06-05-2012, 10:11 AM
Hi,
As usual it's taking longer to source materials than actually to do the job. I visited a local timber merchant called "Boards" on Friday taking along a cutting list.
At the counter I handed the cutting list to James enquiring how much the oak would cost to yield enough to cover the items on the list. James spent quite a while number crunching then informed my 1.5" thick oak isn't stocked but the 1" oak isn't a problem. The bulk of the list being 1" thick I was quoted £58.50 plus VAT covering 1.5 cubic feet. I was kindly given a discount on the oak reducing the price per cube from £45 plus VAT to £39 plus VAT per cube. I also wanted a full sheet of 18mm MDF. I was quoted £18 plus VAT for the MDF but I then asked for the price of moisture resistant MDF and was quoted £22 plus VAT for this. I paid for the oak and MDF in cash and as a bonus because the order was in excess of £50 delivery was free to my home address. Delivery is arranged for Wednesday dinner time.
Just before leaving I remarked to James that I was in for some machining once the oak arrived and with a strange look James said what for the oak will be delivered fully dimensioned to your cutting list. How good is this. Every time I've bought hardwood previously it has always been in sawn board and I had to dimension it. It came as a welcome surprise to receive this service. The oak is never cheap but I'm happy with the price and certainly happy with the service provided by Boards. I'm now interested to see just what I receive on Wednesday and will report in due course. The total order came to £96.60.
I still need to source 1.5" thick oak and will need another half cube; this oak is to be used for the desk top perimeter as I want the top to look more substantial than the usual flat pack type desk. It's not a problem because I have a choice of local suppliers and for the lengths needed they will just fit into the Aygo.
I've spent hours surfing the web looking for cheaper oak. There is a lot on eBay being sold as offcuts and a seller not too far away in Halifax has a number of bundles of oak offcuts up for auction at what would appear to be reasonable prices. That is until I really looked at what was being offered. Rough sawn offcuts of thin section some of good length. The sections fell way short of what I want which is mostly 1" x 3" and many appear to be tapered so once machined a lot would be suitable for a dolls house. This in my opinion makes this oak on eBay quite expensive also add the collection to this and time taken so the deal I got at Boards with free delivery is actually a very good deal.
Also whilst surfing eBay I noticed three 18mm offcuts of MDF which were perfect for the new desk in fact it could have been cut to size to suit which I thought to be amazing. I sat and watched as the auction drew to a close; at £3.60 near the auction end I thought I'll bid £10.50 this being the highest I was prepared to pay. I was outbid and the three offcuts went for £10.75. Once again this isn't cheap because the three offcuts amounted to less than three quarters of a full sheet and a new full sheet only costs £18 plus VAT. A full sheet is much more useful than three offcuts because the three offcuts would give a great deal more waste.
I have considered buying green oak and drying it myself which is easy but takes years. The rule for air drying timber is one year then one year for each inch so 2" thick would take three years to dry. I won't go into a lot of detail but I once bought Arrowsmith kiln equipment for drying timber. I paid £1,000 for the equipment but had my plans worked out this outlay would have been small compared to the overall savings to be gained. I decided to fully retire at 53 because starting up a new business was just too much hassle. I was told about a guy who had bought and set up a wood drying kiln at home and he was doing rather well in selling dried hardwood; local hardwood; sycamore; oak and beech etc. This guy wasn't hurting anyone and was not causing pollution of any kind also the kiln is silent in operation; he was reported to the council by a jealous neighbour and he closed down. This is why I retired as trying to start a business is full of nothing but rules and regulations in fact I added my story onto a woodworking forum quite a while ago.
For a decent flat pack computer desk I expected to pay around £200 so this is a good figure to work around and to compare the cost of my desk against. So far including buying the gorgeous Formica laminate I'm in for around £140. I have some oak in stock so I'll be cheating a bit but this story is more about actually hands on making something than simply just handing money over for a ready made desk. I still need to buy contact adhesive and a bit more oak but for the £140 so far I now have bought the bulk of the materials. A nice ready made solid oak desk will cost around £500 but this won't be top quality; it will be mass produced.
I have a well equipped workshop/garage with some big kit installed and will use this but I've also made lots of furniture both free standing and fitted when I was broke using only hand tools and a single speed B&D drill. We have many friends who visit and they usually remark that the things I make or do are so easy for me because I have the skill; the time and the machinery. This is now true but for many a long year I had to work hard on all my projects and I wasn't born with skill and even now my machines don't spit out fully finished furniture after having a log thrown in at the front end. It can take longer to set a machine up; run test pieces than it is to make the one off item entirely by hand.
I've saved a fortune over the years making furniture; all our fitted wardrobes; kitchen; panelling and much of our free standing furniture such as bookcases and tables are entirely made at home and as in the case of our hardwood kitchen have been made from offcuts. Not only have I saved a great deal of money; I've enjoyed making every item and gained the skill I wasn't born with to do so.
I've rambled enough but I'm fed up of wrapping up like an Eskimo every time I want to do some work in the workshop or garage; it's perishing again this morning with an overnight frost. I hope I'm not boring you all.
Kind regards, Col.
As usual it's taking longer to source materials than actually to do the job. I visited a local timber merchant called "Boards" on Friday taking along a cutting list.
At the counter I handed the cutting list to James enquiring how much the oak would cost to yield enough to cover the items on the list. James spent quite a while number crunching then informed my 1.5" thick oak isn't stocked but the 1" oak isn't a problem. The bulk of the list being 1" thick I was quoted £58.50 plus VAT covering 1.5 cubic feet. I was kindly given a discount on the oak reducing the price per cube from £45 plus VAT to £39 plus VAT per cube. I also wanted a full sheet of 18mm MDF. I was quoted £18 plus VAT for the MDF but I then asked for the price of moisture resistant MDF and was quoted £22 plus VAT for this. I paid for the oak and MDF in cash and as a bonus because the order was in excess of £50 delivery was free to my home address. Delivery is arranged for Wednesday dinner time.
Just before leaving I remarked to James that I was in for some machining once the oak arrived and with a strange look James said what for the oak will be delivered fully dimensioned to your cutting list. How good is this. Every time I've bought hardwood previously it has always been in sawn board and I had to dimension it. It came as a welcome surprise to receive this service. The oak is never cheap but I'm happy with the price and certainly happy with the service provided by Boards. I'm now interested to see just what I receive on Wednesday and will report in due course. The total order came to £96.60.
I still need to source 1.5" thick oak and will need another half cube; this oak is to be used for the desk top perimeter as I want the top to look more substantial than the usual flat pack type desk. It's not a problem because I have a choice of local suppliers and for the lengths needed they will just fit into the Aygo.
I've spent hours surfing the web looking for cheaper oak. There is a lot on eBay being sold as offcuts and a seller not too far away in Halifax has a number of bundles of oak offcuts up for auction at what would appear to be reasonable prices. That is until I really looked at what was being offered. Rough sawn offcuts of thin section some of good length. The sections fell way short of what I want which is mostly 1" x 3" and many appear to be tapered so once machined a lot would be suitable for a dolls house. This in my opinion makes this oak on eBay quite expensive also add the collection to this and time taken so the deal I got at Boards with free delivery is actually a very good deal.
Also whilst surfing eBay I noticed three 18mm offcuts of MDF which were perfect for the new desk in fact it could have been cut to size to suit which I thought to be amazing. I sat and watched as the auction drew to a close; at £3.60 near the auction end I thought I'll bid £10.50 this being the highest I was prepared to pay. I was outbid and the three offcuts went for £10.75. Once again this isn't cheap because the three offcuts amounted to less than three quarters of a full sheet and a new full sheet only costs £18 plus VAT. A full sheet is much more useful than three offcuts because the three offcuts would give a great deal more waste.
I have considered buying green oak and drying it myself which is easy but takes years. The rule for air drying timber is one year then one year for each inch so 2" thick would take three years to dry. I won't go into a lot of detail but I once bought Arrowsmith kiln equipment for drying timber. I paid £1,000 for the equipment but had my plans worked out this outlay would have been small compared to the overall savings to be gained. I decided to fully retire at 53 because starting up a new business was just too much hassle. I was told about a guy who had bought and set up a wood drying kiln at home and he was doing rather well in selling dried hardwood; local hardwood; sycamore; oak and beech etc. This guy wasn't hurting anyone and was not causing pollution of any kind also the kiln is silent in operation; he was reported to the council by a jealous neighbour and he closed down. This is why I retired as trying to start a business is full of nothing but rules and regulations in fact I added my story onto a woodworking forum quite a while ago.
For a decent flat pack computer desk I expected to pay around £200 so this is a good figure to work around and to compare the cost of my desk against. So far including buying the gorgeous Formica laminate I'm in for around £140. I have some oak in stock so I'll be cheating a bit but this story is more about actually hands on making something than simply just handing money over for a ready made desk. I still need to buy contact adhesive and a bit more oak but for the £140 so far I now have bought the bulk of the materials. A nice ready made solid oak desk will cost around £500 but this won't be top quality; it will be mass produced.
I have a well equipped workshop/garage with some big kit installed and will use this but I've also made lots of furniture both free standing and fitted when I was broke using only hand tools and a single speed B&D drill. We have many friends who visit and they usually remark that the things I make or do are so easy for me because I have the skill; the time and the machinery. This is now true but for many a long year I had to work hard on all my projects and I wasn't born with skill and even now my machines don't spit out fully finished furniture after having a log thrown in at the front end. It can take longer to set a machine up; run test pieces than it is to make the one off item entirely by hand.
I've saved a fortune over the years making furniture; all our fitted wardrobes; kitchen; panelling and much of our free standing furniture such as bookcases and tables are entirely made at home and as in the case of our hardwood kitchen have been made from offcuts. Not only have I saved a great deal of money; I've enjoyed making every item and gained the skill I wasn't born with to do so.
I've rambled enough but I'm fed up of wrapping up like an Eskimo every time I want to do some work in the workshop or garage; it's perishing again this morning with an overnight frost. I hope I'm not boring you all.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
