Frequently Asked Questions
YOUR SLABS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE!
We sometimes hear this from prospective customers comparing our slabs to others that may be available. It can be difficult to compare apples with apples sometimes. Whilst it is easy enough to establish the species and size of a slab it can be very difficult to ascertain WHETHER IT IS PROPERLY DRY.
Ask a professional woodworker or furniture maker what is the most important consideration when buying timber and they will tell you that the timber has to be properly dry. It is financially destructive not to mention completely heartbreaking to put your heart and soul into a project only to have it distort and/or crack after you have finished.
Does timber have to be kiln dried to be properly dry? NO. However kiln drying is the best way to ensure consistent moisture content, AND for the M/C to be low enough to be used in air-conditioned (which is very dry air) or heated homes. Outdoor applications are not so critical.
I have heard that KILN DRYING IS HARSHER on the timber and can create stress within the boards/slabs. IS THIS TRUE?
POSSIBLY. If you take green sawn timber and bung it into a kiln and heat it to anything over 50 degrees or even less sometimes, yes it is going to be stressed (it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that is the crux of it). It is for this reason that much recycled building timber is stressed greatly. Imagine the effect of putting green sawn timber into a roof space on a new home with a tin roof. Ever been climbing around in there in summer? It’s HOT.
It is for this reason that we gently air dry our timber first until less than 20% and then finish it in a kiln.
Air dried timber may never get dry enough for use with inside timber projects - it depends on where it has been dried and for how long. Timber that has been air dried in the wheatbelt for a suitable time period will be nicely dry because the atmospheric conditions in that area are very dry. Timber dried in Pemberton or Cowaramup (for example) will never dry out to a satisfactory moisture level for indoor furniture. The atmosphere simply does not get dry enough for long enough periods of time to get the moisture content down to an acceptable level. The exception to this is thin boards used at the end of summer.
This is why our timber stored in Donnybrook is stored in a heated/insulated shed after it has been dried. If we didn’t do this our lovingly kiln dried timber will be back up to 16-18% by the end of winter.
We regularly re-machine slabs brought to us by people that have purchased timber elsewhere that is not properly dry and it has bowed or buckled. Often two or three times a week. Often we have people bring us rough sawn slabs purchased elsewhere to get machined (which we are more than happy to do). The first thing we do is check the moisture content. Very often it is above what is acceptable. Very often it is not much lower than when the tree was cut down.
Should I feel like a DILL for having purchased not dry timber?
NO. Unless you have a good quality moisture meter (which will cost you several hundred dollars or more) you are simply not going to know if the timber is properly dry.
Should I feel like a dill for NOT KNOWING about correct moisture content in timber?
NO. Unless you are in the game you will not know - which is why I am telling you.
Do not waste your time and money buying a cheap moisture meter. I have never seen one that is accurate to any degree acceptable.
So- when you are looking on Gumtree for slabs, and they are cheaper than ours the reasons listed above may be why. Should I not buy slabs off Gumtree or from a private backyard supplier? That is not what I am saying at all.
Please note that timber boards and slabs sold at FPC/GOVERNMENT AUCTIONS is 99% of the time green sawn. They are not trying to trick you - they are selling green sawn material that’s all. If you purchase stuff from here you need to allow time to dry it before it is usable for indoor projects. For slabs this is usually two or three years. Some people prefer to buy timber green sawn because it is cheaper. You can buy green sawn from us if you want to.
Can we put OUR SLABS in YOUR KILN?
YES, BUT WE USUALLY DON’T.
This is not because we are being difficult. It is because our timber is air dried before it goes in and if we put yours in that has a much higher moisture content, it will still not be dry when we pull our stuff out. In addition to that, we may cause case hardening and stress. Also, our stacks are already made up to the correct height and size to fit into our kiln, so it is not usually possible for us to add in other stuff.
Do we guarantee that our timber will not move? No. All timber will move with the area that it is moved to and with the different seasons. If you take our timber to Broome in the wet season it will move.
Can I take your timber and use it in the middle of Australia or the tropics without having problems?
As long as you give it time to acclimatise when it gets there, yes.
What we guarantee is that the timber that is supplied by us, that we say is dry, has a moisture content of less than 13%.
The other thing that you must know to ensure that you project doesn’t develop cracks, is that you must use correct joining methods. Screwing a slab firmly to a steel frame, for example, IS going to result in problems.
Please ask us for more information if required.
Smarter buying guide
When ordering timber you can save money by…
Using boards narrower than 125mm
Using less expensive species.
Purchasing “packs" of matched timber boards. Not only will this be less expensive per board, but all the timber will be colour and feature matched.
Use feature grade boards. These are up to 30% less expensive than normal grade.
Specify the exact size of the finished product required. DO NOT add waste. We will add that for you. For example; if you require boards for a table top that is 1.8m long don’t ask for 2.1m boards. We may not have any and will tell you that the next size up that is available are 3.3m long for example. So you may end up paying for 3.3m boards even though we may have had lots of 1.8’s.
When ordering, tell us the smallest sizes that you are going to cut the boards into. For example; if you need ten drawer fronts 600mm long and 180mm wide, don’t ask us for one board that is six metres long because we will most likely tell you that we don’t have it.
Don’t ask for boards wider than you require thinking the you will cut narrower boards out of it. You will be paying more per cubic metre for wider boards.
Send a drawing if you can. Hand drawn is fine. This allows us to pick up any problems with the design (in our opinion) and we may be able to have some input on how to alter to save you some money. It also allows us to work out the flow of grain so we can supply the correct size boards to get the best result. For example, if you decide you wish to build a coffee table with waterfall ends then we will supply you with a single piece of sufficient length to make the two legs and top so that the grain flows all the way up, across and down the piece. The same applies to drawer fronts.
Advise us if your project is not for the purpose of building furniture. In this case, you may be able to use air-dried timber or even green sawn (fresh cut) timber which will be less expensive than kiln dried timber.
To minimise confusion, please use the correct terminology.
Length is the dimension of the board along/following the grain. Use the terms longer or shorter.
Width is the dimension across the grain. Use the terms wider or narrower.
Thickness is the smallest dimension between two faces of the board. Use the terms thicker or thinner.
It doesn’t matter how the furniture is orientated against a wall or in which direction the board is situated within a project, these terms don’t change.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL CHARGE A STORAGE FEE OF $110 PER WEEK FOR ANY ORDERS NOT PICKED UP WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF THEM BEING READY UNLESS ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE.
Understanding these terms will almost certainly prevent any disappointment when receiving your order. THIS IS IMPORTANT.
Rough sawn. If you have ordered your timber rough sawn then it will come as it has straight off the sawmill and after drying. Thickness may vary by a few millimetres. The boards or slabs will not be exactly flat or straight. They may also be cupped or bowed or twisted. Unless you specify any other treatment your timber will come from us to you as a rough sawn product. There is no problem with us supplying you with a machined or sanded or finished product, but if you don’t request that rough sawn is what you will get. In other words, if you ring us and ask for 20 lineal metres of 200 x 25 Jarrah boards they will come to you as a rough sawn boards. It will still need several other treatments being done to it before it can be used.
Green/green sawn timber. This means that the timber has not been dried. It will shrink as it dries. It may twist, cup or bow or otherwise mover during the drying process.
LOCAL SPECIES TIMBER GRADE. Our timber is graded in house to “feature grade”, “standard and better” or “select”. Feature grade means that it will have some defects in the boards that may be cracking, twisting, excessive gum, bug holes or other defects. Standard and better is the grade that most boards come under. This is better quality than feature grade and will require less work (filling) by the user to make a finished product. Unless otherwise requested, THIS IS THE GRADE THAT YOU WILL BE SUPPLIED. It will usually have at least one good clean face and one good clean edge. The back may have cracking, gum veins etc (feature grade). Therefore you will most likely have to do some filling when using this grade. Select grade means that you will be supplied with boards that have no or only very minor defects and basically require no filling to complete the project. We sometimes have customers that complain because a board that we supply is not the perfect DEFECT FREE board. THAT IS BECAUSE IT IS GRADED S&B. If you want a defect free board then specify “select grade”.
Please note that our grading may differ between species. For example, just because Marri has got gum in the board does not make it a feature grade board. It makes it a gummy board. What makes Marri feature grade is excessive gum, cracked gum veins, cracking etc as mentioned above. A Jarrah board will be classified as feature grade if it contains much less gum than a Marri board, because the gum veins of Marri are a known feature of Marri (and often sort after). I realise this can be confusing. To try and make this clear. A Marri board with two large gummy veins running the full length of the board, but are not cracked will be classified as S&B. A Jarrah board (or most other species for that matter) with this same feature will be graded as feature grade.
Imported timbers will be graded in accordance with the applicable grades from the countries from where they come. Unless otherwise specified if you order American timber from us it will be graded FAS (the highest grade) and European timber will be A/AB. Plenty of internet reference material on this.
Standard and better is the normal price that we quote. Feature grade will be up to 30% cheaper and select grade up to 50% dearer.
“Machining” slabs. “I want my slab machined”. This means that the slab (or slabs if book matched) will be supplied to you having been machined with a thicknesser or a Wood Wizz so that it is of consistent thickness and is flat (twisting and cupping have been removed). It is no longer “rough sawn”. It does not have saw marks on it. It has not been sanded or anything else done to it.
“Machining” boards. This means that the board is dressed using a planer to get one face and one edge straight and square to each other, and then it is run through a thicknesser to ensure that all sides are now straight and square to each other. Machining results in all surfaces of the board being smooth and ready to be used for making furniture etc. This is also referred to as dressing the timber. Also DAR (dressing all round). If you want only the faces (the two widest sides of the board) made flat and straight then just ask for the faces only to be dressed or machined. Machining/dressing has nothing to do with the length of the board ie it does not mean that we will cut the board to the exact length. Machine/dressing does not mean that the timber has been sanded.
Machined timber will almost always “move” slightly after machining. This is normal. This is why it is better to machine your project slightly over size first, then let it acclimate for a while, then machine to final size. Usually timber is only machined once, to final size straight away. For various reasons of cost and time etc. This can be done because any movement after machining is not usually of any great degree.
“Milling, re-milling or resawing”. This means that will will use a saw of some description to cut your timber to smaller dimension(s). It will come back to you as a rough sawn piece.
Boards will always be supplied longer than requested, not to exact length. In other words we will supply you with a board that can be trimmed to the exact finished size by the end user. We can supply you with an exact length if desired but this will obviously add to the cost. We do this as a cost saving measure, but most importantly because very often the size of a project will get very slightly modified during the manufacturing process (as most woodworkers will know from experience).
If you require a wide surface for your project we will assume that this can be made up of multiple boards. If you require a surface to be only one piece please specify. This is because woodworkers know that this is what is usually done (to join multiple pieces to get width).
If you want your timber sanded then you will need to specify this. A dressed/machined board or slab means that it is treated as describe above which does not include sanding. Machine sanding means that we run it through a wide belt sander to sand the faces ONLY. You will need to specify if in addition you want the edges sanded or the project “finish sanded” ie it is ready to be coated with oil/varnish etc.
Sanding does not mean that it has been filled. Most projects will require some amount of filling of the voids or gum veins or other imperfections.
“Joining” means that we will use normal woodworking methods to join two or more pieces together to make a wider surface, or occasionally a thicker piece. A joined project will still have glue squeeze out and will not have had any other treatment done to it before being supplied to you. ie it will not have been re-machined, sanded, filled etc. We can do all of these things but you must specify that you want us to do them.
“Finishing or a finished project” means that the timber has been coated with a special timber coating to protect it and to minimise moisture movement in and out of the timber. Timber coatings may be oil, varnish, lacquer or several other types.