Thread: Cheapest way to buy timber

Originally Posted by Jim57

Gday this is my first post so sorry if I have put it in the wrongs section . Also I have just taken up woodwork and very inexperienced so forgive me if this is ( in your mind) a silly question.
I have looked into a number of iTunes videos on milling timber and are lead to believe it is a lot cheaper purchasing timber this way. So I have decided to build a woodwork bench and the plan I have uses 4x2’s (100x50) for the frame. So went to Bunnings (wood is so expensive there) and saw some 100x50 treated fence posts at a reasonable price with the idea of jointing the 4 edges and cutting them in half with my table saw, would that type of timber be suitable ? Is it the cheapest way to go? Are there any better options you can suggest?

I wouldn't normally use treated timber for anything except construction, wood dust is bad enough without having to worry about what they put into treated timber. However if you cut it outside a shed and you are only cross cutting its probably not too bad.

My recommendation is to go to salvage yard and get some real timber.

What do you means by "milling"? - usually it starts with logs.

I’ve been looking into this also and have found there’s much better sources of timber around than bunnings.

I’ve found places in Canberra and Sydney can charge around $27 per lineal metre for 100x75 lengths of hardwood when I was pricing up material for my bench build I’m working on. Then I moved to a town with saw mills closer I found that price changed to around $14 per LM for a few different hardwoods.

The best source I have found is sourcing recycled hardwoods from old houses or other demolition projects. That came in at $9 rough sawn and with nails. But I’m enjoying spending time working my way through it by hand. Awesome looking material , I’ve found jarrah, stringy bark and ironbark in the mix. I’ve only gone to bunnings for some plywood recently. Plenty of other sources for hardwood around the place. I wouldn’t be cutting up treated pieces mate

Cheers
Nathan

Firstly, Jim, welcome to the Forum and the wonderful world of wood.

Variants of that question have been asked multiple times on this Forum and well answered. May I suggest that you do some searching; you will find a lot.

Secondly, may I suggest that you list a more precise address than Queensland. A member might answer - "Go see Fred in the next suburb/town."

When I first started I didn't have a bench but you really need a bench to make a bench. My solution was to buy a "damaged" flush panel door for about $10 and sit it on a pair of B&D Workmates (later 2 saw horses). To hold material I bought a pair of Zyliss vices (Swiss made, and only Zyliss). They are incredibly versatile - find some You Tubes. This "temporary" solution was so successful that I used it for over 20 years. Replaced the door 4 or 5 times!

Welcome to the forum Jim.

Welcome Jim!
Treated fence posts are wood posts treated to survive in the ground from rot and invertebrates. This treatment is harmless to mammals unless you cut it up and breathe in the invisible dust particles. You can avoid this by cutting them outside and by keeping the number of cuts to a minimum of cross cuts. Neither of which is realistically possible when you want to dress them for your bench project. So don't buy treated timber.

1. First you don't actually need a proper woodworking bench unless you are using hand tools. It is desirable, no question, but not actually compulsory when using power tools. Like Graeme I made an assembly table from an old cheap crappy dinning table we were going to throw out. Like Graeme, I thought this will give me a bench to make a real bench and also still be useful as an assembly table. I put a form ply sheet on the top and braced the legs with 90 x 45 frame timber. This table isn't heavy and stiff enough for a vice so I either use clamps or one of those Zyliss vice thingys - which I just use occasionally for for cutting metal, etc. But honestly, when using power tools you mostly don't need to clamp stuff to the bench nearly as often as you might imagine.

I think it has been about 5 years and I still haven't made a real workbench. I just have this assembly table. Admittedly I will eventually made a real workbench but that is probably another 2+ years away. And it's been 2 years away for 5 years so far.

Another super important thing to realise is that when you start out, it is much better to complete a few simple projects. The best way to do this is to buy dressed all round timber (probably pine and plywood). Cut it up and assemble it on a table and finish it. There are 627 gazillion things you can build with these materials. If you can't think of anything, build a footstool out of DAR pine. To do that you just need a door on 2 saw horses as a work area. Or put some ply on a pallet on some saw horses. By doing this you will have 10 times the understanding of what you want and need in the way of benches and tools. My point is that it is a good idea to build a few things on a simple table first before you spend a lot of money and time on a workbench.

If you plan to use hand tools to saw and plane the timber then it's different. In that case you do need a workbench with decent mass.

2. Recycled hardwood would give you the best value for money. However you have to work hard to make sure you have removed the hidden metal inside it. I think a better option is phone up a few timber suppliers in your area. These places often have 2 parts to their business - a. supply wood and b. make mouldings and dressed timber to order. These places don't have fancy websites. You need to call or visit them. Before you do that you will need to work out how much of each size of material you need to order. That will be their first question for you. Then when you call them for a reasonable quantity of timber you will discover that (a) they are cheaper then Bunnings and (b) it is cheaper to have them dress the timber for you than to invest in a bunch of tools to dress the timber yourself.

I don't think it is wise to buy a jointer, planner, cross cut saw, dust collector and a table saw to dress timber before you have made a bunch of things and know for sure you want to continue with this hobby. I have all these tools but when I wanted to make a queen sized bed, it was still worth it for me to order all the timber already dressed from my local timber supplier. Dressing your own timber makes better sense when you only need a relatively small amount or you have more expensive hardwoods.

Really good post from Dave, but I am not as cavalier as him re treated pine. The familiar green colouring is from CCA - copper, chrome, arsenic treatment:

• The copper is a fungicide and retards rot which is fungal action,
• The chrome is a fixative and stops the copper and arsenic from leaching out,
• The arsenic is targeted at invertebrates and certainly does kill them, but it also affects vertebrates. You are a vertebrate.

Remember, without arsenic, Agatha Christie would still be unknown.

Re holding materials and jobs on my "door bench"; I made jigs and hold-downs by simply screwing battens onto the door with self tapping screws. When the bench gets too daggy turn it over and use the other side. Its cheap!

And you do not need to go to the de luxe version like Dave!

Retailers regularly damage doors in their stock:

• They get dropped and bruise a corner,
• Lock mortices get drilled in the wrong place,
• Hinge and lock mortices get cut on the same edge,
• Panels get scratched, etc

If you ask they commonly have them available for $10 or $15 - nothing cheaper, little as versatile.

My work bench is covered in bits and pieces.
I work as a handyman and occasionally change a door. I currently have three old doors that I am using. All of them were damaged, hence how I got them. I have been too lazy to dispose of them. One has a face covered in 6mm MDF which I use as a sacrificial face for cutting. Flip it over and I have a painting surface.
Now to get motivated to dispose of the other two doors, one of which is 2.3m.

Originally Posted by Handyjack

... I currently have three old doors that I am using. All of them were damaged, hence how I got them. ... One has a face covered in 6mm MDF which I use as a sacrificial face for cutting. ...

I used to do that, too, until I realised that the MDF was a lot more expensive than the doors.

When doors become too daggy I just saw them into pieces that fit in the wheelie bin.

The doors you use wood be the solid type ( outdoor doors) right?

Thanks everyone for the great advice , I be learnt a lot already, I dare say there will be more to follow. Great blog

If you are new to woodworking then already having a table saw is a real benefit, you want to build a bench you can be proud of, because you will see and use it every time you do woodwork, i would use 100mm x 100mm for the legs or at least ex 100mm if you are milling rough sawn.

Originally Posted by Jim57

The doors you use wood be the solid type ( outdoor doors) right?

Ideally, yes, but in practice it is not all that important. Indoor doors commonly are skinned in plywood and are basically torsion boxes with their interior web of corregated cardboard; lighter to move around, and they last 3-4 years as opposed to 4-5 years for solid core ones.

And at $10 who cares?

The problem I am having is finding reasonable price timber, Bunnings has 90x45 treated pine but some of the guys say not to use it because of the treatment and there is only one place in my town that deals with demolished timber and he doesn’t have a lot to offer. There are are few timber mills in my town and I haven’t investigated them yet, in your opinion are they worth looking at and if so what can I expect as far as timber