Replies

1. 
   ashleyforbes | Oct 27, 2014 03:08am | #1

   Maple or poplar would be fine. 

2. 
   ashleyjohn | Sep 29, 2015 03:39am | #2

   Cherry, Maple or Teak.

3. 
   mikaol | Oct 02, 2020 06:55pm | #3

   One thing, poplar's a soft wood. Only some years ago someone named it an American hardwood. Per Janka hardness it's softer than pine. You can push a fingernail into it. Not a bad wood to work with but it doesn't take an even finish.
   Careful with pine for a kid's bed, splinters and all. He'll probably want to doodle on it time to time. Urethane resist Sharpies and most paints.
   Add a side rail if you're afraid he'll fall out of bed.
   Me, I'd go with maple for durability, pine for ease of construction. Don't forget to ease the edges.
   Mikaol

4. 
   _mj_ | Oct 02, 2020 08:36pm | #4

   That kid is going on 12, probably outgrown the bed his Dad built by now and unlikely to fall out.

5. 
   user-3395150 | Oct 02, 2020 09:48pm | #5

   Any hardwood (maple, walnut, cherry, oak...) should be fine. Base your decision on your preference of the wood's color and grain characteristics.

6. 
   lat_axe | Oct 03, 2020 06:24am | #6

   Well, I preferred yew as the swirly grain induces vivid dreams, which can be an exciting education for a child. Of course, the yew is also poisonous because of it's taxine alkaloids. But you'd have to chew quite a bit of the bedhead to get a significant dose. Best to keep the yew bed for the more mature child well beyond the soother stage, then.

   Still, my grandson slept in this yew bed from aged 6 and failed to develop taxine poisoning (he's 20 now, going on still-12, though) although he did have the vivid dreams. Mind, he probably would have had them in an Ikea item made of chipboard and MDF, due to the outgassing of oh, all sorts, from that sagging stuff. A good job Ikea stuff only lasts for a few weeks before collapsing then. ...... The yew bed will last another hundred years or so (assuming it's not swept away in the coming New Model Flood).

   I am wary of yew sawdust. It's not at all clear how much the taxine alkaloids break down as yew timber ages. It's said to become more toxic (more concentrated) as yew dries from green to furniture-making moisture content. But do the taxines stay in the dried timber forever?

   I can find only one case in the interwebbery wherein someone was deemed poisoned to deeth by yew sawdust. But the taxines are very carcinogenic, it's said.......

   Lataxe

   PS I did find this:

   https://extension.psu.edu/toxicity-of-yew-wood-and-roots

   It suggests that taxine is a stable compound and likely to remain in the yew for a very long time after felling.

   
7. 
   oxmach | Oct 03, 2020 06:53am | #7

   Ha! MJ nailed it.