Thread: Loft bed on a budget - Is cypress ok to use for a bed?

Bit of an update on this. I ended up finding some reclaimed old hardwood at 240 (ish) x 45 for $25plm. It was taken from an old house that was torn down in Toorak. From what I can tell, I am pretty certain it is oak with the pinkish shade on the end grain.

Cost was fairly close to what pine would have set me back in the end. A tad more. But better than the $1200 the Vic Ash from bendigo Timber would have cost me! (Price wise, not quality, obviously)

Thanks everyone, I've learned quite a bit from this little post

Originally Posted by Triodz

I ended up finding some reclaimed old hardwood at 240 (ish) x 45 for $25plm. It was taken from an old house that was torn down in Toorak.

All good, Triodz.

I use quite a lot of recovered timber which is usually old growth. As a rule of thumb, old growth is usually better than regrowth and both are almost always better than plantation. You need common sense awareness of hidden nasties - nails, screws, etc - and eternal vigilance. I started using salvaged timber because it was relatively cheap; I now use it because it is better - - - when it is available - the big problem!

An essential tool is a plug cutter (mine is by Veritas). If you have a small blemish in a piece of salvage, then drill it out, cut a matching plug from an offcut of the same timber and glue the plug into the hole, aligning grain as near as possible. If one plug is not large enough, I insert one plug as above, wait for the glue to dry, then drill a partially overlapping hole and insert another plug, as above. Repeat as needed.

For larger blemishes, I cut a larger hole and make a matching plug and glue it into position, shipwi rights call this plug a "dutchma0".