I make camp furniture. I have been using pine for quite some time, but would like to shift to hardwoods. My questions is thus: How do I determine the equivalent strengths between 2 boards? For example, how does a 1" X 8" piece of red oak compare, strength and durability wise to a 2" X 8" piece of pine over the same distance?
I know how the pine holds up, I have been using it for over a decade. I'd just like to know how to determine if going to the thinner oak is practical before I drop a lot of money on a design/material combo that isn't going to work. Thanks for your help.
Best Answer
As Derrik mentioned, the Sagulator is probably your best bet. The topic has been covered fairly well in the woodworking stack exchange. The Sagulator is designed for static loads, e.g. shelves, whereas chairs are going to be taking dynamic loads, but the relative strengths should still apply: if you put in your yellow pine vs red oak, the ratios should apply for dynamic loads as well.