Medieval / Gothic style, wood type?

[Ben6]

Hi all,

New here and only just getting into woodworking... Now i am complete noob and only just learnt what mortise & tenon joint is :-.

the only woodworking i have done in the past was make up plans and get the shop to cut the pieces to size for me & i screwed it together.

Anyway, I am into Reptiles :2tsup: and have a few snakes and a blue tongue skink, the snakes are in the garage in melamine boxes that i designed for them, but the skink is a family pet and is in the house, my wife and i are into medieval / gothic style furniture and have recently brought a wall unit from Vast & i am wanting to make an enclosure for the skink to sit on top of this wall unit... can anyone suggest some good ideas on antique wood or wood types that look rustic or are easy to make look rustic etc...

any help will be much appreciated!

Regards
Ben

[Pac man]

Can u take a photo of the wall unit so we have some idea of the style?

[Ben6]

EDIT: according to there site it is mango hardwood... anyone know where to get it? or a good alternative?

[gnu52]

Can't help with the Mango but suggest you give Wards a call. Much furniture of that style was Oak.
Regards, Bill

[bsrlee]

The advantage of melamine coated board is that it is easy to keep clean & doesn't harbour nasties that may make your animals sick. So I think that what you need is a shell of nice timber that hides the actual enclosure - you could even eventually go for glass as the budget allows.

Timber: Yep, Oak. Doesn't really matter if its English, American or Tassie. If you use enough stain you could even get away with Meranti ('Pacific Maple') but its not nice to work with as it is soft & stringy. If it is going to be totally painted so the wood is hidden, then pine and ply is cheaper & easy to work with. Look at 'Faux wood grain' and/or 'distressed finish' for some ideas on how to make things look like they are made out of expensive wood when they are just chip board, pine or mystery wood.

Style: Medieval = flat boards, painting & carving optional. 'Gothic' is more frame-and-panel, carving & piercing optional. If it is going to match an existing piece of furniture then your decision is more than half made for you. There are museum collections with photos of real Medieval & Gothic furniture on-line - try 'Victoria & Albert Museum' as well as commercial furniture makers with extensive visual catalogs - 'Arteso' is one.

[Robson Valley]

Medieval furniture was constructed from woods that were abundant and durable, such as oak (Quercus sp). Those oaks have large, multiseriate rays which give quite a striking appearance to the finished wood. My Australian woods collection is pretty meagre and I can't remember a dang thing about the wood anatomy of Tas Oak.

Then, a paste sealer with lots of solids has to be applied to seal the pores (vessels) to keep the finish from being sucked inside the wood (leaves ridges in the surface.)

[schaf]

Yes, OAK is the timber for medival furniture. If you want mango, then try any of the wook working clubs in Queensland.

[Ben6]

Thanks all for the great replies!! i'll look into oak & work something out.

Regards
Ben

[Stewie D]

I'd also be careful with what you coat the finished enclosure with too. A lot of paints,varnishes etc have strong chemical compounds which may be harmful to your critters.
Good luck, it sounds like an interesting project.

Stewie

[Robson Valley]

Ben6: the details of the anatomy of the white oak group (Quercus alba & others) is quite apart (to me) from the anatomy of the red oak group of species (Quercus rubra & others).
Red oak will be the cheaper, I suspect. But the surfaces will require far more diligence in filling. Not some crappy sealer, skip the mfgr's hype = really filling with solids with a dedicated material.

[Master Splinter]

Just to be different, you might like to investigate some steampunk styled possibilities...but for a more gothic look, substitute suitably distressed stainless steel or aluminium instead of brass, and hit the timber with a very dark brown or black....

[Ben6]

thanks everyone!