Thread: Recycling Jarrah

Snarl, mutter, mutter and $&*@!

Great pick-up you lucky blighter

I'm with you .... very good find wish i could lay my hands on that !! Im thinking of building an outdoor table for our new home. Was thinking of splitting hardwood sleepers.

Never mind new jarrah, old jarrah from the recycled timberyard worth exactly the same. It would cost me close to $800 to make a dinning table. Jarrah is a fantastic look timber.

Good score Les.

Thats very light coloured for jarrah?

Funny you say that I was looking at a piece of old (i'd gues about 80yrs old) from inside the roof of a (now demolished) house that I dressed last w/e. It was all pretty pale for old jarrah ... but let it oxidise or apply most finishes and it nearly always darkens up. I'm still researching the theory that the different regions of the west produce different colours (read that darkness) ... more details in the future.
Having pulled down a few houses over the summer period, I know their is a glut of recycled Jarrah on the market ... mostly giving about $1/m for good 2x3 - 2x4 timber (unnailed I admit) .. but it's not moving very rapidly.
Want some?? ... I'd like to work a swap for some western red cedar (or even better some Ozzy red cedar) for my current canoe/kayak building venture. Jarrah is good but bloomin difficult to lug down to the water.

Ramps,
thanks for that info. I was perplexed at the colour and feel much better about it now. The pieces that I selected at Vinsans Salvage yard in Bayswater (Perth) care of tip off from dalejw was denailed but the timber was largely free of denailed holes. Only about 3 holes per lenght of 2.5 m. The timber was also pretty straight and free of warping. Only 1 piece was slightly cupped. The amount of timber to choose from was staggering with many different sizes available.
Regards
Les

Ramps- I have been told, but don't know whether it's true or not, that new jarrah is redder than the old, which tends to be browner. It's another theory to check on.

All the jarrah I have is a real deep reddish brown(more red) its all older stuff from my house built in the 50's, had one piece about a year ago that was really bright red that was from my uncles farm so its at least 100yrs old.

When I recently bought some Jarrah for my hall table, I found that before jointing that the all looked the same, but after, one board was noticeably darker than the others (see: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...294#post310294)

I quite liked the effect that this gave.

Steve, thanks for pointing out your thread ... I remember seeing it a few weeks ago but couldn't remember where I saw it.
Bookend ... I've heard that theory before and had came to the same conclusion ... up until a few years ago. Then encountered the same sort of thing as Harry:confused:
Now I'm working on other theories ... one being that they might slip a bit of straight Marri in amongst the Jarrah (a species commonly found with the Jarrah but often is pretty sappy and twisted) the other as I mentioned could be to do with the rainfall zone it was plucked from ... or maybe soil type. If I come to any conclusions I will let you know. Still be interested in hearing any other experiences with multi-coloured Jarrah to assist in this pursuit.
Thanks Les and Steve for bringing this up.

Sad ... replying to myself
Just saw a post from BobL on the following thread:
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...=jarrah+colour

That sheds a different "light" on the subject ... good theory to pursue ... ties in with the rainfall (at least drainage) and soil type thoughts that I was having

G'day.
Could it be that the timber in the photo at the start of this thread that was machined by me is possibly Karri and not Jarrah ???
Regards
Les

I hesitated to comment but Karri was in my mind. Soon after arriving from thew UK I bought what I thought...and was told by the Salvage Yard was Jarrah, only to discover it was Karri. I have a stack in the back garden I'm using as firewood, if I can beat the white ants! I understand Jarrah was rareklly ever used for roof construction but can be counted on when buying floor joists; is this correct, anybody?

Chippy

Chippy

You can't count on getting Jarrah joists or bearers but you've got a good chance. Back then, you bought 'hardwood' and got a mix of whatever was going around. Hence in the West you prob got 100% Jarrah, but less over this side of Oz. Same with floor boards - 'mixed hardwood' was the term.

Not sure on this - but I think pine varieties have been used for roof trusses for ages, maybe something to do with weight?