Thread: Short of cutting into it, any way to know if old furniture is solid, good wood?

Chairs are always solid wood . They are usually not worth taking for just the wood though unless its 200 years old and you make pens . Like a 1840s Brazilian Rosewood chair .

When you see something like that chair and its finish is chipped off in spots showing very light wood it means it'll be a strong light coloured wood like Beech . And its been coloured up to look like Mahogany with a spray gun.

So grab it if you have a need for a chair to sit on.

Old wardrobes are very good for decent solid boards to build things from .

They don't sell for much now and the wood in them would cost big$ if you went to buy it. Red Cedar wardrobes are selling for between $50 and $250 and the wood in them would cost $1000 or more sometimes if you went to buy it new as rough sawn boards.

Solid Tas Myrtle Wardrobes can be had . They can have solid 3/4 solid doors as well as solid sides . Enough wood to make a whole chest of drawers using something else as secondary timbers.

There are also plenty of old Veneered wardrobes around which you have to learn to spot and not touch . Unless you want to make stuff out of that . Sometimes they are Qld Walnut veneer on Plywood . Not of much use though to break up and use .

Originally Posted by auscab

Chairs are always solid wood . They are usually not worth taking for just the wood though unless its 200 years old and you make pens . Like a 1840s Brazilian Rosewood chair .

When you see something like that chair and its finish is chipped off in spots showing very light wood it means it'll be a strong light coloured wood like Beech . And its been coloured up to look like Mahogany with a spray gun.

So grab it if you have a need for a chair to sit on.

Old wardrobes are very good for decent solid boards to build things from .

They don't sell for much now and the wood in them would cost big$ if you went to buy it. Red Cedar wardrobes are selling for between $50 and $250 and the wood in them would cost $1000 or more sometimes if you went to buy it new as rough sawn boards.

Solid Tas Myrtle Wardrobes can be had . They can have solid 3/4 solid doors as well as solid sides . Enough wood to make a whole chest of drawers using something else as secondary timbers.

There are also plenty of old Veneered wardrobes around which you have to learn to spot and not touch . Unless you want to make stuff out of that . Sometimes they are Qld Walnut veneer on Plywood . Not of much use though to break up and use .

Thanks for the detailed reply. Good advice. It's always tempting to grab stuff but I've done that enough already that I need to be choosy as I've run out of room! I'll keep an eye out for some solid cabinets.

Originally Posted by lemerv

Thanks for the detailed reply. Good advice. ....

You acknowledged really good advice from Rob.

I also use recycled timbers, largely because I can get far better timbers for, usually, less cost.

Largish, fairly plain objects usually yield the most usable timber - wardrobes tend to be quite cheap - the bigger ones do not fit into modern houses/apartments, tables and church pews and school bench seats also yield a lot of timber.

Small, decorative items are rarely useful. Especially chairs - unless you are a pen maker!

Anything veneered should usually be avoided, but there are exceptions. In the 1800's it was common to veneer onto solid timber. In Tas you can find red cedar veneered over huon pine.