Thread: Need advice re wood choices for a coffee table, I'm a bit of a newbie and in melb

How about redgum as there is plenty around Melbourne? There is a supplier in Mordialloc called "outlast Timber"; they can supply rough sawn or dressed all round (DAR). Personally I think it's a prettier timber than jarrah.

As for shellac; another option would be oil. My first experience with Organoil was watching a demo of a piece of redgum having an oil finish applied; it took about 15 minutes with a random orbital sander to finish a piece about 8" X 10" but the absolute beauty of the end product took me by surprise.

Don't knock cheap tools like Ozito; these are an adequate starting point. I will sometimes purchase a a known "crap" brand if it's a tool I know will get very infrequent use or if it's a type of tool I've never used before and want to learn about its capabilities.

But I would recommend joining your local Men's Shed or woodworking club; they'll have bigger and better machinery. As an example if you buy rough sawn timber it'll be substantially cheaper than DAR and you can use the clubs saws, jointer and thicknesser to get the exact dimensions you want.

Hi paulhpaulh, Welcome.

I agree that Red Gum or Jarrah would be good as a timber for a coffee table. I guess there are other considerations as well, such as whether you can get squares for legs and whether you want a lower shelf or drawers. Also, I wouldn't rule out Tassie Blackwood as a timber.

I also would highly recommend a burnished oil finish. It's long lasting, very forgiving regarding heat and fluid and looks sensational.
Given that you don't have many tools, I would suggest that you either look for dressed timber (DAR), or find a friendly woodworker or club where you can dress the timber yourself.
Here's a Red Gum and Huon PineTable with drawers and a shelf (finished in burnished oil) and also a small Jarrah coffee table with just a top and legs(finished in Wipe On Poly). Also a Tassie Blackwood table.

Regards,

Rob

You could also try Australian Recycled Timber in Fabio Crt, Campbellfield. It is off Sydney Rd, just south of Barry Rd.
Danahers Timber in Heidelberg used to have good stock of jarrah but I have not been there for some time so don't know current situation
Jarrah or red-gum would suit your project very well or even Sydney Blue Gum if you can find it.
Old red gum fence posts come up very nicely but you need the gear to be able to cut and dress them

We've got some 1inch Jarrah in stock that we could square dress for you mate.

8x1inch or 200x25mm sawn, dressed size would finish at 190x19mm

If you need thicker material let me know, we're located in Brooklyn VIC.

It's a little tricky this time of year due to the timber industry closing its doors at years end, so we're all running around like headless chooks.

Shoot me an email or feel free to give me a call

Rez 0393149999
[email protected]

Market Timbers

If your budget is tight, why not hunt around for a second hander (which you can pick up for a pittance), strip it, stain it to a colour you like and then refinish? I know it's not the same as building one from scratch, but a good way to practice finishing before attacking something that you have made yourself.

Wow what a great response, thanks all, its always a bit daunting to ask for help for something like this.

Chief, I agrre with you about Ozito. I bought a plunge router the other day and its seriously astonishing what you get for your 80bucks. Although to counter that I've had a black and decker powerdrill for 30years and its still going strong. As long as the tools are sufficiently accurate then i'll live with the limited longevity. I've looked into the Mens Sheds/Woodworking club, its a bit quiet around here as far as I can tell, but theres some options not too far away.
The organoil sounds interesting too, its on my list to look at and Redgun, hmmm... very nice looking, thats a good option. I'm not wedded to any particular wood so thats on the list now.

LGS, Burnished Oil sounds good and I'd never thought of Blackwood (or even.. ahem.. knew it existed). I like the coffee table and very much the Blackwood Table. Great pics.

Chesand, I'm in Sunbury north of the Airport, so Cambellfield is close, and yeah cutting and dressing is the issue. getting an accurate fit on the longsides of two or more planks is one of the things I'm aware will be a major issue with my limited ability and tools. So I'm prepared to pay for that to be done for me.

CMB, its a very good point on the second hander, I've trolled ebay and looked at a few with that in mind. However I know what I like, and I like learnign things the hard way. I am however going to test some of the trickier build elements, and to that point I've actually got several cheap planks that I'm going to do test work on, so that I know whats what when it comes to that part of the build. Your suggestion is probably smarther though.

Thanks Rez, I'll send you an email, I just need to check some numbers re sizing, I'm not desperate to get anything asap as it took me several days of reading and watchign youtube before I did my first test routing, so if you're busy thats fine.

thanks all, any further ideas or suggestions gratefully received

paulh

Agree with CBM or modify a second hand one. It could even be a dining table and reduce the legs and size if it is too big.


Dave

The Turning Cowboy

There is another timber that might fit the bill, red ironbark from the goldfields.

I love working with ironbark - it's relatively cheap and even without any finish you can get it to a beautiful lustre. here's a pic of a recent coffee table top made from ironbark + mountain ash inlay strips. this was what it looked like after its first coat of wipe on varnish. I ended up finishing with 6 coats + a wax buff. gorgeous.

ironbark01.jpg

Nice looking table. So many choices..hmm..