Eye / wallet opener

Okay I am very new to woodworking, I've made some very ameture furniture and fittings from merch pine, MDF etc.
So I am about to start my first serious project, an outdoor bench (as per The New Yankee shop). For this I see I will need a hardwood, now normally I pop down to bunnies to get pine, but they don't have hardwood. I've got tas Oak from Shiver Me Timbers before so I ask them - they can't help with the dimensions I need. Eventually I have rung a number of suppliers, most can offer one or two sizes of Jarrah out of which I could resaw my requirments for over $1000. So thats too expensive, I ask for advice and get put onto Nyatoh, again no one has the dimensions but as before with resawing I would get away with it for $400. For bloody outdoor seat !!!
The price of hardwood is amazing, I am soooo naive.

So said my piece, now I just have to find someone that has at least close to the dimensions I want ..... bite the bullet and pay up ......this thing will cost more than all my indoor furniture put together (not true but it sounds good).

Spot on ..... all timber is expensive .... but the knowledge that you made it yourself can add big $$$$$ onto the project ... or if you are like me you are never happy with what you finish up with and then dream of ways to reuse the timber in a different project.

Try looking into some recycled timber that hasn't been cleaned up (dressed) prior to sale. Shiver Me Timbers had the biggest range of Jarrah that I have seen anywhere so I am suprised that you couldn't get what you were after there. They weren't super cheap but I thought the presentation of the timber and shop were A1. I use quite a lot of recycled jarrah floorboards .... you can often get second grade that have the T&G too badly damaged to relay but with a bit of work you can make 90x19 boards to laminate together.

Are your dimensions for your project in metric or imperial? If you ask for 1/2" stock they may be looking at their metric stock and thinking they will have to machine it down for you.

Stinky.

Crikey Dave,your're being penalised in your locale....now you may not have the room for storage of a lot of timber as it is with a lot of us,but even if you could get to a timber auction you could mebbe pick up some small lots and save yourself some $$$$.

Learn't long time ago that shopping at Bunnies and Co is only necessary on a rush job where you don;t have dry featured timber available and have unfotunately had to do that a coupla times.

Hope you have better luck in the future mate in getting your timber.

Cheers:)

Try Kilsyth bargain centre in, amazingly, KIlsyth. Cheapest source of Tassy Oak I have found.