"gmpatti" wrote in message

My question is this, I was thinking of making it out of
pine since it will be painted and finished with probably a poly.
Should I go with a hard wood instead? or maybe make the body out of
pine and the top out of a hard wood? Thanks for any help.

In 1976 I bought a Bennington pine dining room set. It is used most every
day. The table has a couple of small dings, but is otherwise just fine.
Heavy chars are still rock solid. The table top and chair bottoms are a
full 2" thick, the chair arms (Admiral's chairs) have 1" thick arms.

In 1981 we bought a Bennington pine kitchen table. It is also used every
day. Still looks good. Based on my experience, pine is a good wood to use.

May I make a suggestion? Before you go ahead and paint it, take a scrap of
the pine, invest $2.00 in a small can of Minwax Jacobean stain. It is very
dark and perhaps your wife will accept it over black paint.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome