Thread: Alternatives to expensive DAR timber

Hi Steve , first post , welcome !!

Treated Pine is real wet , loves to move . like radiata pine in general .
Being( edit,, an EMC ) bone dry helps with radiata pine .

( EMC https://www.google.com.au/search?q=e...isture+content )

As well, machining Treated pine in an enclosed workshop is asking to get some evil sickness . who knows what ? but why die early trying to enjoy your spare time making things that will only twist and warp ?

Some of the 250 x 50 radiata pine building beams ive seen that are not treated look worth the risk . Ive only held my hand to them and not a meter , but if they have been in the racks for a while I reckon there moisture content is on its way down and depends on what your going to build . The smart thing to do is plan ahead and buy a load, and store it over head in your shed for a year well spaced, then use it . Or even smarter is build a table that can be taken apart and re sized if it moves around to much , possibly ?

Some of the MGP 150 to 250 x 50 stuff Ive seen at yards is not radiata but is hemlock pine , Hem fir is another name for it . Its nice looking stuff . and would is worth getting some to store for later use

Another approach is to look for cypress pine , the golden macrocarpa type . it looks a bit like kauri pine but with knots . Its a timber that doesn't move around a lot while drying out and is found as a building material as posts , sometimes sleepers

Rob

I agree with auscab to say away from treated stuff.

Originally Posted by Steve191

So in short I'm looking for any help and advice as to what are the good and "reasonable" alternatives to paying a huge premium for fully dressed timber?

One place to start are salvage yards, sure the material will have "features" but that's not to say it won't look good if finished right.
The other place is local timber millers, (yes I have a vested interest) but you might be able to pick up some rough sawn stuff that way.
You will also quickly find out what DAR costs so much.

If I was to only answer your last question ,

Originally Posted by Steve191

.....So in short I'm looking for any help and advice as to what are the good and "reasonable" alternatives to paying a huge premium for fully dressed timber?

yes there are alternatives. Then that would not really be helpful and me being a little cheeky.

One of the pleasures I get is to get timber in a rough state and dressing this timber to a size that is useful. It does take a little time for the preparation weather you are using machines or doing everything by hand.

You mention sleeper from Masters as a possible source of supply. As these are treated there main purpose would normally be outside for an edge of a garden bed or steps in the garden. I would be reluctant to use anything that is treated in the kitchen. The other concern I have with the sleepers are how these are cut out from the tree. I have seen sleepers that have the pith of the tree in the sleeper which means it most likely split at the pith.

If the legs are going to be painted one source would be during garbage collection day looking for bed frames or a table. Cut and glued pieces together to what you need and as you mention you have the thicknesser/planer you would be able to size this up.

As for the timber from Masters 90x45 MGP I have not used them to purchase timber so I am not sure. But if these are cheap and will serve your needs then I don't see any issues. You can laminate two together making 90x90 for each leg. Just one more thing be selective when choosing from the pile.

for fine joinery work, its all about the moisture content of the timber. cracks, splits, knots, shakes, bow, spring, warp, size, figure etc etc just determine price. basically you can use anything you want, but if you use timbers which are very high in moisture, they will shrink substantially. if the timber is bone dry, it will want to expand.

moisture content will equalise to the local enviroment over time. its why when you buy solid timber floorboards, its recommended that you put the floorboards in the house and leave em there for a few weeks to acclimatize to the local conditions. floorboards are kiln dried to ~12% MC so they are already close to optimal MC. MGP structural pine and decking boards are KD to ~15% i believe, so there will be some movement and shrinkage over time until it acclimatises to the local conditions.

if you buy timbers local to your area which have been sitting out of the rain in racks for years, it will be good stuff as far as MC is concerned.

I love using pine despite everyone cursing it.

You can get rough sawn pine from some places that do bulk gardening supplies. Here we have Pinus Sawmill, look them up and find something similar

I would NEVER use treated pine for anything. Anything at all.

All good suggestions, give the treated stuff a miss, other sources of wood are your local tip (if they allow it) keep an eye out for someone pulling down a house, never know what you can find, selected pallets/crates.




Pete

My biggest source of pine (for general building, dust extractor and compressor enclosure and for making bits and pieces for the riding school where SWMBO plays) has been building site dumpsters.

A major score back in 2011 was a bunch of up to 8m long pine roofing timbers from a duplex building site where the builder had over ordered roofing materials and his lackies were just cutting them up to fit into dumpsters.
This was one of 3 trips I made to the site - gotta love those roof racks
The inside of the van was also chokka with short bits, I had to stop collecting because I had run out of storage room.

Ohh yeeah !! dumpster finds . One thing I have picked up a few of, is Solid Tassie Myrtle wardrobes and desks . I have them dismantled and they are going towards a multi drawer plan cabinet I want for the office area .

One of my best scores was from a dumpster outside a row of heritage listed terrace houses in Melbourne , among the city's earliest, opposite the Exhibition Building .
I was so flaming SKINT at the time that I was stopping at dumpsters not looking for wood , but looking for toilet bowl in good condition . I was replacing the lino floor in the toilet at work, and got a young fellow to take our bowl outside for a good scrubbing , He dropped it on the way out !! Oh S##T
Any way I peer over the edge of the big bin and its full of big wide door jambs and architraves, I pull a few out and examine under the street lights, their all solid Aussie Red Cedar ci 1845 ? originals to the house . I couldn't beleive it !! their covered on the outsides with many coats of paint . Ive still got them sitting under the workshop , I would like to use them one day in a small building rather that cut then up .

Rob

Hi and welcome.

You don't say where you are in Australia, nor do you say what you mean by "hellishly expensive" timber. Where will the table be used? As a dining table, work table for the shed? An outside dining table? What you choose will vary according to the use that the table will have.I

If you're in Victoria, you can buy kiln dried rough sawn Tasmanian Blackwood for around $17-18/lm of 150 x 25mm. Since you have a planer and a table saw, you could dress this quite easily and make a beautiful table for not much more than you'd pay for Tas Oak (KD Hardwood.)

If you're in NSW, I'm pretty sure you can do the same.

Part of the pleasure of making furniture is discovering the beauty of the grain when you start to finish the wood. I don't really care what anyone says, but Pine just looks like Pine no matter what stain or other finishing method you use.

Maybe you could think a little about what you want at the end? And if you have a woodworking friend or Men's shed nearby, then you can get sound advice before you start constructing.

Regards,

LGS

All good advice guys and I guess I never thought those sleepers would be a good idea. I like the idea of "buying and storing" but like most of us here space is a problem. When all is said and done Pine DAR is still cheap and easy to find but its the hardwoods that can really cost.

I also like the idea of recycling and like Christos I love the process of taking a scrappy rough piece and turning into something smooth straight an usable ) (and I can justify the cost of the thicknesser to the Mrs! )

Anyway I bought the pine for the "undercarriage" of the new kitchen table today and ordered some Vic Ash for the top so this weekend i get to try out my new table saw.

BTW if anyones interested the new saw is a Ridgid R4512 which I had to get delivered from the USA as its not available here. Quite a mission and a long wait but I must admit I am Sooooo impressed with it.

Thanks again Guys

Originally Posted by LGS

You don't say where you are in Australia LGS

Hi LGS, I'm in Sydney

Originally Posted by Steve191

..... I'm in Sydney

I hope this is not going to overwhelm you but you have a lot of choices from Sydney.....I am not sure I would have listed them all but here goes.

You can look at Reverse Garbage located in Marrickville
The Bower located in the same complex in Marrickville

Both of these places are a sort of hit and miss when it comes to timber. They may have something one day and it is gone the next.

Or a couple of timber yards Rallis Timber or Danias Timber both located in Marrickville.

Then there is Anagote Timber in Marrickville which supply a variety of timber.

And the one that I tend to favor is Boutique Timbers located way up north(near Port Macquarie). I normally ask his brother Gred Ward who is a member of this site for specific timber I would like.

One more that I can think of is Trend Timbers which are located in Mulgrave.

Mathews Timbers in St Marys is another one. Lots of good stuff and they're more than happy for you to search through the racks and find what you want.

Hi LGS. Would love to know where in Melbourne you can get the Blackwood for that price if you are not keeping your source a secret.

Thanks.