If you are new to wood furniture building or new to working with Douglas Fir, you have come to the right place. You probably have a lot of questions, and it can be overwhelming. You may be wondering what makes Douglas Fir a good wood option, where you can find it, or how long your furniture will last.
Douglas Fir is an extremely versatile wood. You can make a wide range of things with it, including cabinetry, flooring, bridges, and of course, furniture. It is a commonly used wood for furniture because it is widely available, affordable, durable, and is naturally beautiful.
Continue reading for all you need to know about building furniture with Douglas Fir. I will start with a basic overview that will cover where you can find it, the types of furniture I recommend building with it, and its cost, among other things. Later, I will discuss the specific characteristics of Douglas Fir and how they may affect your build.
An Overview of Douglas Fir
There are two types of Douglas Fir: Coastal Douglas Fir from the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Interior Douglas Fir out of the Rocky Mountains. Coastal Douglas Fir typically has more desirable building characteristics, such as its strength and appearance, which will be the primary type I discuss today.
An English man named David Douglas was the first to discover the tree’s potential in 1827. He sent seeds back to his home in the British Isles and determined that the tree can grow tall quickly. Douglas Fir can reach an astounding 300 feet (91 meters) tall and up to 17 feet (5.1 meters) in diameter, making for excellent timber.
As you will see, Douglas Fir is a popular option for furniture building for many reasons. However, a significant one is that it is widely available. You can find Douglas Fir at any home improvement store such as Home Depot or Lowes. Still, it is also available at Amazon or your local lumber supply store.
The cost of Douglas Fir also makes it an excellent choice for furniture. It is relatively inexpensive compared to other popular wood choices. Although the price of Douglas Fir has been going up over the last couple of years, builders can still expect to pay quite a bit more for oak, maple, cherry, or teak wood, for example.
While Douglas Fir is an excellent wood for furniture, I would be remiss if I didn’t clarify that it will not be a wise choice for outdoor use furniture. Unfortunately, its moderate durability means that it will not last as long in the elements and is much more vulnerable to insect infestations. However, you could make beautiful chairs, tables, or shelving with Douglas Fir.
Characteristics of Douglas Fir
There are several characteristics to look for when using wood to build furniture. You want to be familiar with its hardness rating, grain type, appearance, and overall durability. All of these things will determine either how difficult or easy it will be to work with or what to expect out of the life of your furniture.
Hardness
A wood’s hardness is determined by its ability to resist dents or scratches. Woodworking professionals use the Janka Hardness Scale, developed by Austrian immigrant Gabriel Janka in 1906. Using this scale, hardness rating is determined by measuring how much force it takes to embed a steel ball into a wood sample piece. You should consider the hardness of your wood-based on which type of furniture you want to make.
Douglas Fir is considered a softwood with a Janka rating of 620. However, it is one of the hardest softwoods available. For furniture use, this means that this type of wood will be pretty easy to work with, which is great for beginners. However, you may want to consider a harder wood (such as maple or oak) for high use items such as dressers. A softwood like Douglas Fir will be more susceptible to dents, so definitely keep this in mind as you choose your wood type.
Strength
The strength of wood is typically measured by its specific gravity. The wood’s bending strength, compressive strength, stiffness, and hardness are also taken into consideration. Of course, you would want a stronger wood for furniture that will bear a lot of weight, such as bookcases or china cabinets.
An excellent and unique characteristic of Douglas Fir is its incredible strength to weight ratio. It has the highest strength to weight ratio of all American woods. While some woods are stronger than Douglas Fir, it is significantly lighter than those woods, making it a popular choice for furniture.
Grain
A few different types of grain include straight, irregular, interlocked, wavy, spiral, and diagonal. Douglas Fir typically has a straight grain, but it can be a bit wavy in some cases. Grain refers to the direction of visible lines that naturally occur in the wood. Recognizing the grain type is important because it will dictate how easy or difficult it is to cut. Straight grains are generally much easier to work with because they have a predictable cutting pattern.
The grain also plays a significant role in how well the wood takes to a stain. Fortunately for furniture builders, Douglas Fir takes quite well to stains. Still, it is frequently left with a clear finish because it has such a beautiful natural look. It also accepts glues and other adhesives well.
Appearance
Perhaps this is obvious, but the appearance of wood refers strictly to its color. Douglas Fir can have quite a range of colors, based on its age and location. Old-growth Douglas Firs have more of a reddish-pink color, whereas second-growth firs will be more yellow or white in appearance. The color can also change by the year, which yields an interesting tree-ring pattern in the wood.
Durability
The durability of wood refers to its ability to stand the test of time. Woodworking professionals use a classification system to help determine a wood’s durability. The system considers its resistance to the elements (wind, rain, etc.), its likelihood of rotting or decaying, and how susceptible it might be to pesky bugs such as termites or beetles.
The classification is based on how long you can expect your furniture to last. The lowest classification is non-durable (5-10 years). The highest is very durable, with an expectation that the wood will last more than 25 years. Douglas Fir is ranked as moderately durable, which means that it is relatively resistant to rotting but is quite vulnerable to insect infestations. It should last between 10-15 years based on this scale.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, I was able to answer some of your questions about building furniture with Douglas Fir. To recap, its natural beauty means a clear finish is all you need; its moderate durability makes it great for indoor furniture but certainly not recommended for outdoor furniture. Lastly, its strength and grain lend themselves to a solid piece of furniture.
Wood furniture building can be a fun, challenging, and lucrative hobby. Whether you are a veteran or a first-timer, Douglas Fir has many characteristics that make it a good option. It has been a reliable, affordable, and beautiful wood furniture since David Douglas originally discovered the wood in 1827. Hopefully, you feel confident in choosing your wood type or choosing the type of furniture you want to build with Douglas Fir.
Sources
- Home Guides: What Are the Building Qualities of Fir Wood?
- Laver: Hardwood vs. Softwood: What’s the Difference?.
- Woodworking Magazine: Douglas Fir
- Wood You Choose: Wood Cost Comparison | Most Expensive Wood in the World | Top 10 most expensive wood
- Wood You Choose: Durable Wood | Types of Hardwood | Most durable wood
- Wood Database: Douglas Fir
- Wood Magazine: Douglas Fir