@Finity - Other hardwoods (like birch) might be easier to work with than oak but are going to cost as much. I mostly work with pine, myself. The top-grade pine at Lowe’s or Home Depot is much cheaper than oak and is smooth and knot-free. You’ll have to check prices to see whether the price difference is worth it. The grain won’t look like oak, though, so it partly depends on how opaque your stains are and what you want it to look like.

@adamswomanback - No way! Carolyn’s back???!!! Jubilation! Exultation! An abundance of smileys and punctuation!!!!!! 

@Grannys_Place - Yeah, we’ll be all right. Once I get the houses sold, I’ll get caught up on my debts, and once Alicia develops a social network and website here, she’ll be able to sell the jewelry she brought. 

@Finity - I have no idea what your background is with tools and wood, but if it’s your first time, you might want to go with cheaper materials. Although I suspect that you do well at anything you tackle. There’s not much that is funner than carpentry. Post pictures! Where did you get your design?

@plantinthewindow - Most of the people I know in Colombia didn’t like Chavez. And most of them greatly appreciated Colombia’s former president Uribe, because he made vast improvements in the country’s safety and pushed the guerrillas back into the jungle. Uribe’s a controversial figure (my sisters detest him). The current president was in his cabinet (minister of defense) and is not nearly as popular because he’s more conciliatory with Venezuela and is negotiating with Colombia’s guerrillas. Security is slipping in the rural areas.

A plumber once told me, very sincerely, “The people wanted Uribe to run for another term, but it wasn’t allowed by the inst… rest… prostitution.”

@Finity - Gorgeous! I think I’d use cedar, myself. It looks lovely when it’s sanded, and it’ll protect the contents against moths. You have to be careful choosing your pieces because it splits easily, but it’s not hard to work with. I built an outdoor cedar TV cabinet a year ago.

@SherylM - @Inciteful - @Aloysius_son - @ElusiveWords - @boricua_chic_2008 - @armnatmom - Life is quite good. My stressors are minor. I’m delighted to have my house sell this quickly, and once it’s off my back I’ll have less financial pressure. I have a hunch the lake house will sell well, too.

@Finity - It usually splits during the drying process if it’s going to split. Look carefully at the boards when you’re buying, especially at the ends. Once you build with it, it’s probably all right, but if you have inset panels in the walls of your trunk, it might be a good idea to leave edges unglued to let it shrink without splitting. I suspect that for indoor use splitting is not likely to be a problem.

I mixed two colors to come up with that tone. I don’t remember the names; one was a cherry or mahogany, and the other was more of a pine. If I were building it for myself, I would use a light tone (or varnish) because I love the natural color of cedar. A lot of stains are one-step finishes now, so make sure you get the kind you want to work with. I like my finish to be separate from the stain, in case I need to modify the color after the first stain application.

@Finity - Glue has been used in furniture for hundreds of years. I can’t imaging building furniture without it. There really shouldn’t be much shrinkage unless the piece is outdoors or you have a very very dry apartment.

@Finity - The plans describe using glue, so I guess they forgot to include it in supplies.

@Finity - It’s best if you get wood glue. Basically souped-up Elmer’s. You can also use polyurethane glue (Gorilla Glue), as long as you’re careful in using it. 

@Finity - That will work fine.