I am planning on building the tower bookcase from woodsmith. It is
76X12x16. The plans call for using 3/4" cherry plywood with solid
wood edging and trim and 1/4" plywood back. I plan on using red oak
instead. I can get a 3/4 sheet of red oak plywood for about $55 but I
have a supply of dry solid red oak that is costing me 35 cents a bf
for 1x8 in about 10 foot lengths. So it would be cheaper to use the
solid wood. If I use the solid oak I will still get a sheet of 1/4"
for the back.

Another option is to use elm that is costing $1 a bf so it is still
cheaper but I would need to resaw the 1/4 back panel cause I have no
source for elm plywood. However I do like how the elm looks.

It will be more work to prep the solid stock and I am concerned about
the solid stuff being affected by humidity etc.

Any opinions from you wreckers?

As always thanks in advance for ideas.