Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Craftsman Thought I'd mention that the specific gravity of Red Oak is about .67 and Hickory is between .66 and .76. Also today Hickory and Pecan lumber are sold as one and the same and most of us wouldn't know the difference to look at it. Hickory is not as popular as it was as few years ago and Red Oak is actually slightly more expensive. If Airstream really wants to offer an upgrade in cabinet wood I would think the Black Cherry or even a nice Maple would be better that Hickory. If you look at the cabinet doors in a Limited,they glue up to many narrow pieces to make up the raised panels on the cabinet doors. Some people may like the look but because each narrow piece is so different in figure and grain, it ends up looking really busy and not as refined as it could. I understand that hardwoods are really expensive but the Limited packageadds another $7,000.00price so you would think that they would go the extra mile for the most expensive trailer in their line. I simply don't understand it. |
This is getting off the subject of this thread, but I couldn't agree more with you that hickory is not the best choice of wood to use in the Classic Ltd's.
I bet Airstream picked it more because of its cheaper price and availibilty rather than its beauty and desirability in fine cabinetry. There are lots of hickory trees in Ohio. (I'd prefer Cherry over Hickory any day if there was a choice.)
The quality of the hickory and the finish are pretty crappy in my trailer -- I wouldn't be so polite as to call it "busy". I'm already in the process of refinishing our dinette table top, and one of our cabinets was so unsightly that I asked Airstream to replace it - however, the one they sent me was equally poor, with unsightly knots and blems, so I'm not going to use it.
I don't know what species of oak and hickory Airstream uses in it's trailers, and like you say, some species are sold for something other than what they actually are.
I do know though that the hickory in my trailer is darn heavy. My dinette table weighs almost 35#, which (by my calculations) makes it well over 50#/cu ft. (I believe red oak weighs approx. 44#/ cu ft., and shagbark hickory weighs almost 52#/ cu ft. I recall seeing lots of shagback hickory in Ohio, so maybe that's the species in my trailer.)
John