Generally, we work with BB/BBB grade. The grade tells you what to expect the faces to look like. In this case, the better face is BB. This means that there may be some knots and also some well-fitted plugs.  It is possible to get B/BB grade birch ply, but the paper thin veneers they face it with (so-called “artisan” grade) are horrible. They chip easily and if you sand them, they come pre-sanded, you quickly sand through to the next layer which is pinkish and stands out like a sore thumb. For this reason, I prefer to use a lower grade face and accept a greater level of imperfections. Where clear face timber is needed, e.g. a high-end birch ply cabinet door, it is possible to cut out what you need. 

Birch ply cuts well and sands easily. The edge grain is, I think, quite attractive. It is clearly ply, not solid wood, but I don’t think that needs hiding. Where we want to cover it, then a redwood pine lip works beautifully and matches in well. It will also take finishes in a similar way so looks like it was always part of it. 

Birch Ply Finishes

Speaking of finishes, I like to oil or varnish birch ply, sometimes with a stain beneath. It’s not a material I tend to paint, unless it’s being used as part of something else, e.g. a fill panel on a shaker door. It has a modern scandi look and is best embraced for what it is.  The edges don’t paint well and will always look like ply if exposed. 

Compared to other plywoods, it is much nicer.  There are far fewer voids, so the edges are nicer. It has plenty of layers, and they are well glued.  The face sands well and finishes well. Cheaper plys, like WBP or shuttering grade, will have a lot more voids, fewer layers, a rougher face and are often more warped and twisted.  It is quite resistant to water damage, better than MDF, but not as good as marine ply. The trouble with marine ply is that it is not a furniture grade ply (it’s also very heavy!) so the faces don’t typically finish well.  For furniture, birch is king. 

There are limits to how flat a piece of Birch Ply will stay. While it is generally more stable than an equivalent sized board of solid wood, if you make unsupported pieces, e.g. a large slab door, too large then they are likely to warp with time.  I have been to a few jobs in the past where they have asked me to try and rescue warped doors that somebody else has made without adequate forethought. While not impossible, it is not easy to do and so best avoided.

Pros

• Cheaper than solid timber
• More stable than solid timber
• Attractive face
• Works well
• Few voids
• More durable than most other sheet materials
• Takes a stain well
• Doesn’t expand and contract as much as solid wood

Cons

• Can warp if large pieces are unsupported
• Edges don’t paint well
• A grade face is hard, or impossible, to come by except by cutting out of lower grade stock
• Not as durable as solid timber

Historically, cedar was used a lot for clothes chests and lining wardrobes, as it is naturally repellent to moths. While not so important to us now, the smell of cedar is still extremely pleasant and using it as a drawer box is a great application. I also think it makes a good choice for a solar roof box, where it can be left outside and last or many years, even untreated. 

Cedar – Treated or Untreated

Left untreated, cedar will turn a lovely silver grey. This can be postponed by using a protective oil, particularly one with a UV protective element to it.  The natural colour of cedar is a pinky red.  It is kind of the colour I would expect redwood pine to be (redwood pine is yellow and looks like pine, no red to it).  Both it’s natural colour and weathered colour are quite attractive, and it can be considered a low maintenance wood. 

The drawbacks of cedar, other than being soft, are it’s relatively poor dimensional stability and it’s cost. As it has a tendency to move with humidity/moisture content changes, it is not so well suited to fine furniture. It doesn’t sand up as nicely as some woods, and its softness means hard paint or varnish finishes are more liable to cracking. It does take an oil well.

Pros

• Extremely rot and insect resistant
• Light
• Attractive colour and weathers nicely
• Low maintenance
• Repels clothes moths
• Smells great

Cons

• Soft and weaker than other woods
• Expensive
• Not great for painting or varnishing
• Not suited to fine furniture

MDF and mrMDF are less resistant to water ingress and quickly become soft if allowed to get wet.  It is not suitable for floors, though I have noticed a worrying trend in chip board subfloors and that is even worse! If you want to be extra safe, then avoid using it for walls and bulkheads.  That said, much of the “wood” you see on narrowboats walls is typically veneered board and a relatively small proportion of that is veneered ply. That means the bulk of it is MDF with a thin veneer on top. 

There is a wide range of veneered MDF readily available. In comparison, you will struggle to buy anything other than oak veneered ply, and this is 2–3 times the price.  Veneered sheet material has been used in furniture making, including high-end furniture making (I have made some beautiful cocobolo drawers with veneer, you could never afford to do that in solid!) for a very long time. If the material is well sealed (e.g. spray lacquer on all faces) then water ingress in standard conditions, this includes boat interiors, shouldn’t be an issue. It shouldn’t be used for work tops or areas where it will have excess water exposure. Generally though, if your boat is so damp that MDF is falling apart as soon as looking at it, then you have bigger problems to worry about. 

MDF or mrMDF

Veneered MDF with a hardwood lip allows you to make very attractive furniture at a lower cost than solid timber, while still building something that is going to last.  It also allows you to hand select specific veneers and create your own materials. This is helpful where rarity/expense of timber (e.g. rosewood) or mechanical issues (e.g. slab doors) mean that you otherwise couldn’t produce what you want. 

Where MDF, in this case mrMDF, comes into its own is for stability.  It is a very homogenous material, so doesn’t warp or twist in the same way a solid wood or even plywood slab does. This means it is ideal for creating large slab doors. Once these are spray lacquered the change in moisture content will be almost zero, and they will not warp, twist, expand or contract. 

If I am making slab doors (or even sometimes a faux shaker door) then I like mrMDF. I am not convinced that it is significantly more water-resistant than plain MDF, but it cuts and sands better, and it is much easier to paint. Regular MDF fluffs up as soon as paint touches it, meaning that multiple primer coats are required. 

It’s easy to work, easy to shape, and it’s pretty cheap compared to other materials. It’s also much nicer than the all-pervasive chipboard we fill our homes with. Not only that, but it’s not solid wood, not even ply, but it has a time and a place

Pros

• Cheap
• Easy to work
• Very stable
• Comes in a wide range of pre-veneered boards
• Takes a paint finish well

Cons

• Not durable, if used incorrectly or not sealed it won’t last
• The dust from machining is unpleasant
• Considered a cheap, low grade material
• Softer than most woods and plywood so can dent more easily
• Not suitable for high wear areas

It’s a timber we use quite commonly and is one of my go-to timbers for external joinery. Oily, heavy and strong, with a distinct smell when cut, Iroko is excellent for a number of projects. 

What wood – Iroko – Like Teak

Known as African Teak, this is a great alternative to the traditional boat building timber. It is extremely durable and resists rot and insect attack. Even untreated, it will last well outside.  It is striking how the colour changes with time, starting out as often quite a light blonde, then darkening with exposure to light. It ends up a dark nut brown, though may silver with time if left unprotected.

Not only that, but it is tough, making it tough to machine and can blunt blades quicker than softer timbers.  It’s natural oiliness, that gives it such excellent protection from rot and bugs, also has drawbacks.  The dust produced is very harsh and additional safety steps may be required when working with it. We have good extraction on the machines at the workshop, but I will still use a barrier cream if I am machining up a quantity of it.  Splinters from Iroko, which are common, tend to suppurate.

Additionally, the oily surface means it resists other solvents, meaning that it doesn’t take paint well.  Care should be taken when gluing, as glues will not always penetrate the surface as readily as other timbers.  There are specialist glues available for Iroko which we use in certain applications. 

As a joinery timber, it is not bad, with fairly good dimensional stability and an average amount of moisture related movement. This means items made from it don’t warp or stick too much, though some movement is inevitable, as wood is wood. 

An Overview,

Pros

• Extremely durable and resistant
• Very Hard
• Relatively Cheap
• Attractive Nut Brown colour when exposed to light
• Widely available in England
• Low maintenance
• Machines well
• Comes in long, wide lengths of straight-grained timber

Cons

• Heavy
• Tough on blades
• Appearance change over time may be undesirable
• Doesn’t paint well
• Can be tricky to glue
• Toxic dust when machining
• Can be brittle
• Splinters are the worst

Essentially, it is where a tree is milled with the outer part left on, instead of being chopped into neat rectangular boards. This style of milling is seen a lot in river tables, invented by Greg Klassen in 2011, and has taken the world of furniture by storm. However, you don’t need gallons of resin to enjoy the beauty of live edge timber. 

It varies greatly in price, but it’s cheaper than you might think. Many large pieces can be comparable in price to buying a mid-range of worktop, and are the same price or cheaper than the same quantity of solid wood. Given the amount of timber you are getting is remarkable.  That said, some of the really special and highly sort pieces can command high prices.

There are two elements that make any piece unique. Of course, the shape of the edge will always be different from piece to piece, and trying to find a form to suit a purpose (or vice versa!) is a pleasure. Also, the grain and patterns of the wood are unique. Granted, this can be said of any timber, but species and specimen of live edge timber are often chosen for their highly decorative and intricate patterns, making them stand out more than just the natural grain pattern of a tree.

Live Edge Timer

Burrs, large knotty deformed balls on a tree, are highly prized and produce amazing slabs. This timber is also prized for turning and veneers. It is very highly figured, appearing like a little universe of knots and twists in the wood where pressure and stress, sometimes fungal infection, have caused abnormal growth. 

Fungal infection, while it sounds unpleasant, can also result in other wonderful effects in wood. Brown oak is caused by the fungus Fistulina hepatica, known as the “Beefsteak Fungus”. This gives a deep brown colour into some or all of the timber. Then, when quarter sawn, you may get tiger oak. This is where the medullary rays of the grain are highlighted by this milling technique which, along with the discolouration, make some fantastic patterns.

Spalting in wood is also caused by fungal activity in timber, the after effects of which are seen as dark lines and patterns.  This is common in ash, beech and maple and looks incredible. It can affect the structural integrity of a slab, but typically we are using live edge as thick pieces where mass makes up for any decrease in strength.

It should be noted, the high amount of character is going to make these pieces unstable. If they were milled down to thinner sections, they would twist and warp wildly. However, as thick slabs they will remain flat, so it is always best to use a piece that has been dried to near the desired thickness. Machining a lot of extra material off a piece may lead to it moving again after it has stabilized with time. 

Finally, there are a host of beautiful exotics available as live edge. Species such as Tanga Tanga, Bocote, Parota, Padauk and more.  There are so many to choose from. Whether you want to go with us to the timber yard and select a piece together, or let us choose the perfect piece for your project, there are endless options

Pros

• Beautiful and unique
• Often relatively affordable
• Makes a wonderful centrepiece
• Range of different timbers mean there is something suitable for every situation
• Just a joy to work with and make things from

Cons

• Often not suitable for delicate work
• Flaws can affect structural integrity
• Some pieces are very expensive
• Each piece has to be chosen individually

Oak is probably the first wood people think of when they think about hardwoods. It is a traditional material for buildings and furniture in the UK and is tightly tied in with our national identity. We think of timber framed buildings, where oak was the go-to wood up until around the mid 17^th century, when imported timber became the norm and large softwood beams changed our traditional architecture. It is widely used in furniture and flooring as both solid and veneer. 

I like if for all of these, though I have not had the chance to do any timber framed building work! When it comes to external joinery, things like doors, windows, cratch frames and wheelhouses, I am not such a fan.  It is durable, but it pales in comparison by the side of something like Iroko and is twice the price.  It also requires a lot more maintenance if you want to keep it looking “new”. Oak will pale to grey when left exposed to sun and rain, which, while attractive, may not be the look people are going for. 

It makes a nice roof box, and a coat of oil every year will keep it looking okay, but for major external joinery projects I would turn to other timbers. Inside, oak is almost ubiquitous. Where it isn’t being used for its own sake, it is being stained to look like other hardwoods. Oak veneered ply and MDF are two of the most commonly available veneered wood sheet materials and are a key element to many furniture projects. 

Grain is an important consideration in oak.  The difference between crown cut and quarter sawn (I will cover this in another article) is stark in both appearance and mechanical function.  It is available in long “clean” sections, though not to the extent of woods like sapele, and it takes a paint, varnish or stain with relish.  It’s a beautiful timber and has a lot going for it, but it isn’t always the right wood to use.

Pros

• Machines well
• Stains/varnishes/paints well
• Attractive grain pattern
• Widely available as solid stock and veneer products
• Can be sourced more locally than some timbers (typically sourced in UK or Europe)

Cons

• Relatively expensive
• Crown cut oak is not so mechanically stable
• Greys quickly when exposed
• harder to maintain

Pine is readily available. Not just timber merchants, but any builders merchants, will carry a variety of profiles and dimensioned PSE (planed square edge). Do be sure to get redwood pine if possible. Many places will just stock whitewood pine, which is inferior in quality, being even less stable and durable than redwood pine. 

What Wood – Pine – well suited

That said, there are places where pine is very well suited. For interior work where it is going to be painted, then the cheap and easily machined timber is a good alternative to hardwoods for profiles and trims.  Pine cuts easily and paints well. It is a little tricky to cut and chisel by hand, as it’s softness ironically makes cutting joints etc. harder.  But trims on a walls and ceilings, it’s great. 

I also use it for finishing the edges of birch ply where I don’t wish to see the board edge.  It glues well to form an edging that is not only similar in colour and appearance, but it also takes a stain in a similar way to birch ply, so if you want to darken the whole piece then it does not stand out as being a different material. 

It is, of course, also the go to structural timber. We don’t tend to build stud walls as much in boats, but anywhere you need battens, studding, framework and the like, pine is ideal. Cheap, easy to cut and easy to screw or nail, you can build what you need quickly and once it is covered up it really doesn’t matter that it isn’t a fancy hardwood. Additionally, a treated pine can be used where extra durability is required. 

Pros

• Cheap
• Easy to cut, screw and drill
• Paints and stains well
• Widely available

Cons

• Not durable
• Poor dimensional stability
• Soft, marks easily
• Not well suited to cutting accurate joints

A mid to deep red in colour, it is often called African Mahogany and is used as a contemporary substitute for such.  It comes in long clean and wide, straight-grained lengths and is very competitively priced.  The last time I purchased sapele, it was the same price as meranti, something I have always thought of as a “cheap” hardwood. 

It machines well and is relatively mechanically stable. Combined with a good durability and decent resistance to rot and insect attack, it is a good timber for both furniture and joinery, though I tend to use it more for the latter.  It makes an absolutely gorgeous wheelhouse, and it will keep looking good without too much maintenance for years and years. 

What Wood – Sapele – Smells Good?

The smell is pleasant, and the sawdust it makes is no more offensive than most hardwood timbers.  It also takes paint and varnish well, though I don’t think it stains well as it is hard to cover its natural hue.  It also glues up well, and a standard D4 PVA will produce an excellent joint. 

It is available as veneers, worktops and other products, but not as readily as some timbers.  However, it is a good timber for most practical applications when making custom use.  The surface can also be sanded up to a very fine finish and a deep gloss, well applied, will leave you with very expensive looking timber. 

Pros

• Durability
• Wide suitability of applications
• Attractive
• Relatively low maintenance
• Widely available
• Machines well
• Takes paint and varnish well

Cons

• Doesn’t stain well
• At a push, it’s not as durable as Iroko, but I am struggling to think of things I don’t like about this timber
• No good if you don’t like reddish coloured wood