"bob" wrote in message
...
Getting ready to build shutters for my house, but don't know what kind of
wood to use. Lowes sells wooden shutters on special order only that are
made of western red cedar. That sounds durable, but isn't cedar going to
have an open grain and knots that will show through the paint? I can buy
WRC for 1/3 the cost of Lowes, so making my own interests me. I just want
to make sure they will look nice, not be twisted, etc.. before I tackle
this.

Two thoughts on the "what wood?" question:

A recent New Yankee Workshop project was "Plantation
Shutters." If I read the "blurb" on the NYW web site
correctly, Norm made his out of bass and poplar. I know
that poplar takes a coat of paint very well. If properly
primed and painted, they should last. No "grain" or knots
to speak of, either.

Or you might consider sinker cypress, the stuff that's
been at the bottom of the pond for a century or more.
Once you REALLY get it dry, it ought to take paint well.
The thing about sinker cypress (I've made many Adirondack
Chairs and matching tables) is that it's virtually rot and
insect proof. What's going to rot away did so decades
ago at the bottom of that pond. It won't warp, either.

Jim Stuyck