Thread: Huon and sassafrass

Thanks for the tip off!

For all mainlanders reading this it is a very pleasant 300 kilometer return drive from Surges Bay in the Huon to Ross in the middle of Tasmania.

But Reeves, you could have taken a much shorter trip and bought very high quality turning blanks from the tourist outlets in Geeveston for $8 per kilogram (asking $120 for 15kgs ! ), and even cheaper two kilometres up the road at Island Specialty Timbers.

Cheers

Graeme

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

For all mainlanders reading this it is a very pleasant 300 kilometer return drive from Surges Bay in the Huon to Ross in the middle of Tasmania.

But Reeves, you could have taken a much shorter trip and bought very high quality turning dry blanks from the tourist outlets in Geeveston for $8 per kilogram (asking $120 for 15kgs ! ), and even cheaper two kilometres up the road at Island Specialty Timbers.

Cheers

Graeme

hahah yes Graham, i do occasionaly buy timber from the Geeveston timber tyrants, mostly offcuts, believe me the Ross deal is heaps better as the timber is actually dry where the Geevo stuff is mainly green, like dripping wet and hence generally less value if u actually want to make something from it soon or not deal iwth cracks n splits as it drys...also the blocks are bigger for the price in Ross..

was in the Geevo yard a few weeks back and they do have some dry timber in the 'showroom' heavily over priced, like $15 for a 6 inch block of myrtle less than a kilo..their huon is now 9 bucks and there sassy not much less...personally i prefer to collect dry stuff unless i really feel like waiting for it to dry down here..

The Ross deal is easily the best in Tassie i have seen on a regular basis, check it out....if you like dry timber ready to use, i refuse to buy green timber by the kilo and pay for water !!!!!!

No Reeves; the facts do not stack up.

Last week at the Geeveston tourist centre trading as the Forestry and Heritage Centre very high quality (non-birdseye) dry huon pine and heavily pigmented black heart sassafrass was $8 per kilogram. Other species were cheaper, heavily figured - birdseye, tiger,etc, were more expensive.

Plain strait huon pine air dried to 12% at Island Speciality Timbers was $9 per super foot. At a densiity of 520kgs/m3 (Bootles figure) this equates to $4.68 per kilogram. I did not check the offcuts pile.

I stand by my original statement.

Cheers

Graeme

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Last week at the Geeveston tourist centre trading as the Forestry and Heritage Centre

jeez Graham yr not working for them are you ?

cupla years back i spent 300 hrs in there over summer demonstrating woodturing, also tried to help em out through their troubles, to no avail..i know the scene andvspoke to dozens of woodworkers while there...

this post was intended to be friendly and help out hobby woodworkers get a good deal on dry wood, not to put more money into the forestry coffers....best to keep it in the spirit intended Graham, if you have some kind of 'special' interest or bias i think you should reveal it mate..

i have never seen any HP or Sassy, dry at a lower cost via Forestry outlets ever, anywhere in Tassie, always overpriced to extract maximum $$ from tourists...and deal with the triple markups innvolved..

probably better if you actually take a trip and check out more friendly non profit outlets before commenting out of context or misleading the good people here....

regards
john

Thanks for the tip John. Always loved Huon and Sassy. Great to find another good source that will deliver to the mainland.

Cheers,
Af.

Originally Posted by reeves

jeez Graham yr not working for them are you ?

cupla years back i spent 300 hrs in there over summer demonstrating woodturing, also tried to help em out through their troubles, to no avail..i know the scene andvspoke to dozens of woodworkers while there...

this post was intended to be friendly and help out hobby woodworkers get a good deal on dry wood, not to put more money into the forestry coffers....best to keep it in the spirit intended Graham, if you have some kind of 'special' interest or bias i think you should reveal it mate..

i have never seen any HP or Sassy, dry at a lower cost via Forestry outlets ever, anywhere in Tassie, always overpriced to extract maximum $$ from tourists...and deal with the triple markups innvolved..

probably better if you actually take a trip and check out more friendly non profit outlets before commenting out of context or misleading the good people here....

regards
john

Hi John

I have absolutely no connection with any of the timber outlets in Geeveston and have never visited the one you mention at Ross.

It appears that you had some problems with timber quality a few years back: that has not been my recent experience.

I was doing the tourist thing a week ago showing some mainland relatives around - Cockle Creek, Ida Bay, AirWalk, etc and my BIL bought enough Huon pine at IST to put a layer 150mm deep in the back of his Landcruiser SW. The timber was specified as dried to a nominal 12% but the moisture metre tested most in the low 11's.

At their price of $9 per super foot (or $4.68 per kilogram) this is well under half the price that you paid at Ross and it was for metered dry timber. There was no birdseye or other figuring in the pine, which usually attracts hefty premiums.

I know a lot of people have lost respect for Forestry because of their preferential treatment of one company, but sometimes they do get it right. Mostly, their senior executive are not my favourite people, either.

Finally, You and I are in total agreement with the objectives of this forum - to help other forumites and ourselves. I merely highlighted an even better deal than you obtained. Both sources are way better than you could get at B***'s or M10 or Salamanca.

Cheers

Graeme