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what type of wood do you reccommend for a desk?

17 years ago

hello,

i am in the process of ordering a desk/hutch for my home office from the custom shoppe need to decide on wood type to be used between maple,oak and cherry. is one better then the other/will last longer??? am considering maple as it the least expensive but want long lasting

thanks

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Comments (3)

johnwc
17 years ago
As for strength, any of the hardwoods you mentioned are plenty strong enough. Not all hardwoods are strong but those three are. I would think your decision rests with the look you want. Oak has a very pronounced grain. The grain in maple is slight and maple is so hard that it is difficult to stain dark. Cherry is a premier cabinet wood. Has the Custom Shoppe shown you pics of finishes?

What is the Custom Shoppe? This is the second reference I have seen. Does anyone else have experience with them? What are prices like?
leah810
Original Author
17 years ago
johnwc,

thanks for the wood info. think i am going to go with the maple. the custom shoppe is a company located in wisconsin and makes custom made wood products, desks/home entertainment etc offers options galore as you can design you own piece of furniture my local store quoted me 3300 for the desk/hutch i want in maple but there is a place in north carolina that quoted me 2000 for same, only concern (the name for nc store is southern designs)was a response here that the customer service for southern designs was less then desirable the furniture is american made, all wood, does use veneers in areas for strength, dovetailed drawers i was able to see a piece in my local store it was beautiful and seemed well made
you can gooogle the custom shoppe and check out good luck and thanks for the info!!
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dcollie
17 years ago
Performance will be similar on all. Maple is highly dense, as is the Oak. Cherry is slightly softer, but more expensive in price (at the mill) than the others.

The key to durability is not the wood, but the joinery. If you want it to last, then mortise and tenon joints are key, as are dovetailed drawers.

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