Wood for my new bench... the world is never-endingly weird

**djeddy** · 18th January 2019, 12:08 AM

So here I am having just relocated to the sunny south-west of Western Australia. Bewdy, lots of nice timbers here, but first I'd better build a bench. (My old bench stayed in Melbourne as it would have cost more to move than it did to make. Movers charge by the cubic metre. Besides, I made a lot of mistakes with that bench.) Great, I says, first I'll get some MGP10 (pine) and fling one together, sturdy and cheap.

Only one problem. This is WA's south west, land of the termite and the European borer. The only pine available is treated and dyed blue. Untreated pine is all but unobtainable (although I have found one place that professes to have some, I will have to check out pricing).

Okay, so no pine and I don't want to use the blue goo (or rather, I don't want to machine it and possibly breathe it), what else is cheapish?

Jarrah, to my amazement. The first sawyer I talked to will sell me some nice sawn jarrah for only 2.5k$/m3 (that's $6.25/lm for 100x25, or $12/lm for 120x40 - about 50-60% of Bunnings DAR price.) I've got a few more to speak with, but it looks like there are advantages to living down here.

So I will either got over my aversion to H2 or will build my new bench out of Jarrah. The world is full of surprises, and I'm feeling pretty bemused.

(I thought of using Karri, which used to be as cheap as chips and is very abundant, but it was found to be termite catnip and is no longer produced commercially I think. But then I've found at least one sawyer who says he produces it. I'm new here, what would I know?)

**Mobyturns** · 18th January 2019, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by djeddy

Jarrah, to my amazement. The first sawyer I talked to will sell me some nice sawn jarrah for only 2.5k$/m3 (that's $6.25/lm for 100x25, or $12/lm for 120x40 - about 50-60% of Bunnings DAR price.) I've got a few more to speak with, but it looks like there are advantages to living down here.

Wholesale vs retail. I prefer to support small millers where I can, pays in the long run as they remain viable and we get access to a resource that is fast becoming more and more difficult to access.

**Pat** · 18th January 2019, 07:02 AM

Jarrah, Jarrah, Jarrah!

**ian** · 18th January 2019, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by djeddy

The first sawyer I talked to will sell me some nice sawn jarrah for only 2.5k$/m3 (that's $6.25/lm for 100x25, or $12/lm for 120x40 - about 50-60% of Bunnings DAR price.) I've got a few more to speak with, but it looks like there are advantages to living down here.

just remember that sawn and DAR are two different things.

Sawn will almost certainly need dressing before it can be assembled into a bench.
DAR can possibly be glued together off the shelf.

**BobL** · 18th January 2019, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by djeddy

Okay, so no pine and I don't want to use the blue goo (or rather, I don't want to machine it and possibly breathe it), what else is cheapish?

There was a recent thread/discussion on the toxicity of the blue goo and after looking into it I concluded that unless you had a specific allergy to the blue goo then you were probably in more danger from the wood dust than the goo. Most people forget that the reason trees can survive for hundreds of years in the wild against all manner of biological attack is because wood contains all manner of natural insecticides. Obviously they can't handle everything but they still do a remarkable job at survival.

Despite this if you don't like the look of the blue goo (thats me too) then I would shoot for jarrah. If you have your own resewing and dressing capabilities 2nd hand jarrah can often be found for very little if you look around.

**djeddy** · 18th January 2019, 04:19 PM

Good thought, BobL. I'll take a look around.

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