-5 oz and a piece of red oak trim, (my wood of choice). I then applied stain to a section of the trim. I allowed it to dry and then chose my favorite.

Just an FYI: My favorite combination of wood and stain is as follows:

Red Oak with MinWax Puritan Pine Stain.

I hope that this information helps.
Again, good luck and keep us posted.

You could take some of the cutoff of whatever wood you wanted and stain it with differant stains to see what you liked.

It will be lighter than the can says it will be.

I used Oak wood and Maghogany stain(spelling) finished with 3 clear coats on mine and it looks great.

[midol]

I'll probably be going a black, my friend has a black cabinet and canopy and it looks awesome, i saw the picture of the stand on here that has a smaller one at the bottom and i think i might try that.

Would MDF be alright for a hood? I heard it is dangerous and i can't remember whether or not it was very soft.

I was thinking of Hood Pine for the canopy, i remember using it in Shop A and i think it was fairly tough and good quality.

I am working on a fairly nifty design, once i have it done i'll post my design (I'm using a CAD program but learning so i might have 3d designs :>)


Ohh, and lights.

Well, i have this silver thing which my bulbs go in and i think with a black canopy it would look really awesome to have a hole in the canopy and i can like have the lights in it, since it is silver it would look really good if i did it well, is there any downside to this? I know heat might be a problem but i'll just wire up some computer fans to the canopy.

[StickyTuba]

I don't believe that there would be a problem with MDF. Just make sure that you seal it. It is also somewhat heavy, depending on the size thickness you use.

Good Luck with everything.
Sorry I don't know about the lights.