What is your go to wood for furniture?

Cherry, alder and walnut are all extremely easy to work with. Of those, I’d suggest alder since it’s about half the price of the other two.

-- Half of what we read or hear about finishing is right. We just don’t know which half! — Bob Flexner

Whatever the customer or wife wants

-- if it is to be it is up to me

For some reason there is alot of Oak in my shop from past projects that I keep trying to use up?
Still have some Birch that I milled myself!

-- Lifting one end of the plank.

I wouldn’t call white oak my go-to wood, but it seems I use more of it than alternatives. I prefer cherry, and sometimes walnut.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

When I started, I used pine as it was cheap and available. Tossing mistakes didn’t hurt the wallet much. After the kids grew up a bit, and my skills improved, I moved to hardwoods. Then it became whatever SWMBO asked for.

-- Sawdust Maker

i love all woods but it depends on the project or what the person im making it for wants.im building bedroom furniture right now out of cherry,and before that a rocker out of walnut,both great woods to work with.

-- working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

My default is cherry—easy to work with and pretty.

-- "Man is the only animal which devours his own, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor." ~Thomas Jefferson

Most of us choose wood based on appearance, function, price, ease of woodworking, availability, etc. We may even like the idea of changing wood to gain experience. If we are building something for someone else, we let them decide. You can approach this matter as you choose. Our opinions are unimportant.

-- Phil Allin - There are woodworkers and people who collect woodworking tools. The woodworkers have a chair to sit in.

Our opinions are unimportant.

- Phil32

Speak for yourself. The OP has gotten some valuable opinions so far in this thread.

-- Half of what we read or hear about finishing is right. We just don’t know which half! — Bob Flexner

Cherry, alder and walnut are all extremely easy to work with. Of those, I d suggest alder since it s about half the price of the other two.

- Rich

I’m new to hand tool woodworking, and am using a lot of alder for the reasons you listed. I live close to mexico and can get rough alder about 1/3 the price of cherry or walnut for whatever reason. Plus its soft enough where I don’t have to sharpen my tools all the time, which is nice especially since I don’t have the greatest sharpening setup yet.

I’d suggest that you consider what is available and what the prices are in your area.

Here in the upper Midwest I can get white oak (rift, QS, flat sawn), cherry, walnut, elm, maple, alder, hickory, and even some chestnut, just to name the stuff I remember off the top of my head, all at decent prices.

-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"

I prefer cherry. I just love the look of it, and it only gets better over time.

Second is maple. I love the light color, plus its another wood that gets more attractive over time.

I don’t know the I have a “go-to” wood. Over the years, I’ve built furniture from maple, mahogany, oak, cherry, ash and walnut, with a smattering of other stuff thrown in. I like them all. Each wood has its own working characteristics and it has been fun learning them. In my opinion, walnut and cherry are the easiest of our domestic woods to work. They’re not too hard, have relatively mild grain, they mill nicely and they are hand-tool friendly. Mahogany is the king of furniture woods and has been for several centuries. It is a dream to work with both machines and hand tools, and it is beautiful. But good mahogany is getting hard to find and it is very expensive. I think walnut and cherry are a very close seconds to Mahogany and they are plentiful and much more reasonably priced.

Maple, especially curly. Cherry, especially with gum streaks, and the little irregularities. Walnut, all brown please. Pretty much in that order, unless the project just tells me it needs another wood, or maybe a few woods for contrast.

All 3 of them are very easy to work with, tool wise. The curly maple needs some care in final prep, and finishing, but the trouble is worth the effort in what it brings to the end project.

-- Think safe, be safe

Our opinions are unimportant.

- Phil32

Speak for yourself. The OP has gotten some valuable opinions so far in this thread.

- Rich

-- working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.