Eye / wallet opener

[DaveInOz]

Okay I am very new to woodworking, I've made some very ameture furniture and fittings from merch pine, MDF etc.
So I am about to start my first serious project, an outdoor bench (as per The New Yankee shop). For this I see I will need a hardwood, now normally I pop down to bunnies to get pine, but they don't have hardwood. I've got tas Oak from Shiver Me Timbers before so I ask them - they can't help with the dimensions I need. Eventually I have rung a number of suppliers, most can offer one or two sizes of Jarrah out of which I could resaw my requirments for over $1000. So thats too expensive, I ask for advice and get put onto Nyatoh, again no one has the dimensions but as before with resawing I would get away with it for $400. For bloody outdoor seat !!!
The price of hardwood is amazing, I am soooo naive.

So said my piece, now I just have to find someone that has at least close to the dimensions I want ..... bite the bullet and pay up ......this thing will cost more than all my indoor furniture put together (not true but it sounds good).

[Sir Stinkalot]

Spot on ..... all timber is expensive .... but the knowledge that you made it yourself can add big $$$$$ onto the project ... or if you are like me you are never happy with what you finish up with and then dream of ways to reuse the timber in a different project.

Try looking into some recycled timber that hasn't been cleaned up (dressed) prior to sale. Shiver Me Timbers had the biggest range of Jarrah that I have seen anywhere so I am suprised that you couldn't get what you were after there. They weren't super cheap but I thought the presentation of the timber and shop were A1. I use quite a lot of recycled jarrah floorboards .... you can often get second grade that have the T&G too badly damaged to relay but with a bit of work you can make 90x19 boards to laminate together.

Are your dimensions for your project in metric or imperial? If you ask for 1/2" stock they may be looking at their metric stock and thinking they will have to machine it down for you.

Stinky.

[John Saxton]

Crikey Dave,your're being penalised in your locale....now you may not have the room for storage of a lot of timber as it is with a lot of us,but even if you could get to a timber auction you could mebbe pick up some small lots and save yourself some $$$$.

Learn't long time ago that shopping at Bunnies and Co is only necessary on a rush job where you don;t have dry featured timber available and have unfotunately had to do that a coupla times.

Hope you have better luck in the future mate in getting your timber.

Cheers

[Iain]

Try Kilsyth bargain centre in, amazingly, KIlsyth. Cheapest source of Tassy Oak I have found.