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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    Adelaide
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    2,680

    Default Source of cheap(?) Timber

    Have been watching FB ads and noticed that a lot of what used to be expensive furniture etc ie old tables and chairs that were usually made with with good timbers are going dirt cheap these days. This makes for a cheap source.

    I am not happy as I bought in the upcycle which means all the work I did restoring etc is now a waste of time...as far as the market is concerned...but I would rather have a set of properly made timber chairs with strecher rails than than the crap you now get

    Anyhow if you need some great OLD aged timbers for any projects keep your eye open for such
    The bottom has fallen out of the so called antique market. I am not refering to those exquisite antique we see from time to time.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    NSW
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    37
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    1,126

    Default

    you also have to remember that styles change.

    the amount of "Baltic" stained pine (that real golden looking style) that is getting sold for practically free or chucked out for the council bulk waste collection is a perfect example of this. It's not in fashion anymore, doesn't go with the current trends, styles and color patterns and such. All the furniture is perfectly solid, it just looks like crap currently and this definitely affects the amount it can be sold for.

    same goes with the "style" of the furniture. big bulky TV units are no longer in, where a sleeker minimal floating unit is very much on trend and so the demand for that stuff is there and so is money.

    This makes it hard because what YOU like, might be totally different to what market demand is.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Sydney Upper North Shore
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    4,464

    Default

    Love it when they throw it out. I dismantle and store the timber for later use.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Mooroopna, Victoria, Australia
    Age
    33
    Posts
    228

    Default

    Op Shops are also a great source. Speak to the staff, if they're like the one I work at there's plenty of pieces donated that simply don't sell due to current trends.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Sydney Upper North Shore
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    Default

    Funny you should mention OP shops as a source. I have an up market Lifeline next door - expensive!
    I’ve seen them breaking down furniture and throwing it in the bin. I asked them once if I could pick out the timber from the bin. They said “sure - but we would like a donation”

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    2,205

    Default

    It is a charity, run by volunteers
    And not a bunch of self righteous religious wankers

    The tool club has a link up with lifeline re the tables used at their annual tool sale.
    One of their volunteers is a TTTG member and every meeting he brings along a few boxes of technical books he’s picked out from their ongoing book collections.
    Sells them for a coupla bucks per book and gets a few hundred for Lifeline.
    Has some great stuff occasionally, I’ve seen Bootle etc.
    H.
    Is that at Asquith?
    My daughter and her friends used to drive all the way up there from the inner west ‘cause the clothes were top brands and really cheap.
    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Hobart
    Posts
    5,107

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by eskimo View Post
    Have been watching FB ads and noticed that a lot of what used to be expensive furniture etc ie old tables and chairs that were usually made with with good timbers are going dirt cheap these days. This makes for a cheap source. ...

    Fully agree. Brown timber stuff from c.1900 through 1960's is very unfashionable and dirt cheap - far cheaper then the timber that its made from. And it is almost always genuine old growth timber, air died for up to 100 years! Stable. Love it.

    My sources are
    • friends & neighbours,
    • tip shop,
    • auctions,
    • op shops, and
    • council collection days.


    Probably in that order; now frequently have to say no to F&Ns - Can only take the best! (Old doesn't always mean good, and not much use for old plywood - too much delamination.)

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Sydney Upper North Shore
    Posts
    4,464

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by clear out View Post
    It is a charity, run by volunteers
    And not a bunch of self righteous religious wankers
    That’s why I always gave them a donation

    Quote Originally Posted by clear out View Post
    Is that at Asquith?
    My daughter and her friends used to drive all the way up there from the inner west ‘cause the clothes were top brands and really cheap.
    No, it’s in Waitara.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    1,147

    Default

    I have bought a few pieces of Silky Oak furniture from marketplace, the timber is large section old growth quality and multiple times cheaper than buying retail or trade.

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