american oak

[gettinthere]

how would you put a price on some american oak 160+years old that is as red as the wine that it once was holding. when it is polyurethaned the colour goes from the golden colour it once was throuhg to a deep red. What is the most you have paid for old timber and what was it?

[ColW]

I recently bought some oak planks that had been submerged
in s/steel wine vats, they are no where near that age but i paid
$10 per L/M the plank sizes were 150 X 2400 X 35mm,

A decade ago i bought some sequoia planks that were once barrel heads
they too were infused with red wine, (fun to work with, bit smelly
at times) if memory serves they were about 250 X 1800 X 50mm
i had them sawn and dressed down to 120 X 1800 x 20mm final
cost around $7 per metre, which would convert to about $70 - $80
per plank by todays standards.

I once paid $25 each for 3 pieces of redgum that were dug out of
a quarry. est age 60,000 yrs old, they were 150 x 1000 x 25mm
It was absolutely stunning timber, i've never seen anything like it

The thing is, this type of timber has a marketing value, if one were
to make a quality item from it, the timber itself is already antique
and it's previous life is interesting enough to demand a certain art
value.
As to what it's worth,
If i were buying, i would have a look at the new going price for the same timber and then decide, is it worth the extra? can i market it to get my
money back?

If i were selling it,
well if i owned it, i wouldn't be selling it :) not in plank form anyway

regards
col.

[gettinthere]

cheers mate:D Id love to get my hands on some realy old timber where do you get it carbon dated to see how old it is?:?

[ColW]

I didn't get it carbon dated. Apparently it was a guesstimate
by some uni students, based on how deep in the sand this
tree was buried.