A Few Words on Wood

I buy timber from the precious few sawmills in Australia that are committed to the sustainable harvest of what’s called “salvaged” timber: trees that have died of natural causes (yes, trees don’t live forever!) or have been removed for safety reasons or to make way for another half-finished Melbourne project..

I annoy the bejeezus out of the lumber yard staff, taking hundreds of boards off a rack just to find that one board that’s meets my standards. It’s not enough that it’s just wood. It has to be sensitively and painstakingly selected to give its best. 

I like to find those special pieces: Tiger Myrtle, not just Myrtle; Fiddleback Jarrah, not just Jarrah; Figured Red Gum, not just fence-post Red Gum. These woods allow me to create, and you to own, a piece that could never be made the same way again.

Three Kinds of Timber

I look for three types of timber. 

Firstly, there’s the 18-25mm thick stock that I use for cabinet frames, back frames, cabinet door frames, drawer sides and bottoms. These need to be clean, straight grained and stable. 

Secondly, there’s the 38-55mm thicknesses of similar timbers that are used in a similar way, but on larger pieces: table legs, aprons, rails and chair legs. When you need strength, this is where you get it.

The job of type one and two is like the stage of a theatre: they have to hold the actors up!

It’s type three who’re the actors. The glitz, and the glamour. These are the really special pieces of solid wood and veneer that have character in spades. Their life history is written in every twist and turn of their grain. Working with these timbers is what every woodworker lives for.