G'day from South Africa

[Nickolay]

Hi dear fellow woodworkers,

I accidentally ended up in your forum, looking for South African woodworking forum.
Unfortunately our country is in the Nineties of the Internet.

I say "our country" but I'm actually Bulgarian who moved in South Africa in year 1995.
In Bulgaria I was musician (clarinet player), but here I became woodworker and since my clients like my work, I stick to it. OK, I love it too

Any way...
I am more in the country style furniture, and lately the aged wood became very popular in South Africa.
People are crazy about these tables with cracked old looking tops imported from China.

Here is a photo:



The Internet search for this wood gives me zero useful results for SA.
I'did try Alibaba without any success.

Do you have this type of aged/reused/old wood in Australia and where do you buy/import it from?

Otherwise the life in SA is not that bad if you get used with the crime.
Two years ago I had to fight with bare hands against two robbers who came in our home.
They tried to shoot me twice without success and finally I managed to chase them out of my house.
It was quite exiting experience.
Now I know the price of the life

Keep well, and love each other.
God bless you All.

[crowie]

G'Day & Welcome Nick to a top forum.
You will find a heap of helpful & knowledgable blokes & ladies all very willing to assist.
I'm sure someone will know were to get some old/aged timber for you.
Make sure you keep the photos coming as everyone loves a photo especially WIP photos with build notes.
Enjoy your woodwork.
Enjoy the forum.
keep safe.
Cheers, crowie

[mrpedersen]

G'Day and Hello Nick , welcome to this great forum. I've been a member for a little over a year and it's amazing, lots of great reading, info and of course help.

Glad you're still with us,

Glenn

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum, you have been blessed by God to be missed twice. Lets us hope you do not have this happen again.

[Nickolay]

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome.
I loved your forum and company from the moment I read the first sentence in a post.
I'm sure I'll learn a lot here and I'm very happy that I found you.

Best of all to All of you

[rogerjenkins]

G'day Nick,- This bit of info may help solve the problem for you, as here in my region of South Australia I utilize old, recycled, ( secondhand ), timber in quite a lot of my Wooden House Signs, ( House Name Boards ), also have made the occasional Table from the same type of timber. Building Demolishion sites, & dumps are the best places to find suitable timber,- or simply keep one's eye out for anyone doing some renovations,- you will quite often be surprised with what you come across.
Old looking painted finishes, are called, " Shabby-Chic," here in Australia,- and one can actually purchase the paint to achieve this type of finish,- although I have been given a Book on Specialty Paint Finishes, by a friend, ( who rescured the book from someone's rubbish pile ), and that has the recipe in it for creating the, " Shabby-Chic," look.
For real rustic looking old Furniture, simply use secondhand timber framing, machine it to size required, leave the nail holes as is, join the planks together to create whatever width table you require, Heavy sand the top. If nail holes are too big, simply fill with a sliver of the same timber, whittled to shape, & glued into the nail holes.
Underneath rails,- use the same timber on its edge. Legs, simply glue several thicknesses together to form a square section x whatever length you require.
I have made some nice collector's Coffee tables at various times from recycled Radiata Pine 90 x 35mm Structural framing timber, and hand-painted an Aussie Muscle Car onto the Coffee table top., using this method. ( Now to see IF I can find a suitable photo,---- )
'ave a good day, & happy woodworking
Roger
Roger

[rogerjenkins]

Here's several photos of REPRODUCTION Oil Box Ends I have made for myself using old, diplatidated, rustic timber, sanded a bit to remove the worse of the bumps, & dings, then cut to approximately the same dimensions as the Original Oil Box Ends,sealed, then the " Brand name," hand-painted on.
As to how good they look,- Well I fooled an Antique Dealer, & Collector of Garage stuff one day !!!
He thought he was looking at the originals,- till I showed him an original !!!
He was literally," lost for words, " for a while !!!

'ave a good day, & happy woodworking,
Roger

[Nickolay]

Thanks for the help, rogerjenkins.
Brilliant ideas and implementation

I didn't even think that I can look myself to buy old wood from demolition sites.
I was looking for someone who sales that kind of material.
Guess I have to spend some time driving around with a cache in my pocket

Thanks very much for your help!
Have a fruitful week

[rogerjenkins]

Nick,- who says you have to pay for it ?? Here one simply asks and 99 times out the 100 you get, " it thrown at you. ' Well almost. The majority of renovators & demolishion companies consider old timber to be, " Junk," and either simply cart it to the local dump / tip, or IF someone comes along and asks,- that someone can help themselves to the heap. then its simply the case of carting it home, removing nails, screws, bolts, etc., and stacking it out of the weather.
Our local Rubbish Tip/ Transfer Station DON'T like naily timber, for as the caretaker says, " Heavy-duty wood chipper and nails, screws, bolts, etc., don't mix real well !! " Result I have scored several trailer loads in recent times of good straight used Oregon framing timber, complete with," free," nails, bolts, screws, & electrical wiring still attached,- all of which went into the local scrap metal yard, which in turn paid me for the original trip to the dump, with the original load of genuine rubbish !!!
Same applies when people are constructing new buildings,- you'd be surprised at the sheer amount of wastage of good timber that is thrown away. One day here, was a bit too late to save nearly a pack of brand new 90 x 45 structual Pine, left over at a new house,- it went straight into the skip-bin and away to wherever the builders' waste goes!! ( Friend of mine, down the street from me, scored a 6x4 trailer load of brand new solid timber Door & Window frames,- also left over from a new house,- bound for the skip-bin, but he was in the right place, at the right time for once, and rescued all of it. ) ** Have been told that mistakes, over-ordering, etc., are simply ADDED onto the overal cost of whatever is being built,- some companies allow about 25% for wastage !!! ( What a waste !!! )
Whether this also happens in South Africa, or not, well only you can find out,
'ave a good day, and thankyou for the compliments,
Roger

[Nickolay]

Ha-ha-ha
Australia is veeeery different from South Africa.
Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way in our part of the world.
Her we have a lot of poor people who need anything that may help them to build their shacks.



The poor guys should get it for free, but no, there is no free lunch in South Africa even for them.
You'll be surprise to know that they even pay more for the food in the stores.
They don't have transport to drive to the big food shops where the food is cheaper.
Instead they buy from the small shops in the squatter camps, where they pay between 10 to 20% more for the food they buy.

[rogerjenkins]

Nick, - I wonder IF it would be practical for us Australians to export our scrap timber, etc., to South Africa. Besides secondhand building materials, there's perfectly good furniture thrown away here every day,- almost brings me to tears to see what is literally dumped onto kerbside heaps in our local towns, and even in Adelaide Suburbs,- people simply throw good stuff away, then go out and buy new, and, " Cry Poverty, " to anyone who will listen, when in reality they are NOT poor by any means,- simply greedy and selfish. I actually scored a Brand new washing machine one day,- solely because it had a scratch on the front, and the owners went and bought another one,- yes, they," whinged about the cost too," Personally I thought they were idiots !!
I got my good Lounge Suite from the local rubbish dump seven years ago. Actually looking round my home,- most of my furniture is other people's discards, or I have constructed it myself from thrown away timber. Another time, doing a job for a customer, I scored a full unopened ten litres of good quality undercoat which was bound for the dump !!! Another time a good 6x4 trailer,- rego, papers & all, just because it had a very bent, & mangled tailgate, which the owner, " considered too hard to straighten, & /or repair. " so he gave it to me.
People in this country just don't realize how well off they are, compared to other countries like parts of South Africa, India, etc.
'ave a good day
Roger