Thread: Thoughts on cypress as furniture timber + live edge question

Given the number of people who have looked at yours and my threads I'd say not much is known about cypress!
Chris

Post edited to say the Cypress Species that I’m speaking of is Macrocarpa, which has been planted extensively in Victoria as windbreaks etc

Local furniture maker up here uses it a lot, have seen some stunning pieces made by him.

He has made Kitchens, tables, shelves and chairs/stools just to give you an idea of what it been used for.

Native Cypress is, in my opinion, an underrated timber. It is mostly used in house frames and of cours, flooring because of its termite resistence.

Some people,including my better half, don't like the colouring or the knots, but that is simply a matter of taste.

Easiest to work when green or semi dry but can be worked successfully when well seasoned provided you are careful.
Very sharp tools are the go for paring (eg. mortices and tenons ). Nailing is nigh on impossible so if you need to use some
sort of fastener other than glue it is a matter of drill and screw.

Opinions will vary on finish, but for furniture my preference would be satin.

As for the macrocarpa variety i saw a lot of furniture made from this in NZ. I guess some of he timber used had not been seasoned properly as some had some significant splitting
in table tops in a coffee shop. The timber looks really good and it is possible to get very wide boards from older trees. the timber is easy to work and takes any finish well
from what I saw.

When I have used cypress it always seem to twist and develop cracks,maybe I haven’t used the correct grade or it was not seasoned well
The thing is I don’t recall seeing any grading on it

When I built our house 35 years ago I went with Cyprus due to the very prevalent White Ants that are very active. From bearers and joists, stud frames, roof framing and battens, exposed beams and T&G ceiling linings, architraves, door jambs and skirtings. There is 2 Cyprus board floors (the rest is either Pyneboard or compressed AC) but I didn't stop there. I made side boards and buffets and a coffee table for the lounge room. I enjoyed working with it as its easy and you are rewarded with the fragrance. It does have a tendency to allow very fine cracks as small as a human hair on its surface (some times)but you have to really look hard to see them It doesn't in anyway detract from the piece of furniture at all.
On the wood lathe I use it a fair bit because it machines so well. For furniture you need to have it dry after it has done all its movement while drying. The bold grain on some pieces can be used to effect while some more subtle pieces would be used on others.
All in all I think its a great timber to work with and use

Have edited my post above

Originally Posted by qwertyu

I notice quite a few farmers mill cypress and sell it on FB (which I assume is just dead trees on their land). It looks ok. But how does cypress rate a furniture timber? Are cypress live edge tables considered 'exotic' or anything special?

Like almost any timber, if it is properly dried before milling to final sizes then it's fine and can look quite pretty. As it tends to check quite badly during drying I wouldn't buy green with any expectations for final sizes though.

Exotic? That depends on who you're selling to. In the central suburbs of Sydney live-edged radiata and furniture from recycled pallets is considered exotic by some. Go figure!

someone on FB also has a green live edge messmate slab 630x700 and 60mm thick for $70 is that a good price?

Green? That's a fair price if you consider how much time & effort it'd cost you to mill yourself, given appropriate equipment. At that size and thickness I'd be surprised if, by the time it dried properly, you ended up with half that size. Now if it was already fully dried...

Originally Posted by qwertyu

I notice quite a few farmers mill cypress and sell it on FB...

Anyone in particular? A few links?