I'VE FOUND RECYCLED TIMBER! NOW WHAT?
October 2021
De-nailing big 325x75mm section joists from a 100 year old warehouse
Knowing if recycled timber is ‘good’ is a fine art and takes a bit of practice (we’ve had a lot of it!) Perhaps you’ve come across some timber during your renovations and are now wondering if it’s reusable and worth keeping?
We wanted to share with you our tips and tricks to help you make the right decision. If you’re ever not sure about the quality or species of your found timber, just give us a call and we’ll always be happy to help.
First thing to know is that the best recycled timber is usually from the internal structure of houses or buildings.
Outside timbers are at a high moisture content and won’t be any good for making furniture without drying and seasoning. They may also contain dirt and rocks which damage woodworking machines (this is especially a problem with railway sleepers!).
If you want to saw old logs or trees into boards, we can point you in the right direction - we don’t have the right machinery ourselves. However, remember that boards sawn from logs will take many years of seasoning before they can be used. Even old logs that have been felled for a long time will still be at a high moisture content internally - they don’t really start drying out until they are sawn into thinner boards.
External timbers and large posts are usually at too high a moisture content for furniture making.
Keep the following in mind before you bring your timber to us:
If at all possible store timber undercover and keep it as dry as you can
You can de-nail timbers yourself to save cost - our team will always metal detect timber that's brought into us just to double check because hitting a nail on a machine can be costly.
If you buy slabs from small sawmillers the moisture content will need to be tested before we machine them or make furniture from them. Anything from down the coast will be at a much higher moisture content than timber needs to be for use in Canberra as here our average humidity is very low.
Treated and painted timbers are not suitable for dressing. If you remove paint before bringing timber in, then we can machine it.
Javier on the circular saw docking split ends
If you have some old timber and want to have us dress it up for you, make it into furniture or make something totally unique, then please get in touch!
Photo credits: Rohan Thomson