PAR Hardwoods

[dandude]

Hey guys, I'm starting to think about my first major bit of furniture. I'm going to build a copy of a really nice bed that is in my folks house. it looks like made from Douglas Fir but i would really like it in black walnut.

my question is ( and excuse my ignorance ) as I don't have a jointer or thicknesses I would like to get hold of some walnut PAR in 4x2 and 4x1 as i could construct almost the entire bed from this. is it usual to get a hardwood like black walnut in standard sizes ? and is it going to cost me the earth to do so if i can ?

where would i be able to get this sort of stuff ? (I'm based on the south coast near Brighton so SL hardwoods is only 50 mins away...)

thoughts gratefully received !

 

[jasonB]

SLH would certainly run t out for you, it would have to be ordered as they don't keep 2" PAR in stock and most of their 1" would be wider.

You could als try Timberline and Wests

Remember that ABW can have white sapwood in it which you may or maynot find desirable, allow for this when calculating how much waste

Jason

 

[mr]

Bear in mind that ABW is not a cheap timber and as Jason says you need to factor in for sapwood if this bothers you, add to that the cost of having it machined to spec and I suspect you're looking at quite a tidy bill. Are there any members near you that have the necessary kit to do the dimensioning for you?

Cheers Mike

 

[9fingers]

PINGing Stewart in Brighton


Might be able to help?

Bob

 

[wizer]

It might be an idea to weigh up the costs between PAR hardwood (not just for this project but for all th future ones) and a P/T. Also consider that if you order your wood, then change the design slightly, you might have stock of incorrect dimensions. A P/T is probably the one tool that will really pay for itself in both time and money.

If a P/T is too costly, why not consider hand tools? Skill for life and all that.

 

[TheTiddles]

enough planed wood to make a bed is going to cost a fortune, even rough sawn is several hundred. Having recently taken the plunge to buy some decent machinery its an absolute joy to be able to buy a plank of wood for £40 and turn it into exactly what you want, square, flat and smooth. So if you've got the space you will probably break even to buy the machine and extractor on what you would have paid the timber merchant to spend a day doing it for you. Though if you've not got the space you're out of luck...

 

[Slim]

Looking at the British hardwoods web site

1" Rough sawn black walnut is £30.50/cu.ft + VAT

3/4" PAR black walnut is £92/cu.ft + VAT

You could almost pay for a P/T just with this project if you used rough sawn.

 

[dandude]

WiZeR, you might be on to somat !

I think what I may do is get some cheaper softwood and see if i can do what i need to do by hand, i didn't think id find myself thinking that !

then if i need to do it later, at least i will have had the learning curve....

 

[J D Architectural Joinery]

do you have a router table and a table saw, if so with the right jigs you can dress it yourself square. Once you have a flat surface tou can sqyare it with the router by offsetting your fence, just the same as a surface planer but at 90 degrees.

 

[dandude]

Thanks david, i hadn't thought of that either, yes i have a router table and a table saw, will investigate...


I think im going to save up and make my next purchase a planter / thicknesser...