"SPF" frm Home Depot
 

I am going to make a small bookcase for my son's room - 12" deep. I was going to use 1x12 pine boards. My local HD does not have pine this wide...they suggested a "Spruce-Pine-Fur" board instead. It is significantly cheaper than a pine board. Are these any good? They are also solid wood, I'm guessing they just might be a little inconsistant.

Typically when I make furniture I glue up panels when I need to go 12 inches wide. This way I can use 3/4 inch thick stock that is typically anywhere from 4 to 6 inches wide. Course I generally work in cherry, maple or walnut, but the same principal applies to pine.

SPF is typically construction grade lumber. I don't know how you plan to finish the piece, paint, stain, varnish etc., but construction grade lumber is not going to look too good if you plan to oil, stain or varnish. You might want to go to a real lumber yard to get your wood.

SPF is okay. A lot of people make "crude" furniture out of it. If it's at Home Depot, its quality is going to be pretty inconsistent. That's okay, provided you carefully select your own boards.

Any 1x12 boards - in pine or spf - aren't going to provide much strength & support as shelves.


Have you considered using 3/4" plywood? If you've got a table saw you can cut it down. It'd be much stronger, and look better (assuming you buy a decent plywood).

Thanks guys. I'm just looking for simple and moderately inexpensive way to make a small 6 cube bookshelf. The longest span will only be around 2 feet. I'd be afraid that plywood would look rough as well. I chose pine because I thought it would be easier to work with than say oak (and less expensive).

Any reason it has to be 12" deep?

That said, you should be fine with SPF. Just don't expect it to look or perform like a top-end hardwood bookshelf - and you're obviously not.

Home Depot sells the glued up boards to 24" wide and 48" long. If you can't get the 1x12" pine, these will work fine. They will actually be more dimensionally stable.

true. the laminated boards are very strong and stable, as they are made up of several narrower strips which have the grain direction alternated.

if your going for simple paint grade 3/4 mdf will work fine as opposed to melamine which has probably the weakest strength rating