Door for airing cupboard

[Deleted member 174758]

You are still looking at softwood which will look completely different to your door when oiled - I suggest you get a short length of softwood and try oiling it to see for yourself as nothing beats experience. What you actually need is hardwood, not PSE (softwood). I suppose it all depends on your point view and as a chippie I have definite ideas on what is and isn't right

And you are also back to trying to fix timber onto sheet material which will just warp over time. You can pin or staple a piece of board onto the back of a timber frame, providing the frame is strong enough (the frame alone needs to be thick enough to take the hinges, "add ons" just weaken the hinge screws' ability to hold onto the timber, even if glued on), but it will look really tacky when you open the door. Note that a rebate can be worked with a circular saw and a guide fence. So can a groove, even if that groove requires 2, 3 or 4 passes to achieve. But both are a bit difficult to do, which is why when you get into this sort of work a router becomes de rigueur

 

[^woody^]

All common softwood is going to be knotty, and IMO that always has a bit of Argos "cheap and cheerful" about it.

Southern yellow pine will be knot-free, but hemlock will be better and a little more brown which will aid things when it comes to oiling. Boiled linseed oil will enhance the grain nicely and will tone the light coloured timber down. If you want a bit of a sheen then Danish oil will do that

 

[Jupiter01]

Thanks guys. Please excuse my ignorance of softwood versus hardwood. I was searching on the Wickes and B&Q sites and am guessing that they only do softwood or at least not the type of hardwood that you are suggesting?

I would be very happy to use a hardwood frame backed onto a sheet and then fix the strips to create an appropriate effect. Thanks for your continued support.

 

[^woody^]

The stuff you see on the racks in the sheds is going to be softwood - also called redwood, whitewood or just pine.

There may be limited amount of hardwood and it will tend to be Sapele (a red/brown colour) but only in limited sizes and sections. You'll need to go to a specialist timber supplier or a proper builder's merchant otherwise.

Hardwood can be much more stable and much less likely to warp and twist or suffer regular dimensional change that softwood does. The Grain of hardwood is different too and looks much more prestige.

If you plan to use a ply panel, then that surface will tend to be hardwood.