Breaker antiques can be a useful source of hardwood timber, but it's mainly relevant for more experienced makers. There are a few problems,
- it often takes quite advanced techniques and machinery, plus a lot of effort, to turn antiques into usable boards of timber
- a large antique only yields surprisingly small amounts of usable timber
- you're limited to finding projects that fit your timber, instead of finding timber that fits your project
If you're just starting out there's a lot to be said for learning the basics with softwoods, and only then progressing to hardwoods. I appreciate that buying hardwoods is a significant barrier for many aspiring furniture makers, but if you're going to make progress then cross it you must.
Provided you set about things sensibly it shouldn't be too daunting. Take for example an item like this,
After a year or two of structured learning a piece like this should be within the abilities of most amateur woodworkers. It requires about one cubic foot of a hardwood like American Cherry, which will cost you about £60. In reality you'd want a bit more to be safe, so let's say it represents about £100 in materials. Depending on how sophisticated you make the drawer it'll probably take a hobbyist woodworker anywhere from 40 to 100 hours to make. Put it another way, if you make a pair of these it'll cost you under £200 in materials and probably occupy your spare time for the best part of a year. As hobbies go I'd argue that's a pretty good return, but it all hinges on cracking that problem of sourcing hardwood timber.
Good luck!
