Thread: tasmanian oak

It's all a name for hard wood. It's the same stuff. Now get him off your leg

Tas Oak is a generic marketing name for mixed SE Hardwoods.
Vic Ash can be part of Tas Oak, but tas oak is not Vic Ash

Greg

The three main species marketed under the guise of Tasmanian Oak are

Mountain Ash - E. Regans
Messmate Stringybark - E. Obliqua
Alpine Ash - E. Delegatensis

They have similar charteristics and are grouped together much in the same way as the imported timber Meranti which comprises a huge number of species.

Regards

Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Greg

The three main species marketed under the guise of Tasmanian Oak are

Mountain Ash - E. Regans
Messmate Stringybark - E. Obliqua
Alpine Ash - E. Delegatensis

They have similar charteristics and are grouped together much in the same way as the imported timber Meranti which comprises a huge number of species.

Regards

Paul

- Does this mean one would expect to see them sold at similar prices ... eg how much ?

I saw some "Tas Oak " in Magnet Mart yesterday and prices seemed a lot higher than Shiver me timbers have on their price list for Messmate.

What is this timber like to work with - I am looking at building hall table - wondering how it will finish up (though guess that depends what I put on it !)


Thanks
Albert

aabb

I try not to buy any timber from magnet mart or bunnings if I can avoid it.

Go down to Thor's hammer in yarralumla brickworks or to monaro timber in fyshwisk if you need timber.

Thor's work with recycled timber - you can get some great pieces. I bought enough recycled aust mahogany (e resinofera) for a hallway table for less than $50 a few weeks ago. Nice grain, and comes up beautiful when sanded down to 600.

Tassie oak is good to work with - the colour can be a bit bland though. It takes finsih well and is an all round good timber for furniture. I've made stuff from it before.

Trav

Thanks Trav,

Thank you for advise. I have tried to get to thor's before but couple of times I went they were closed (prob weekend / hold etc - cant remember) - may go down for look tomorrow. I have been to Monaro.

I am very much novice so basically have little knowledge of timber -- just finished garden seat in Jarrah and want to use something lighter than that for inside pieces.. more to follow hopefully - starting with hall table.

Basically need to use something readily available and reasonably priced..
How did mahogony u used end up looking and how eay to work with / finish ?

Thanks
albert

he pulling my leg

At least he is not pulling any other part of your anatomy.

AABB

I have some Vic Ash in 125mm X 38mm KD sawn left over from a job. This is e.regnans and e.delicatensis, two of the species out of Tas Oak. You should be able to machine this to 32mm thick

There's quite a bit there but make me an offer on the lot if you want.

Cheers

Thor's is only open weekdays but it is well worth a look.

The mahogany is pretty good to work with - it machines well and sands easily. I haven't tried to finish it yet so I don't know how it will take oil etc, but I can't see too many problems. Hopefully the finish will be good - I'll post a pic when it's done.

Good luck

Trav

Thanks slabman for info - not set up for machining ... need to get timber closer to sizes needed at this stage (including some wider than 125 - dont really want to join other than for top). What sorta money you after (per/lm) - I really only want amount necessary for hall table i'm planning at present.

Trav - thanks for lead on Thor's -went down there this morning and was very impressed -some nice stuff there.. there are a few options now in addition to T/Oak incl Aust Mahogony though size choice not great in ligher colours of latter. From cost you quoted I take it that you are not planning drawers and overall size may be smaller than I have in mind at present - (approx 1.5m * 1m * 0.5m)-very rough calc on my plan would be more than what you paid.

Guy I spoke to there was really helpful and I expect to be returning with dosh very soon.

Did you see my pm?

Regards
Albert

Glogally the word ASH has a bad reputation hence the prefered name oak (good rep).

Vic ash -*****
Tassie oak- durable timber.
It's all to do with marketing.
They are one in the same.
PS: Lots of Tassie oak being sold in Europe , Asia and anywhere else you find a country locking up it's timber resource such as Oregon in the USA.

Well said ribot.
(I also particularly liked Glogally!)

Originally Posted by ribot

Glogally the word ASH has a bad reputation hence the prefered name oak (good rep).

Vic ash -*****
Tassie oak- durable timber.
It's all to do with marketing.
They are one in the same.
PS: Lots of Tassie oak being sold in Europe , Asia and anywhere else you find a country locking up it's timber resource such as Oregon in the USA.

I was going to keep out of this BUT they are not one and the same.

Tassie Oak (the real stuff) has a very close fine grain. It is pink to very dark tan in colour and machines beautifully. Generally has no cell collapse. It is also relatively heavy and dense.

Mountain Ash is very open grained. It is almost white to tan and can be a real mongrel to machine with tearout quite common. It has some cell collapse but this could be caused by bad drying techniques. It is lighter in weight and a little softer than Tassie Oak.

Originally Posted by aabb

Thanks slabman for info - not set up for machining ... need to get timber closer to sizes needed at this stage (including some wider than 125 - dont really want to join other than for top). What sorta money you after (per/lm) - I really only want amount necessary for hall table i'm planning at present.

Trav - thanks for lead on Thor's -went down there this morning and was very impressed -some nice stuff there.. there are a few options now in addition to T/Oak incl Aust Mahogony though size choice not great in ligher colours of latter. From cost you quoted I take it that you are not planning drawers and overall size may be smaller than I have in mind at present - (approx 1.5m * 1m * 0.5m)-very rough calc on my plan would be more than what you paid.

Guy I spoke to there was really helpful and I expect to be returning with dosh very soon.

Did you see my pm?

Regards
Albert

Albert.

In furniture making particularly bench tops you should never go wider than 150mm in board size as you may get into trouble with bowing, twisting etc.

Ever wondered why a lot of bench tops are laminated from 25mm boards? This is one reason. There are others involving value adding but I won't go there.

If you have the inability to join them I am sure that some forum member will be only too happy to help if you ask.