In redoing the interior petitions and cabinets my wife and I are trying to choose a type of wood to use that won't be too dark but look good against the freshly painted white interior skin.
In conjunction with the walls and cabinets what color to use on the floor.
Our first choice is cherry finished natural, we think if its a dark color it will make the space feel small?
Cherry is somewhat of a dark wood ( pink and red) and it oxidizes when exposed to light and gets darker as it ages. If left in light with nothing but an oil finish it will eventually become a muddy brown. Most Cherry for furniture or cabinets is stained to produce a more even color: although not all. Birch ply (1/4") would probably be a better choice for partitions as the wood is almost white to light tan and could still be stained if desired without becoming too dark. It is also 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of Cherry ply. Maple would also be another good choice but it's much heavier than Birch for solid wood trim. A 3/8" medium honey colored oak floor would look good if your going with wood.
I am contemplating an full custom interior on my 1980 Excella II. About 2/3rds of th orginal is missing. The orginal was that plastic laminate wormy oak looking stuff. I am leaning heavily towards either natural finish Birch or maple. I love Cherry in it's natural state, but it does darken with age. Also my Excella has the dark tint windows so anything to keep the interior lighter is a plus.
Aaron
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I might also add that the hidden cabinet frames will be something inexpensive and light weight, we used to call it "whitewood" but typically was magnolia or beech.
Aaron
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I was told that if the cherry is sealed with a "wash" before the clear finish coat it will remain natural, which is lighter than most furniture you see.
I don't want a dark color, birch doesn't have the grain of other hardwoods.
Alder is nice, but bamboo is something I haven't seen yet.
I'm going to go to a place in NY that specializes in all the hardwoods
ML Condon.
2012 25' FB Eddie Bauer
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Birdseye Maple would be my choice. The grain is very fine and close with swirls and little circles - "birds eyes". Finish it with tung oil (several coats) and it will be a beautiful light blonde color.
Creamy in color with a slight pink tinge, this African hardwood has been a popular choice for highend furniture, decorative veneer and architectural uses. Other uses for Anigre include: cabinetry, high-class joinery and light construction. It is also used for general carpentry and furniture components.
The wood has a natural luster and a natural cedar-like scent. It also has a slight silica content that accounts for its blunting of hand and machine tools. The heartwood is a yellow white, pale tan or pink brown.
The heartwood is not clearly differentiated from the sapwood. Anigre's texture varies from medium to coarse. It most often has a straight grain, but the grain can also appear to be wavy.
Another wood to consider is Zepra Wood (AKA Zebrano). It has pale yellow and mahogany stripes about 1/8" with good figure. It complements mahogany very well. I covered the sliding doors in the front cap of my 67 with it and it complements the birtch in that trailer very well too. Birdseye maple is also very beautiful. A friend has new edge bamboo floors in her house, and I am considering that for my Excella. It is very light in color, and I have dark brown carpet. I think the zebra would look good against the white, but could be pricy.
Creamy in color with a slight pink tinge, this African hardwood has been a popular choice for highend furniture, decorative veneer and architectural uses. Other uses for Anigre include: cabinetry, high-class joinery and light construction. It is also used for general carpentry and furniture components.
The wood has a natural luster and a natural cedar-like scent. It also has a slight silica content that accounts for its blunting of hand and machine tools. The heartwood is a yellow white, pale tan or pink brown.
The heartwood is not clearly differentiated from the sapwood. Anigre's texture varies from medium to coarse. It most often has a straight grain, but the grain can also appear to be wavy.
Quote:
It also has a slight silica content that accounts for its blunting of hand and machine tools
That right there should tell you to stay away. It might be good for veneers, but for cabinetry, stay away, unless you like blunting $60 table saw blades and $30 router bits, effectively ruining them.
I use oak ply in our '66, stained with golden oak Danish Oil, for a perfect match. Baltic Birch ply would also be great for bulk heads and cabinet carcasses, and use maple for the frames. Kitchen grade for homes uses pretty much 3/4" plywood and frames, but I would not go over 5/8" and use 1/2 wherever you can, unless it's for none supportive panels, and use 1/4", just like Airstream did. This will save you weight.
The carpenter that made my cabinets found some beautiful birch plywood that has a very "old" look to it. I wanted the new cabinets to have a retro feel. Since I didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of completely tearing out the old cabinets, he made frames out of a nice alder which contrasts well with the birch doors. Some of the cabinet doors even have little birdseyes like birdseye maple. I faux-painted the ends and underside.
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Another wood to consider is Zepra Wood (AKA Zebrano). It has pale yellow and mahogany stripes about 1/8" with good figure. It complements mahogany very well. I covered the sliding doors in the front cap of my 67 with it and it complements the birtch in that trailer very well too. Birdseye maple is also very beautiful. A friend has new edge bamboo floors in her house, and I am considering that for my Excella. It is very light in color, and I have dark brown carpet. I think the zebra would look good against the white, but could be pricy.
OK, that is Zebra Wood not "Zepra" Wood. I have used it as veneer rather than boards or plywood. It can be kind of busy, but birtch cabinets with zebra doors or accents would be light and very nice.
Here's my thoughts on types of wood to use for interiors and mind you I am doing my interior cabinets over in birch.
These exoctic species of wood look great as veneers and edge banding, but not everything looks good as edge banded plywood. So you either have to live with the edgebanded ply or use a solid wood. Finding a supplier for some of these exotic species is not easy. Heck finding a good lumber yard that sells birch can be a challenge. HD and Lowes sure don't carry it.
The point I am trying to make is choose a wood that is easy to find and looks good. Choosing a species of wood for the way it looks from a catalog may not yeild the results you think.
Personally, I agree with one of other posts birds eye maple is very nice. BUT EXPENSIVE!!. Cherry, birch, maple, ash, oak, some mahoganies, and poplar are pretty nice and not as hard to find at a good lumber supply.
HTH,
D
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If you want to be environmentally friendly, as I know we all do, you could contact a local saw mill and see wha tthey have that was "recycled" from urban trees that had to be cut down for various reasons. Often they have tree species that woodworkers love at very reasonable prices...you will have to dimension cut it and plane it; but think of the stories you could tell.
I am an urban forester that works with local mills in the STL area to take the removed logs off our hands and mill it into usable lumber. We often have sweetgum, sycamore, oak, maple, poplar, ash that must be removed for various reasons. Generally, we chip and make landscape mulch out of all tree parts 12" or less, we save all tree parts 12" or greater and cut it into 12' lengths for our local mill resource to recycle into usable lumber. They often sell it for furniture, woodturning, hobbies, etc. at very resonable prices. I'm not sure of the exact web-link, but I will post that tomorrow...the local STL mill resource I deal w/ is Logs2lumber. You could search the web for something in your area.
FWIW, Bamboo is another very environmentally friendly wood product.
In redoing the interior petitions and cabinets my wife and I are trying to choose a type of wood to use that won't be too dark but look good against the freshly painted white interior skin.
In conjunction with the walls and cabinets what color to use on the floor.
Our first choice is cherry finished natural, we think if its a dark color it will make the space feel small?
We're keeping all the tambor, painted white.
Hi LI Pets; I have wrestled with ideas for new interior since my wife does not like the dark interior of our Argosy. First and foremost concern to us, is the fact that we will not be able to regulate humidity level in the trailer all year long. This calls for Marine Quality plywood. After considering few available to us choices which are minimized by available thickness choice, I have settled on Okume, which is available from 4 MM to 3/4". Since 4 MM is the closest to the original thickness, it will fit the clips inside the moldings the best. Second reason for making such choice is the fact that OKUME is a marine ply which can withstand high levels of moisture because it is a marine ply. It can be stained into just about any shade. I will be finishing mine with Marine Epifanes varnish prior to final installation. This ply is AB rated, and it is available in two grades. One is certified by Lloyd's of London for marine construction [which is insurable performance by Lloyd's] and the second grade is made by the same plant in the same way, but the price is down to $37.00 per 4'x8' sheet in 4 MM simply because it is not certified by Lloyd's. The "A" side will be used as face while "B" side will be inside the walls and cabinets. 3/4 ply will be used on structural section of cabinetry and the counter top with Formica overlay. If anything I will be assured that I am protected from possible warping and de-laminating. The marine Epifanes is the finest marine varnish I have used. While it is bit pricey it is worth the difference. Thanks "Boatdoc"
Hi hampstead;
I have a 1973 26' Argosy. Most of the original framing was Mahogany. All plywood cabinetry is connected by aluminum trim which I have re-used after cleaning. I have chosen not to replicate wood framing for one simple reason. I had large stock of aluminum angle and a Miller Syncrowave 300 Tig welder. Sofa and bed frames were welded in upright joints of frame units such as face frame of the bed. Horizontals were SS riveted to provide some needed flex to reduce stress on welds which join large span's. This reduces vibration and stress loads on welded joints. Thus far we have used our Arg very heavily for two seasons [about 8000 miles] and everything is holding up very well. My wife loves the five coats of urethane Marine varnish over the Okume ply which has a lot of character. Back side of ply has one coat of sealer and only one coat of varnish.
If you are planning to use wood for framing I would use light color Mahogany with straight as possible grain. Use Gorilla Glue at joints but be sure to clean up the excess glue very well, because stain will not take over this glue. Another good product is ressourcinol glue [made from animal blood, widely used in waterproof marine applications] and cleans up better with water. The 12"X12" cork tile enhances the warm look. Thanks, "Boatdoc"
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What type of wood to use?
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