Pine vs oak bookcases?

[ChadTower]

My wife has been pining (ha) over some real bookcases for a long time now... it's probably time to pay up and get them for her.  The best local place to get what we want is an unfinished furniture store.  That's fine, I don't mind finishing, so long as I can get a decent looking finish on it.

We're looking at roughly 7' tall and 36-40" wide.  The local mill store has pine and oak like this.

Now, I've only stained a couple of things in my life.  The last was a stairwell railing I put in and that came out looking decent but obviously that's not nearly as difficult as a bookshelf.  My primary questions:

What are the main differences?  I assume Strength/fiber density?  Pine should hold up just as well as oak in the long run, yes?  Which would be more difficult to stain well?  The oak is twice the cost of the pine but there's probably a reason for that.

[prOk]

Although i'm not really a fan of oak or pine these days, the Oak is by FAR the more robust wood.  Pine is very soft and hard to stain.. Oak is a true hardwood and stains well as long as you do a sanding sealcoat.  Avoid those Gelstains, use a good quality stain and rag it on/off. 

[ChadTower]

The oak may be expensive enough to prevent us from getting them, though, as the wife wants two matching ones.  That's my main issue with the oak.

[flyguy1821]

Like mentioned before oak will stand up to more punishment over the years.  Depending on the construction of the bookcase the oak will have less tendency to bow with heavy weight. 

For finishing either wood I would recommend a conditioner, especially the pine.  Sometimes when you stain pine, parts of the wood will "repel" the stain leaving lighter spots and darker spots.  Some like this look, I do not.  Now for oak, the wood is much more porous and some prefer to fill that in.  I prefer to not mess with that step, I leave the oak pores open.  This has nothing to do with durability, just personal taste. 

As far as cost goes you are paying for the durability of the piece.  If it wont be used much and will be more just to look at go with the cheaper.  If you are intending on using the bookcase often and need the durability, no doubt go with oak.  Just stay away from the balsa wood.  Leave that to those little rubber band planes. 

Good luck

[londonbabe]

Pine, no matter what you do to it, will always look cheap.

Oak will always look quality.

Don't stain it though. Wax it. It's a beautiful wood as it is.

[Avery]

I'm another vote for oak.  There are some softwoods that aren't all that soft, but I wouldn't bet that that's what you'd be getting.

Is it red oak or white oak?  The difference between the two is that red has an open grain structure that soaks up whatever it is you're putting on it and makes for some very dark spots.

They make a product called grain filler to deal with this.  Or you can just clear coat the thing with your first layer and then use a tinted layer for round two.  Personally I'd go with two layers of clear and call it good, but it depends on what you're going for.

[Wade]

Pine is lighter, cheaper, dings and breaks much easier than oak.  Oak is a hardwood and is quite durable, and looks very good when stained well.  Staining it isn't usually difficult (pine is more difficult to stain well).  Just take your time, wipe off any excess stain, and just apply it again after it has dried if you want it darker.  Then you can oil it or coat it in clear (brush-on satic polyacrylic works great in my experience).

We installed hardwood floors and have a lot of wooden furniture in our house, and oak is our preference.  There are other nice hardwoods, but we like the heavy grain of oak.  Quality furniture made with oak will last a lifetime (or longer).

If price dictates your decision, that's fine (it factors in for just about all of us), but I think I would paint pine before staining it.  We also have lots of white trim, so occasionally we use pine and paint it white (great for moldings, bookshelves, and other misc things).

Wade

[spiffykyle]

Oak is definitely the way to go. As for a finish, its personal taste between stains, waxes, oils and shellacs. Personally I like using oils (Tung oil or Danish oil) On thinks like bookcases and shelves. Very classy look and easy to match to older items.

Pine is a ton cheaper than Oak and if you have to go that route, definitely get a pre-stain wood treater. They'll be in the hardware store right next to all the stains. You'll get a better looking finish for sure.