Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 15, 2009 11:10pm | #1

   Not sure what to say.. I use Hickory. It is not that hard to work with in my opinion.

   A sleigh bed is a BIG project! Hickory has large pores and open grained so a bit hard to finish..

   It is a wonderful wood!

2. 
   danmart | Sep 17, 2009 01:55am | #2

   I have a chance to buy some hickory, it looks beautiful and I read it is very hard. I am planning to make a sleigh bed. Does anyone know of a good reason why maple may be better suited than hickory? 

   Depends maybe on how you are going to use the hickory? Are you going to make the entire bed with hickory? Like another mentioned, the hickory takes a very different finish than the smoother maple and it sure is hard.

   Dry hickory can be VERY hard. It can be difficult to work. If you think most of the milling and surface prep will be done with machines, it might not matter too much.

   I shy away from hickory and lean to the oak and ashe varieties in my area. Dry hickory is just more work than I think its worth. When its green, you can work it about like oak. Two weeks later its like steel. I have worn down a fairly new carbide blade on the table saw cutting hickory at a faster rate than cutting teak. Lots of stories about silica in teak but in the end the hickory ate up my 10" blade and killed my bandsaw blade in one afternoon. The stuff can be a bear.

   If you really love the wood I guess you can make the compromise and tell your friends-"I built it all in hickory"  If they aren't wood enthusiasts, one of them might ask-- "Oh, that isn't oak?"

   Good Luck

   dan