Transformations

[Erich Weidner]

Erich, there was not a lot of sentimental value, other than for Rita and myself knowing that her late husband had restored the table. We are old friends, and she knows the furniture in my home well (I have build most of it). I know the pieces she likes best. I did not run the design for this piece past her, but did get her permission to rebuilt it from scratch. I am awaiting her reaction this weekend when I visit her new home (for the first time) and present her with a house-warming gift.

Sorry, I guess I was really trying to ask why modify an existing piece vs build from scratch? (Preservation of resources/Scarce wood? Sentimental value? Just for the heck of it? )

[Derek Cohen]

Erich, I prefer to re-use what I can. For many years I built with old roofing trusses - it is amazing (and alarming) how much good hardwood went into roofs in Perth. I would ask at building sites, and the builders/demolishers were happy to give it to me. No longer - they want to sell it. It is valuable. Now I get much of my timber from an urban salvager - he pulls down or rescues trees which would otherwise become mulch.

Jarrah is in very short supply. It grows in a pocket in the south of Western Australia. No where else in the world. For over a 100 years the Jarrah forrest was cut down for timber for bridges and roads and wharfs around the world. It is still being harvested for flooring. The forests are decimated of old growth. The trees take a 100 years to reach maturity.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Erich Weidner]

Jarrah is in very short supply. It grows in a pocket in the south of Western Australia. No where else in the world. For over a 100 years the Jarrah forrest was cut down for timber for bridges and roads and wharfs around the world. It is still being harvested for flooring. The forests are decimated of old growth. The trees take a 100 years to reach maturity.

Got it. Thank you. I guess since I see Jarrah in so many of your forum posts, that I assumed it was a common species in your neck of the woods.