Thread: Blackwood Credenza

I would go the Victorian because it can be more interesting. Specially if the piece is for Myself.
Ive used both. Sometimes in the same piece.
The Tasmanian selected stuff can be a bit plain and straight .
If you could be in a timber yard in Tasmania then Id sure you would have a fantastic choice and there would be some special stuff to choose yourself.
But if its just selected stuff sent over then its going to be plain straight grained nice wood, Probably .
The Victorian stuff I used was a fair bit wilder. It came from salvaged trees off a farm .
You can see in this, the solid fronts are all Victorian wood . The back and sides is veneer on ply . Veneer from Tasmania.

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Some of the more figured Victorian Solid stuff for the panels below.

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When building this I was choosing from 150 / 200 x 50mm and 125x 125 square . Lots of bark inclusions and occasional knots to avoid.
Having to much wood and being able to select out what I needed was a good thing .

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I used some of he plain straight stuff from Tasmania in a coffee table that I kept for home . Its very nice . It improved with age as well . As both types would do .

If you go with the Victorian stuff though you would be wanting thicker for door frames rather than what looks like the 25mm thickness in that picture wouldn't you ?



Rob .

Thanks Rob. That's super helpful.

For this piece, I actually don't mind having some quieter, straighter grain for the main cabinet. I can pick some moderately figured or interesting pieces for the drawer fronts. I like a good bit of figure as much as the next person, but often I want to be a little restrained, because it can get wild and over the top really easy. Especially on a larger piece like this. I'm probably more interested in consistent tone. I'll finish this with semi-matt precat, or Osmo.

If you go with the Victorian stuff though you would be wanting thicker for door frames rather than what looks like the 25mm thickness in that picture wouldn't you ?

I'm planning to build with 25mm RS boards, which will mill down to about 20 finished thickness. This is the same as Chris Gochnour's piece (3/4" for cabinet and doors). The doors are sliders, so I'm not worried about those needing to be super beefy. At first I considered using 38mm boards (32mm dressed), but I'm to break that initial tendency to go 'big and chunky'. I want to achieve a modest yet refined feel on the finished piece.

I'm really on the fence with this.
The advantage of the Vic stuff, is that I can go and pick through the stack. I'm sure they'll let me scrape a few bits to get a sense of colour too. Maybe I should do the extra work, and go pick board by board...

Not being from around your parts I don't know the woods but I agree with your inclination to use calmer wood figure for the case. Could you get a bit from both sources? Some for the case and then go select some special boards for the panels and drawer fronts? Those can be much thinner anyway.

And I'd vote for picking boards yourself. That is part of the fun!

Yep. I managed to finally track down a source that I've been chasing for a while. He's a sawyer who mills local salvaged blackwood a few hours out of the city, and I know he supplies a few well known local furniture makers who've done stunning pieces. He's got what sounds like some perfect timber for this project. Good thickness, air dried for 2-3 years, locally sourced, and grain that is overall fairly restrained and quiet, while at the same time having some interesting-but-not-too-crazy feature. Sells in larger pieces and slabs, but that suits me fine. I'll either get enough to make the whole project, or I'll supplement with some more plain stock for non visible parts like dividers and underside of case.

It's not very easy to source great blackwood, so I'm well pleased to be able to check this out!

Originally Posted by rogerwilco

Yep. I managed to finally track down a source that I've been chasing for a while. He's a sawyer who mills local salvaged blackwood a few hours out of the city,

OK, spill the beans .

I am always on the lookout for good sources of timber, especially if local. You can PM me if you like.

George

I didn't even know you could get reclaimed Victorian blackwood. Are there any suburban sources in Melbourne for it?

It will be interesting to see how your sideboard comes together. I look forward to the WIP.

Lyndon

Originally Posted by BEM

I didn't even know you could get reclaimed Victorian blackwood. Are there any suburban sources in Melbourne for it?

It will be interesting to see how your sideboard comes together. I look forward to the WIP.

Lyndon

check out Ceres Fair Wood in Preston. The Blackwood they stock is reclaimed. I didn’t get right into the details, but my basic understanding is that this wood is sourced from private properties, and is typically milled from fallen/dead trees, or trees they are being removed for some other agricultural reason. So, it’s not a particularly consistent source, and each batch is quite unique.

Wow. Thanks for the link rogerwilco. I've heard of and visited the Ceres farm but didn't know about their wood business. They have some interesting wood species on their list.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by BEM

Wow. Thanks for the link rogerwilco. I've heard of and visited the Ceres farm but didn't know about their wood business. They have some interesting wood species on their list.

Cheers.

I can highly recommend going down to check them out. Really nice folks, and they're passionate about their product. Lots and lots of lovely stuff down there, and very reasonably priced I reckon.

Had a lot of fun today. I got to spend a couple of hours sorting through 3 packs of air dried blackwood sourced from Victoria, and hauled these beauties home.
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This is the best Blackwood I've seen, and it was a real privilege to be able select each board for a particular purpose. This wasn't about cherry-picking the best looking boards... It was more about planning the build. Those 6 boards on right for example, those are 3m long, which is long enough to make the main cabinet/case with waterfall grain on top and both sides. I also got a really nice 500 wide board, flat sawn from close to the heart, with some nice cathedral grain pattern. That'll be perfect for nice grain matched drawer fronts. Also some good bits of quarter sawn straight grained stuff, for the legs, stand, and the rail and stiles for the sliding doors as well. And of course, a couple extra boards for good measure. I gotta say, sometimes I feel like I over plan in the design stage. Not this time. It would have been very, very difficult to select the right boards without having a sketch and a component list today!

Happy days!

Put these 3m long boards over the planer, and through the thicknesses today.
Holy Moly. Absolutely beautiful stuff. This book matched pair will become the top and side of the main case, with waterfall mitres. Hopefully I can nail the joinery, and do this beautiful wood justice.

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That's beautiful timber. Did you use roller supports to assist with milling the 3m boards?

No, but we did it on a 24” Oliver jointer that had solid beds the size of an aircraft carrier. I’m gonna guess about 1.4m on indeed and out feed. We had it set to a heavy cut, probably 1.5-2mm, and a two person job. On person pushing down at the cutter head, the other feeding the board and collecting on outfeed side.

Then it went through a big 24” SCM thicknesser. Both machines are old, but absolute monsters!

Originally Posted by rogerwilco

Here's my current project. I'll track the progress in this thread.

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Here's a concept drawing. It's based on Chris Gochnour's excellent oak sideboard from FWW No. 277.
One side will have a paper file storage. The other side a shelf on adjustable pins. 3 central drawers.
It will go in a home office.

I'm gonna make a few more revisions. I think it's a bit heavy and big looking. 1600w x 600h x 450d finished dimensions. I will reduce the carcase height a little bit taking minimum height for file storage drawer as reference. Shorten the overall width, probably closer to 1400. And, extend the legs a little bit maintaining 600 height.

First though, I've gotta buy the timber! I have two sources.
200 x 25 Select Grade, Rough Sawn, Kiln Dried PEFC Tasmanian Blackwood, OR
Varied width (140-220) Reclaimed Victorian Blackwood, ungraded, Rough Sawn, Air Dried.

The Tas stuff is forested. The Vic stuff is milled from salvaged trees on private properties. They're both about the same price.

Here's what I'm dealing with if I go with the Victorian Salvaged Blackwood.
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I feel like the Victorian stuff has a good story, it's sustainable, and is probably more interesting. But it will definitely be harder to work with, because of varied sizes and variability in the grade.
So I'm inclined to go for the Tassie stuff. Although it's a pack lot, so could be a mixed bag in terms of colour. None the less, tend to trust SEL grade from a major supplier is going be fairly consistent.

What would you choose?!

I think that Blackwood for the carcase would look great. Personally, I would not have a light wood for the panels in the doors (as in the drawing) at this feels jarring - too busy. Also, move away from the squareness of these panels - add a central divider.

I use Tassie Oak for drawer sides as it is quarter sawn and plain. This gives a nice contrast to dark drawer fronts.

Regards from Perth

Derek