What wood to use for finishing a stand?

[1105]

I'm looking for a lighter color wood to wrap my 2x4 stand in to make it more appealing. I was thinking of poplar because I like the way the wood looks and it is light so it can be stained almost any color I want, but it's just so expencive. What other choices of wood should I be looking into?

 

[rivdog]

Birch ply is light in color. Maple is also very light If u want a light finish u can stain your choice of wood with a "natural" stain. Minwax and most other brands sell this shade. To keep the appearnce of the wood as light as possible you could just put a poly over the bare wood. Oil based poly will give an amber tint to your original wood, but will also deepen the color. Water based poly will not give the amber tint over your original wood choice. And will not change(yellow) in color, like the oil based will over time.

 

[polabear627]

birch ply stained

birch ply stained

This is my stand for a 75 after staining with antique cherry over birch ply.
Still lots to do but the birch was easy to work with and you could stain it any color or leave it natural. Runs about $38 a sheet at Lowes for 1/2"

Good luck with yours

Don

 

[agfahy]

I agree w/ rivdog, Maple is a beautiful wood for aquarium stands. The grain is typically nice and straight.
Birch is great also but, to someone who knows what ther're looking at, it can be considered cheap.
Pine is also I nice wood when finished with a natural stain.
Good luck.

 

[REEFKEEPA]

Poplar is not really to bad.
Oak is expensive.
Pine is cheap.
Are you going with plywood or plank?

 

[Sk8r]

Ash can be pretty, too, if you hand-select the piece. Birch, yes.

 

[240-Reefer]

as a wood worker my thoughts are

Maple - Cost the most on the list but is the niceist also
oak - also pretty cheep but cost more then Ash
ash - Cheep and has the same grain as oak
pine - poor mans way out and expensive in clear
poplar - Paint grade, does not except stain at all.

Check this web page out get good look at woods and pricing
http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/

 

[KH971]

Maple tends to blotch, the grain gets so tight sometimes. Try to hand select your pieces and watch the grain and keep the pieces uniform as to their color and grain pattern and size. Do this with any wood you choose so you don't end up with and multicolored stand. Most cabinet makers use analine dyes which do not absorb into the wood so blotching and miscoloring is not a big thing...and test seperate pieces of wood until you achieve the color...watch the time you leave it on the wood and the humidity and temp. and duplicate it when you do the stand.

 

[1105]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to be getting planks, not plywood. The only ones I've seen at lowes/home depot are Oak, Poplar, and Pine.

The ash wood looks nice so I'll see if they have any tomorrow when I go to Lowes. Oak is way to expencive so I'll probably be staying away from that. Is there any tips on how to stain poplar to make it look nice and even? I have some Minwax Oak Stain & Polyurathyne left over from a previous project. Would that be good to use or should I pick up an oil based stain?

 

[REEFKEEPA]

Good luck,
I'm going with Pine.
Oak and maple are beautiful but I think a well stained stand should suffice for my room. No one will be looking at the stand anyway. The TANK draws the attention.

 

[KH971]

Get some new stain, but test stain a small piece first...use the wood conditioner first...follow the directions on the conditioner and then apply the stain. ...Test first. Sherwin Williams will custom color match stains for you ans they will actually test them on the pieces of wood if you give them to them. It is a little more exspensive but I do like custom matching.

 

[marino420td]

Where will the stand sit in your home? If somewhere everyone coming into the house will see it, buy nice wood. Also, check for any local wood supply warehouses in your area. They will be much cheaper than the nice stuff at Lowes. They will also have many more varieties. If you can't locate one, call a local cabinet maker and ask them for a source.

I also recommend using the wood conditioner prior to staining. I just stained my maple stand and it helped a lot, especially considering a lot of the decorative trim is made of soft pine.

 

[1105]

The tank is going to be in my room because my parents wont let me have it anywhere else because of hard wood floors. I'm going to be going with Poplar for the stand. There is just something about that wood that draws me to it, along with it being one of the cheaper nicer woods. Thanks for all of the advice. I appreciate it.

 

[hllywd]

Poplar will stain up better (more even) if you use the Minwax conditioner 1st. I personally like oil stain and water based polyurethane...