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Thread: Purple Gidgee

  1. #1
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    Default Purple Gidgee

    Hi Folks,

    I have several questions regarding a chair that I would like to have built. At the moment, I have 14 small, debarked logs of Purple Gidgee. The largest is 20cm in diameter and 86cm in length. The longest is 120 cm. The smallest is 11cm in diameter. In total, they weigh 326 kg. They were imported to Minnesota around 2003 and sold by Forest Products Supply in Minneapolis (I bought all of those that remained). There is a good chance that when the logs are opened up, I will not have enough clean timber to make the entire chair out of the 14 logs. That leads to my two questions:

    1) Is there any more Purple Gidgee (A. crombiei) out there that anyone wants to sell? By the way, I believe his name was John Crombie from the Longreach area.

    2) If I must bring in a second timber species, (must weigh at least 1200 kg/m^3) what would look best and be something that I could actually buy?? I wanted this to be an exclusively "Australian" chair. My default choice is Gidgee (A. cambagei). Part of me thinks that the only color that really would work is dark black.

    Any thoughts? Thanks.

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  3. #2
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    Default

    Theres plenty of Gidgee around Runge

  4. #3
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    Default

    Yeah but purple gidgee aint silver gidgee or black gidgee.... its a little harder to get hold of.

    Look if no-one else can help with dry timber I got a couple mates own properties in its range. I can ask.... and my bet is I'll find... but getting out to get it might take a while, and then you'd be looking at seasoning time etc etc. But its an option if no better idea comes up.

  5. #4
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    Hi John.G,

    Thanks for the response. My interest would be in trees that were cut down quite a while ago. There are only 20,000 living Purple Gidgee trees and I don't want to see any live ones getting whacked because of me. If any of your mates have any older logs, I'd be very interested in them. Thanks again.

  6. #5
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    I might have some Runge, both A. cambagei (I think, sold a lot not s long ago), plus other heavy dark ones - WA Snakewood (A. xiphophylla) and Vine Tree (Ventilago viminalis) in varying sizes. Mind you I'll not be back home till late Feb next year anyway.

    Problem is also weights and what sizes are you after? You know what the postages are like from Aus to the US, just 2 logs could be (guessing) ~$1000 alone. Makes an expensive chair


    Neil
    ____________________________________________
    Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new

  7. #6
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    Default

    Neil is right re export prices for larger sizes quantities and the prep these require eg cutting from logs.
    Its the considerable time & inconvenience as well as costs for both exporter & importer that the hurdle.
    As mentioned I have some (logs & billets and squares) and its dry, all around 20yrs old. Its now hard to get for us southerners unless you have contacts. And you sure have tried .. and tried and tried so I admire your persistence. But I would rather handle wood from home in small quantiies and sizes ...

    So you know here are some recent pics.... to prove its still around.

    PS: (edit) Why not change the style & size of the chair to match the milled quantity of wood you already have as logs. Include some sapwood. "Cut the suit to match the cloth"?
    That I believe is the best solution and is my advice to you as a friend.

    PG-1.jpgPG2.jpegPG-3.jpgPG-4.jpg



    PG-A.jpgPG-B.jpeg

  8. #7
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    Hi dai sensei and Euge,

    Thanks for the thoughts. I tried to upload a picture of 9 (of 14) logs that I own. (6000 pounds of S. brasiliensis to the left - flooring and lumber)

    Here's the chair that I am trying to have built.That chair seats one. The three-seater version of it is here. There is also a double and a sesqui (=1.5). I'd like to have an ottoman with the chair. I can't decide whether to build a chair that seats 1, 1.5 or 2 people. Most probably, it'll be a combination of A. crombiei and A. cambagei.

    I am almost at the point of arranging a shipment of AU timber but that is going to be a NIGHTMARE. I need to:


    • Buy up lots of timber from lots of different people and hope that I picked a good time to ask people given their current stocks. I have a big list of people to call for this part. Probably bigger than my wallet.
    • Aggregate those pieces somewhere in AU with someone who is:
      • Willing to help with the shipping process and see it through some bumpy times
      • Has the appropriate export documentation for all of the species

    • Identify a shipper for what would likely be a LCL (Less-than-a-container-Load) travel by ship.
    • Find boat-loads of money to pay for all of this. This is something you do ONCE!!


    Does anyone have any suggestions on an aggregator?? Does anyone know of a person who has exported a nontrivial amount (but much less than a container-load) of timber to the US?

    I'm not sure how to pull off this stunt ...
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #8
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    first off, you need to know how much lumber you need to make the chair you finally decide on. (No point in buying additional logs and shipping them if you already have enough timber on hand.)
    Perhaps have what you have milled into boards so you have a more accurate estimation of what you have / will need.

    I strongly doubt that what you have will be wide enough for many of that chair's components. This will mean joining boards and/or accepting sap wood (or even the pith) in your wider components.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Runge View Post
    Does anyone have any suggestions on an aggregator?? Does anyone know of a person who has exported a nontrivial amount (but much less than a container-load) of timber to the US?
    suggest you contact John G.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  11. #10
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    Didn’t Luke Maddux ship a load of timber to the USA? Maybe he would have knowledge of the shipment costs and who to use as the freight company.

    Just A thought

  12. #11
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    Luke shipped a whole -- I'm not sure it was full -- container, which is different to a LCL shipment.
    LCL means using a freight forwarder who will combine you load with another to make up a full container.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  13. #12
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    Hi ian and Lappa,

    Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

    As soon as schedule permits, the builder of said chair will dig into the logs to see what he finds. Even if I try to have a single-seat chair made, I still don’t think I have enough A. crombiei. Since I am living in small-log-land, the pith will inevitably be contained within the legs of the chair. Joining boards is certainly “on the table.”

    I keep coming back to this idea: What good are Purple Gidgee logs if you can’t make anything signfiicant from them? I doubt many people even have 14 log-ettes to entertain this question. I can’t squander these logs (this opportunity) on lots of pen blanks or IWCS samples.

    Further out, I hope I can someday have another furniture piece built using Aussie timbers. Here are two amazing pieces using Gidgee and Cooktown Ironwood. I doubt I’ll have anything as nice as these pieces:

    Brian Berger Handcrafted Furniture - Fine Craftsman In Handcrafted Custom Made Furniture
    https://www.willmarx.com.au/product/figured-sapelle-cooktown-ironwood-ebony-cabinet/



  14. #13
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    I was thinking document boxes, rather than pen blanks -- and Terry Gordon builds some of his planes from Gidgee.

    Sawn veneer is another option.
    At least two of your logs appear to have significant crotch -- which could be spectacular as a veneer.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  15. #14
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    Hi John. G I am also looking for purple gidee, if you or your friends come a cross any than I am definatly interested

  16. #15
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    Hi Runge,
    I am interested to see how you got on importing Aus wood into the U.S.
    I am trying to export.
    Shoot me an email to [email protected] if you would like to discuss.
    Cheers

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