wood needed

[mark2191]

hi everyone, new to the forum and to woodworking in general, I am wanting to start making custom tables and chairs and benches from home but I am struggling to find the right wood, can anyone recommend a supplier that is not going to rip me off in the west Yorkshire area? cheers

 

[marcros]

what wood are you looking for?

 

[mark2191]

well any wood really marcros and as much as possible as I know I will make mistakes and wood that is suitable for making furniture that will be outside, not sure exactly what type would be best?

 

[marcros]

I think that you need to have a think about what you want and in what quantity first- as much as possible could mean a couple of boards or a lorry load.

There are a few suppliers around here, but to be honest I dont think that there are that many good ones. I havent found a decent sawmill around here yet, which is a shame.

Arnold Laver have a reasonable range of kiln dried stuff, but I find them expensive, and I have not always been impressed with the quality on some stuff I have bought. British Hardwoods are worth a look- good stuff and fairly priced for it, although not cheap by any means.

For outdoor stuff, you may want to look at air dried oak, rather than paying a premium for kiln dried, only for it to go into a wet environment. You could also use a few others, such as Iroko, Larch, Western Red Cedar or something less durable and treat/protect it.

The best place that I have found overall, and it is a trek away, is Stuart Somerscales at Immingham. It was very cheap, they dont mind you taking your time to select boards, and it justified the cost of fuel to bring back a car full of boards.

 

[mark2191]

do you know roughly how much for a car load mate?

 

[marcros]

I cant really answer that- it depends what you fill it with and how big the car is.

I seem to remember bringing back around a couple of hundred quids worth, but got some american ash, elm, pippy oak, cherry, sycamore maybe some more. Some wide, long boards, some narrower. Most were cut in half length ways to get them in. I havent found the time to go back in the last 12 months- the downside of the location.

Price aside (whilst i remember it was cheap), I just remember that they were very helpful, and had a good range of both air and kilned timber- particularly oak and pippy oak, which I wanted at the time.

 

[riclepp]

Hi Mark

Again, that would depend on the size of your car boot/saloon and the type of timber you want. As Macros has said, work out the size of the items you want to build, then work out the combined cubic feet and add at least 30%. Then work out the size of your boot and go from there. I think it would be very difficult for someone to give a price for a "car load".

If you can work out you quantity, see if you can find their details of the supplier and give them a bell and discuss and then you can get a ball park figure for what timbers you want.

 

[riclepp]

pipper Marc got in first - lol

 

[mark2191]

cheers guys, looks like I will be making a trip to Lincolnshire in a couple of weeks then

 

[marcros]

To be brutally honest, I would start with less grand ideas. You say that you are a beginner- which is fine, we all are in the beginning. The forum is great for support, questions and ideas.

When you then mention custom tables, chairs and benches it sounds rather like you are planning to sell them from the offset. Which goes against being new to woodworking.

I would start with some simple projects. Chairs are not simple, let alone custom chairs. Tables are not too bad and an outdoor bench is a possibility, but you are going to need a reasonable amount of wood to make a bench or table. Fine if you are happy with that. By "not too bad", I dont mean easy- the joints need to be pretty good or they will disintegrate with a little use if sloppy.

Do you have any equipment/tools/workspace? Do you have a bench to build things on? If not, that would be my first project- it need not be flash, and can be built cheaply. It is excellent practice, and I can guarantee that your first table will be better if you practice by building the bench first, rather than making the bench having practiced on the table. If you dont have a workspace, and it will be a good old workmate, outside on good days, then so be it- people still make some great stuff.

have you seen something like http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... CDwQ9QEwBA

It is (can be) made from pallet wood (would need painting or treating), scaffold boards (ditto), so would be cheap. It could also be made from any other durable timber, suited for outside, so gives you some design options. There will be plans available online somewhere free of charge.

Just remember that whether you use finest ebony or cheap pallet wood, a saw cut in the wrong place still could ruin the board, so learn on the cheap stuff!

Do you have the means of planing/thicknessing sawn timber? Having to buy planed is one option, but can be an expensive one and will restrict your buying options. (It may work out cheaper than buying the equipment to do it if you don't do a lot).

I am not far from you- just up in Kirkstall- Horsforth end of Kirkstall.

 

[marcros]

cheers guys, looks like I will be making a trip to Lincolnshire in a couple of weeks then

Give them a ring first- just to check times etc. They have a break at a set time, and it was about 30 mins after I arrived. I was warned about this, so it was fair enough- I was left with a pack of something to look through for 20 minutes whilst they had their brew. You don't need to make a formal appointment (you actually do have to at some yards!).

Another thought- this weekend there is a big show on at Harrogate. British Hardwoods (I believe) normally have some sale stock there, which may suit you. Other places may also. I do rate the BH stock though- i had very little wastage when I bought some, unlike Lavers where i felt a bit short changed for what I paid.

 

[mark2191]

when I said custom mate, they would be for my garden not to sell, I do have a very large cellar with work benches I have just put up, (old kitchen work tops that I got for free) I also have my tools too so I can plane, cut, shape any wood that I need to, thank you for the advice mate, I will start by doing the bench first then go on from there, not sure about the show this weekend as I am going to York at some point to see the inlaws but thanks for the heads up mate

 

[marcros]

fair enough. Good luck with it all.

 

[MARK.B.]

There is a timber merchant somewhere close to Thirsk which is not far from York but i'am buggered if i can remember the name or exact location, i do remember they were on ebay selling loads of oak. They may be good or they may be rubbish but it may be worth googling as you are in that area anyway.

 

[mark2191]

its called scawton sawmill mark.b, may have a trip up there as got family in York

 

[MARK.B.]

Ok thanks for the name, if you do go please let me know if it was worth the trip .

 

[JustBen]

Britishhardwoods.co.uk is based in Keighley which isn't too far from you.

I've used them before and find them very helpful.

The prices are good and the timber is a lot dryer than most places.