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  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    2

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    In regards to tools, have you come across,
    http://toolexchange.com.au/
    Prices seem to be reasonable for second hand tools but can't compare to what we see available in the US or UK.
    I know Myrtleford and I know that there are quite a few older people in town some who may well have various old tools in the shed that they no longer use and would be willing to give away to be refurbished and used. Have you tried putting up a couple of notices in the local shops and supermarkets boards?
    I scored four good saws, Disstons and Joseph Tyzacks that were being tossed out. They looked pretty rough but a couple of hours work and a careful sharpening and they have come up a treat. 3 of my planes were acquired the same way and a bloke I worked with gave me a pretty full set of firmer chisels with handles that he had turned when he learnt that I wanted to try woodworking. But I've also picked up the odd cheapo Stanley chisel and cleaned and sharpened them myself.
    I found some really nice pine from a packing crate only a couple of weeks ago that came from Europe. It's a far better quality pine than what you can buy in Bunnings of Mitre 10. There are tractor and other machinery places in town, why don't you call in to see them and ask if they have pallets or crates that they want to be rid of. You won't get the sizes that you want but that's what glue is for, laminating to the sizes you need. Even old hardwood pallets can be utilised with a bit of elbow grease and imagination. If there is a windscreen place in town, and I think there is an O'Briens close by, they often get there screen in wooden crates. I know you don't have a Masters store there but one of the ladies in my local store told me that she and others take the old crates with the blessing of Masters, that way they don't have to pay for them to be removed. That's were I'll be heading next when my stock of pine for my shed bits and pieces will be coming from.
    The last bench I built in my shed, finished only a couple of weeks ago was built using old Douglas Fir (Oregon) beams that I salvaged from a throwaway job. I ripped to the sizes and laminated to the thickness I wanted for the legs and ripped and planed for the rails and stretchers using a salvaged Diston rip saw that I cleaned up and sharpened myself. The planes I used were a $65 Record Handyman plane set up to take off heavy shavings and another Record #4 smoother to leave a nice finish. I used yellow tongue particle board and a sheet of Masonite for a top and edged the top using the pine that I mentioned earlier. I used hand tools despite having the machinery to do most of the work because I mainly work in my shed at night and I have terrific neighbours who I will not upset by being in the slightest way selfish and using noisy machinery at night.
    Looking at the bunk bed, the ends appear to be frame and panel with the legs being something like 75x45. Other sizes look to be around 65x25. Plywood would work for the panels and laminating some well chosen structural pine would likely supply all of the other wood that you need. There would be wastage cutting out the worst of the knots and you would be in for some muscle building exercise but building those bunks would, for somebody who built an Anarchists Tool Chest, be very achievable

    I think that the biggest hindrance in enjoying our interests in not so much money but an unwillingness to ask others for things that they no longer use or need. We don't want to be seen as needy or "begging" when those others are more than happy in a lot of cases to see stuff that would be thrown away actually be used for something useful.

    And the best tool any of us own is sitting atop our shoulders.

    Brian.

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  3. #17
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Brisbane (Chermside)
    Age
    71
    Posts
    2,076

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    When I was about 15 I helped my father make some furniture. He had recently been divorced and had remarried, another way of saying he was impoverished.


    He made a bed entirely from hardwood ply off-cuts bought quite cheaply from the local ply shop. He glued several pieces of ply together and made a section about 60 mm thick, and then ripped that into square sections. These were hand planed and became the posts for the bed. More ply was glued to about 1" to 1.5" thick and then ripped into about 6" wide rails for the bed, and so on. He painted the posts white (to hide the edges) and varnished the remainder. That bed was as pretty as a picture.


    Then he made a hutch for the dining room. This time he glued thin strips of hardwood to the edge of the ply (the internals were chipboard). For the doors he glued 2"X1" DAR hardwood stiles and rails to the ply panel ... and so on.


    It was a lesson never forgotten. I did not start woodworking until after his death, but all my workshop cabinets are made the same way. I prowled around until I found, for example, about twenty or thirty strips of 12 mm ply 2400 mm long and about 230 mm wide. Probably off-cuts from a large order. I bought them at a good price and made my large bench from this material using the techniques learned from my father. That was ten years ago. That bench is still in my shop. I also made our camping and BBQ tables from that ply. The ply was biscuit jointed to make the tables. They are still in use.


    It is possible to make nice stuff from MDF, which is not expensive, especially if you finish it with something like a white lacquer. MDF takes paint and lacquer very well. Here is the cabinet made for my table saw, in MDF lacquered white. Some years ago I made a girl's bedroom suite from MDF painted white. It was a nice suite that cost very little.
    IMAG0226.jpg

    There are many other options. Most of us started from where you are right now. All of us can make pretty good stuff at low cost.

    Here is a thought you might like to tuck away for future reference. Recently I got into laminating. It can take a little time, but when you find yourself thinking about buying a machine for your shop, consider a band saw. With that machine you can cut your own laminates. You can make a vacuum press very cheaply and then laminate over MDF and chipboard. This makes your good timber go a long way, reducing cost, and you can produce some pretty cabinets. Following are two recent jobs, one finished and one still under way. Both are laminated camphor laurel.
    Cabinet 2.jpgIMAG0566[1].jpg

    Have fun!

    John

  4. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,501

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    Gumtree is your friend. Use non technical terms like plank or beam.
    Seek out garage sales and council clean-ups.
    Go to the nearest industrial area and ask for old pallets - some have to pay to get rid of them.
    Much can be found for free.
    Maybe you could think laterally and offer some free labouring to a local milling service in exchange for wood.

    Good luck and let us know how you do.

  5. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Myrtleford, NE VIC
    Posts
    34

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    Thanks for all the ideas and encouragement guys!

    Brian, nice to hear from someone who knows of Myrtleford! I'll have another crack at sourcing tools locally.

    In regards to this particular project though, I ended up finding a good hardwood bunk for a very good price, so good that I couldn't justify making one myself right now. Plus I've had a good run getting fixer-upper tools off of eBay and am now plenty busy restoring them (got a #151 spokeshave, #78 duplex rabbet, #7 jointer, bow saw and a wooden bodied jointer).

  6. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,501

    Default

    The winner of last years Wooden Boat Award sourced the majority of his materials from council cleanups.
    Apparently there were concerns about awarding him the nice mahogany trophy lest be re reused.
    http://magazine.afloat.com.au/?iid=85607#folio=36

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