Timber Trails Part 2

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Chris Knight

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Timber Trails Part 2

Well the finale also. I made an early start to beat the traffic and left for Norwich at 06:30 this morning which had the desired result and after a coffee at some Little Chef or other ( where I discovered the newspaper is no longer free :cry:) I arrived at North Heigham Sawmills at ) 09:00 - not bad for 130 miles in this day and age.

The yard is not a large one but they do have a nice selection of woods and their racks are second to none with the result that the timber is nicely stacked and easy to sort through (for those racks within reach - many need a tall forklift). There are only a very few people there and unlike West's yesterday, I had to do all my own sorting. However, this was not a problem as the boards were all straight and neat.

They had a good choice of candidate timbers for my tool cabinet project. I looked at English Oak (quarter sawn and T&T), also Cherry, and Elm but in the end I settled on the mahogany that I knew they had (and really why I made the trek up there). It is very nice looking wood and genuine Swietenia Macrophylla. Available in 26mm, 52mm and 63 mm thicknesses ( a little 75mm too). The boards were dry (MC 10% - even after double checking my species corrections, prompted by my disappointments of yesterday) lovely and straight, no cupping or wind.

At the prices £54.6 per cube for the 26mm and £60.90 per cube for the 52mm I reckoned it was a good buy, so following Krenov's philosophy of buying wood when you find some nice stuff - Buy what you need, then buy a little more - I bought a little more and signed a not so little cheque (they don't take credit cards) which included a socking great transport charge (£160) as they use a third party carrier who is presumably based in John O' Groats.

So, in a few days I should be the proud possessor of a stash of mahogany that will be enough for an heirloom tool cabinet plus a few other little projects - as yet to be determined.


If I remember, I am going to try and closely follow this project through to determine the true costs incurred by choosing this wood - keeping close account of wastage etc. Finally comparing the figures with what I reckon I could have got using say British Hardwood PAR stuff or a cheaper less well behaved timber.

As a start, I have entered my cutting list and the board dimensions in Cutlist Plus (great program for you pros out there) and am ready with the yellow pencils for when the boards arrive.
 
Nice one Chris
Don't think you'll be disappointed with the mahogany :wink:
Look fowrard to seeing the w.i.p. pics,
Philly :D
 
Sounds like the drive was worth it, Chris. I'm really looking forward to all the gory details. :D

waterhead37":19em2ykr said:
a socking great transport charge (£160)
Ay caramba :shock:

Cheers, Alf
 
Chris

Good report on both trips, wish I could find the time to travel to various timber yards.

Look forward to seeing the wood in the final project.
 
Steve":hxzrkjqh said:
How are they delivering it? Chauffeur-driven stretch limo?

I think it must be using those mini cabs that I always find myself in at 2 am when I go up to London. :shock: 8) :lol:

Maybe thats what they do during the day? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Tim
 
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