The reason I ask is I just got Jeff Miller’s “Chairmaking & Design” book, and I’m going to try the child’s ladderback chair. It’s all made with hardwood dowels, so there’s no turning.
www.woodworker.com is the only website I’ve found that has an assortment of species (oak, cherry, walnut, maple) in the diameters required.
They also have dowels made from “ramin” wood from Indonesia, and claim it has similar characteristics to white birch. Having no idea if either of these are strong enough to make a child’s chair, I thought I’d ask here. How strong is white birch?
Attached picture courtesy of www.woodworker.com
Kevin
Replies
TEnsile parallel grain 2750 psi
longitudial shear 210 psi
modullus of elasticity in bending, 1800 psi
compression perpendicular to grain, 550
compression parallel grain, 2200
The above values are for clear, straight grain wood dry condition. Relative to other hardwoods, it is about average or slightly above, but less than mahogany, maple or oak. In other words, it's fairly strong stuff.
Hope that helps.
Hey, thanks Boatman. That really does help. I knew that info was out there somewhere but didn't have a link or anything. Thanks again.
Kevin
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