Finding useable timber can be daunting when you’re starting out. You have four main options:
1. Big-box hardware stores (Pro: they’re everywhere, and you might get a sausage sizzle. Con: the timber selection is basic at best)
2. Specialist timber merchants (Pro: they have a wide range of interesting timbers. Con: They tend to be expensive, and miles away from where you live.)
3. Private sellers (Pro: you can find a bargain when Grandpa is clearing out his shed. Con: You have to deal with Grandpa)
4. Scavenging!
The great thing about wood is that it grows on trees. If you live rurally then of course you’re close to the source, and a neighbour’s windfallen tree or removed shelterbelt can be a treasure trove. But if you live in an urban area you will have to be more resourceful if you are to be a successful scavenger.
It tends to be an offence to remove plant material from parks and reserves; however, the nature strip is an arguably richer, and more convenient, source of useable timber than any forest. Suburban Australians have a habit of leaving their unwanted household items next to the road, hoping for a scavenger to swoop down and remove them (the items are then called ‘hard rubbish’, presumably to distinguish them from ‘easy rubbish’). Occasionally the unwanted item is made of solid timber – allowing a woodworker such as yourself to convert it into a wanted item.
The first step in a successful scavenge is to confirm that the item is in fact solid timber. Most furniture is not. It’s made of a weet-bix-ish composite with timber veneer stuck to it. Like New Zealand, it looks great from a distance but it’s not actually much use. The best way to check is to have a look at the end grain. Is there any end grain? Does the board look like it has side grain on all six faces? If so, that’s veneer on top of particleboard – avoid!
The second step is to get the item home. You may need a friend to help you (perhaps by fighting off the other scavengers as you manoeuvre the item into your vehicle).
The third step is to break the item down and turn it into useable timber. Some things are easy to break down. A bookshelf made with simple dado joints will come apart happily and yield plenty of plank. On the other hand, an old wardrobe with screwed battens, a mirror, and a coat rail is a more involved proposition. Go slowly! Remove as many of the fasteners as you can before resorting to more percussive demolition methods. It’s easier to use a board with a few neat screw holes in it than one with a big split or crack.
A metal detector is a scavenger’s best friend at this point. Carefully examine your boards for screws, pins, brads, staples or any other metallic objects. You don’t want to hit them with a sharpened blade!
Last, but definitely not least, you’ll need to store your new timber. Scavenged timber will often have some sort of finish on it, and it will tend to be useably dry (your trusty moisture meter will tell you for sure). However, you should still store it carefully, just like the rest of your stash. Leaving the finish on will help protect the timber in storage, but sometimes it obscures the grain. Exercise your best judgement here.
With practice, you’ll be able to tell at a glance whether the abandoned item on the nature strip has any salvageable timber. Sometimes, valuable furniture timbers like Australian red cedar and mahogany turn up – it would be a terrible waste to let these rot in the landfill…