Thread: Greetings from suburban Sydney :-D

Hi everyone. Long time lurker; first time poster.

My dad handcrafted furniture for decades, starting in 1955 and retired in 1989. His life story is far more interesting than mine (thus far anyway!), beginning in 1928 and ending just one month ago. RIP Dad.

Aaaaanywayyy he discouraged me from getting into the business back in the '80s as he foresaw the demise of expensive handmade, locally produced furniture with the increase of cheap imports, IKEA and laminated particle board. He was probably correct to an extent; however he did shut shop before the advent of the Internet and marvels of effective marketing reaching a broad audience with great ease.

So, here I am getting interested in some woodwork as a hobby and in order to justify filling the double garage with tools and machinery, I even have the missus and kids interested in giving me ideas to sell, such as the usual suspects: kitchen boards and jewelry boxes. My son (15) and I have even been turning some pens as gifts for friends, which have gone down really well.

Sadly, Dad sold off all his equipment years ago. So I didn't inherit his big 3-phase SCM machines etc. So I'm gradually building up a collection of gear to have a well-equipped workshop. Nobody warned me about about just how addictive that can be! Mmmmm...tools

That's the short version for the intro page. I am always on the hunt for reclaimed timbers to put to good use. I'm located on the North side of Sydney, so if anyone can point me toward any good sources of hardwood: I'm all ears!

Cheers,
Ben