That wandoo timber is EXTREMELY hardy outdoors, i used to work on rail and wandoo sleepers are always talked about with a sense of awe. When we replace them they are usually 50+ years old sitting in damp ground, they've rotted into something like a mesh/honeycomb of fibre sections and when the hydraulic machinery tries to pull the dogspikes there's a 50-50 chance of pulling the spike out of the sleeper or the sleeper pulling the machine off the tracks.
Messmate Stringybark, Brown-top Stringybark, Australian Oak, Tasmanian Oak, Victorian Messmate. These are the terms to describe ‘Messmate’ . I’m not sure whether you can in include iron bark in there. One other beautiful timber that I have used a lot of recently is red iron bark. It’s comparable to jarrah and red gum in appearance but only in my opinion. I made a bed for my grandson out of it. I have used it extensively in some of my building contract work for decking and posts. It is very stable off the tree. A timber that is comparable but more durable not mentioned is tallowed in my experience it is superior to spotted gum for durability. Essential energy used it as cross arm for their transmission pole cross arms until recently but the forest where they took it from, Dorrigo, has been restricted because there is not much left. They use fibreglass cross arms now . I applaud your use of some of those recycled timber’s. You can really get some beautiful grains in that old growth timber. Subscribed!
Hi Steve. Let me add before a whole heap of Yanks start ordering Tassie Oak. Victorian ash plus some other timbers were clumped together and marketed as Tasmanian Oak. Unlike American oak, they are not particularly durable or strong and termites love the stuff. This timber is used for termite monitoring bait station. (centricon termite system) I am a floor sander who has dealt with "Tassie Oak" on numerous occasions. There is a long list of Aussie timbers that are far superior to Tassie Oak. Spotted gum, Brush box, Iron Bark red and grey, Jarah, Blackbutt, Blue Gum, Turpentine, Kari, Grey gum, the list goes on. It's a clever marketing tool for a timber that should only be used for furniture where it's softness and termite problems won't be an issue and it's ease of use in gluing is a bonus. Cheers Ya'll.
Yes I use all those timbers you mentioned, jarrah is one of the nicest timbers to work with I find, spotted gum is very waxy and works well but a bugger with gluing as a result of the wax. Have to fresh cut, wipe with acetone then glue. I always join it with dominoes or dowels mechanically as it is prone to movement.
@@sicdsteve1 I have made furniture out of Tallowwood. Probably worse for gluing. I obtained some glue out of the states designed for Oak, that apparently has the same issues. It was a two part epoxy that was designed to dissolve the resins in oak. It worked pretty well on Tallowwood. I was also wiping the joints with metho before gluing. Bathroom vanity was made 15 years ago out of Tallowwood using this glue and It has no signs of problems. Cheers. PS. Yes, it was a pain in the ass. I had Tallowwood left over from an outside construction project that I used in the bathroom because of it's durability. The wife loved it so much I'm stuck making everything out of bloody Tallowwood.
Yes mate there are other countries out there in the wide world !....I was astounded that most Americans don't realise Australia is the same size as the USA, you 350 million we have 27million, lots more room to swing a cat here! But we have bushfires too ....big time.
Yes mate we get some but that is huge, I renovated my sons 1940’s house in Melbourne and found the kitchen tops were 450 mm x 25 mm sugar pine under the laminex!!!! I cleaned it up and we all use that for rolling pizza out on, wow 1 piece 450 wide we don’t set that anymore
Would be good to see you show off some Marri and Sheoak as well. Nice video and some great projects you have there mate. I will have to check some of your other stuff
Thanks for this video. I love timber. We have some native cypress growing around here and I’m wondering if you can shed some light on the difference between black cypress and white cypress. I have a feeling we have both.
the 1 major problem with Jarrah, it was great for everything. From canals and boats in Holland to the roofing and framing for almost every west australian house built before 1980. If you don't mind de-nailing and burning through saw blades you can find it all over perth. Like all our good timbers they also just happened to be concentrated in the prime agricultural region which also furthered their demise.
@@sicdsteve1 not tried messmate, but I chop through meters of Jarrah and I always feel like I am chopping butter with everything else. Loved that hydro sassafras you had. I saw a tasmanian company advertising that reclaimed wood. Are they still doing it? Seems a socially responsible way to get awesome wood. Thanks for your video
about to make a couple of medal boxes out of Jarrah. How does it play with hand tools i.e planes and chisels. I have heard it can have silica in the timber and blunts tools pretty quick. What is your experience. thanks mate
great video I love aussie hard woods and love working with them u call iron bark messmate I have never here iron bark referred to as messmate we have messmate and we have iron bark I may be incorrect but have spent many years working with iron bark timber and never herd it call messmate
Also thought the same, I just fell a messmate down in the snowy mountains for furniture use and I’m under the impression it looked nothing like an ironbark from what I’ve been told anyway hmmm anyone care to explain ? Can take some photos of it if needed
Thanks very informative. I have just purchased a Lucas mill to use on the few trees I have had to cut down on my property for safety and access. I’m not sure of the Latin names for them but here we call them brushbox, tallowood and forest gum ( sometimes referred to as flooded gum. I would imagine they are close to some of the ones you listed there?
I have to agree with you on the saw blades that Festool make. Try cutting along the grain of any Australian hardwood with the TS55 and the blade flexes badly. It's a big problem with our hard woods. So often have to go back to the table saw to get a decent cut. For the money you pay for Festool, they should be able to do the job. Sadly very lacking in this respect.
Sam the Panther blade makes it so much easier, a ripping blade is just that, the blade they give with saw is a basic combo blade, the panther blade cuts through the length on 32mm messmate very easy actually.
Where do you get timbers from to make nice stuff in Brisbane? All the lumber yards in the area just carry pine, murbau (which I dont even know how to pronounce), or kwila
Hi mate, great video 🙂 I'm new to woodworking and was wondering if you have any advice on where to locate lumber in here in AU? Preferably cheaper than Bunnings 😅
Well generally try your local wood yards but you will find for everyday products Bunnings is about as cheap as you get, most wood yards have similar prices. Bunnings has NZ pine wood which is very good quality clear grade virtually no knots, this standard used to be only available from specialist furniture suppliers, but all I can say is shop around. But there is no cheap timber suppliers out there generally. But for anything other than basic timbers which Bunnings really only handles, you need to find specialist wood yards for many Aussie timber’s.
Well that’s a big question actually too difficult to answer. But Tasmanian Oak, Messmate, Jarrah, Tasmanian Blackwood, Red Gum are some of the nicest timbers, forget pine it’s too soft in my opinion, I mainly use reclaimed or recycle timbers for furniture making, it’s the style of your design and look you are after that’s most important.
@@sicdsteve1 Wow! Thanks for the reply Steve. I was not expecting on, yet alone one in such great detail. I have just started getting into woodworking and like some newbie's, I'm a little awe struck and confused on timbers.
@@markinglese3874 Ok Mark then I suggest starting out using vic ash or tassie oak, this is a more common hardwood, works well with tools and stains well, easier to get than the others . I probably use it the most for its lighter colour and strength. However I did say pine was too soft, but it’s cheaper and more forgiving for starting out projects. Bunnings of all places has the nicest pine as it is what is called “clear” grain meaning it has no knot holes of ugly nots line is known for. They source their pine from NZ and it is really clear and straight. I might suggest you try some projects with that first to get used of using machines and tools without ruining. expensive hardwoods, pine is the cheapest of them all.
@@sicdsteve1 Thank you Steve, you have helped me immensely. I have decided to start with pine and get my skills right and move up too our hardwood. I appreciate your advise thanks.
Hey are you interested in making a infra red sauna and Japanese hot tub. We could all follow on line and build it with you . Great for health and longevity lol I live in Kyneton we could use cedar lol what are your thoughts. Great projects to get fit and healthy as we are not get any younger
Messmate is not ironbark ironbark is a darker red than red gum also messmate grows in higher rainfall areas than ironbark and paddlesteamers were made from redgum on site on the murry river
Great my son is autistic and is looking to find some Buloke, Salmon gun, red gum and have been unable to locate in the U.S. .....can you help? Please and Thank You
Try brittontimbers.com.au say you are building a staircase and can they send you some samples. I would happily post some jarrah and red gum to you but would rather not take the risk of exporting invasive species in the timber. They would know all the rules and regulations for doing that.
