A number of years ago I did a similar project which included a 12 ft.long buffet cabinet with a book case on top. It goes completly across the end of our dining room. I built the entire thing from ash plywood, finished the ends with with rounded strips of solid ash. I used a Minwax stain and finished the entire thing with Minwax polyurethane. Now, I tell you all of this as a way of saying there are much better options to using the pine that is available at the big box stores. If you are determined to use solid wood such as pine, it will be necessary to use a sanding sealer to prevent the stain from being blotchy. I would also use a gel stain as the color is easier to control. I prefer Old Masters gel stain but Olympic also has a good gel stain. Once you have achived the color you want use a hard finish such as a polyurethane expecially for the book cases. Hope this is helpful.

Thank you Texasredhead. Excuse my ignorance, but is ash plywood a much better wood than plywood. Also, should I be looking to get the lumber at a lumberyard rather than a big box store. A gel stain is a good idea but I have never used it before. Do you brush it on? Any advice on this will be so helpful. Thanks again.

Pine is a very difficult wood to stain evenly, especially with consumer-grade products such as Minwax. You can use a cabinet-grade hardwood plywood (not necessarily the stuff you will find at a big box store). A 4x8 sheet, depending upon quality and species can cost $50-100. But that buys a full 48 sq. feet of wood, or $1-2 per square foot. Compare that with a reasonable quality pine. Factor in waste around knots, time spent sanding and fixing chipout, and difficulties in finishing and work the numbers.

However, really crappy imported plywood is starting to become more and more common. You could also use 1/4" plywood for the inset panels on your wainscot. Use solid woods for trim and covering edges.

I live in a town with one of the biggest marketed consumer products company. I don't think they have anything on those folks at Minwax. Somehow they have created a knee-jerk reaction to reach for their stains and ingrained that Polyurethane is _the_ finish. I teach classes in wood finishing and often open by saying my objective is to have them not reach for that familiar yellow can for every project.

I let my subscription lapse a number of years ago, but "Family Handyman" (Reader's Digest) magazine usually ran articles every year or two on built-in bookcases and wainscoting. Check your library or their web site for back issues you can use for ideas. I stained a finished a set last year from a guy who made this is first big woodworking project. They came out very nice.

kmealy - Thank you so much for your response. I am starting to get very leary about purchasing pine for this project. I don't want a blochy room when I am done. I like your idea of using 1/4" plywood for the inset panels. Can you recommend another wood that would be much easier to stain for this project - birch?? I want to avoid oak because of the expense. I will definately look into the Family Handyman issues. Another great suggestion! Thanks again so much!

Let me explain, there are a number of better plywoods available with various vaneers. I just happened to select ash because I like the grain. Home Depot carries a good grade of birch plywood. Most of the cabinet grade plywoods have 10 or 12 plies so they are considerably more dense than regular plywood and it is rare for there to be any gaps in the plies. In my area there are several dealers that handle all sorts of hardwoods as well as cabinet grade plywoods. Don't know where you are in Ney York state but most larger cities should have some hardwood dealers.

Thanks again Texasredhead. I think I will visit my local lumberyard this week and see what they suggest. As you can tell, this project is way over my head but I am trying to arm myself with as much info. as I can. I am usually the person who stains in my house and I never liked doing it. I think because I never felt I did a good enough job.

One more question if I may. If I bite the bullet and purchase oak and I stain it in a cherry stain, would that be the most evenly stainable looking wood. I really want a furniture finish to the room and not a rustic one. Thanks..

4x8=32

In my area (NE Ohio) the quality of plywood that HD & Lowes carry varies wildly. Sometimes it's decent stuff, and sometimes it's absolute garbage - they obviously have multiple suppliers. Often the stuff with more plies is actually lower quality, with voids, lumps, bark inclusions, dark areas where the veneer has almost (or more than almost) been sanded through. Go figure.

Hi,
If you want it to look like dark mahogany, birch would be an all right wood. You may be able to have the mouldings milled in birch. If they try to steer you towards maple, say no, thanks. (too hard to stain)
If you were to price the whole shebang in clear pine (including clear pine plywood) and then in genuine mahogany, you'd probably be surprised to see both bids a lot closer in price than you'd have thought possible. My experience is the mid-atlantic region; it may be wildly different in your area. And of course, I have my sources.
Casey

Decent grades of pine are hardly inexpensive in many cases more expensive than oak. You won't find cabinet grade pine plywood at any home center. Rotary cut pine plywood looks like, well, rotary cut and isn't suitable for making cabinets anyway.

Given these cases are going to be around for a long time it seems to me that you should invest in the proper materials for a quality job.

Mike

I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to answer my post. You have been so helpful. I will look into cabinet grade pine and also do a price comparison between pine, mahogany and oak.