On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:06:07 -0500, "Pawel"
wrote:

I was thinking of starting with pine, but am afraid that it may be to soft
to last as a nice bookcase.
Is douglas fir a reasonable compromise?

The question with pine is just what you mean by "pine". I've got plenty
of 100+ year old pine (as furniture and as recycled stock) that would
make a fine bookcase. I'd be hard pressed though to go out and buy any
new pine timber that wasn't coarse rubbish with huge growth rings. If
you _can_ get good, tight pine, then there's no reason you shouldn't use
it. Douglas fir is much more likely though, in terms of what's commonly
available today, at a reasonable price.