Solid Timber Dining Tables

We had people round for Christmas a few years ago and had to put our dining table and an internal door with legs stuck to it together to fit everyone - looked fine with tablecloths!

Speaking of bigger tables, the mechanisms on some of those older solid wood extension tables are fantastic. No metal, just wood sliding past each other.

Simon said:
If you find a solid oak one it will be much better.
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Yeah, this is what I mean - I've seen quite a few of them but can't justify buying one now as our current house is too small for two tables. I live at the top end of a very touristy stretch (wine region) and there's antique stores EVERYWHERE. The really solid ones tend to be very old and often ex-workbench out of the shed of a deceased estate so are quite heavily marked.

I know what you mean about veneer though, I have an oak veneer chest of drawers as well as a solid oak cupboard in one room, and you can really see the difference. The veneered one is from the 60s I think but the solid one is older. I like stuff that predates the veneering craze. I just like the colour of the wood, which is why I seem to have so many oak pieces. Never clicked I was actually buying oak stuff until someone gave me the cupboard - a half finished restoration project they had clogging the shed, and we needed baby furniture - he said it was oak and it was like "oh, that's the same as all my other furniture ... *penny drops*" lol
 
RumpledElf said:
The really solid ones tend to be very old and often ex-workbench out of the shed of a deceased estate so are quite heavily marked.
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Were you saying the ex workbench, heavily marked is a good or bad thing?

I reckon the imperfections can make it even more interesting.

Just like on a well worn face like mine :)
 
I agree. I don't like highly finished timber - it sometimes looks like plastic. Timber has imperfections - like Simon's face.
The oregon I'm going to make my table out of is 100 years old. I've had it dressed, but it has the odd nail hole and dents and holes where knots have fallen out. I like that. I'll fill the holes with clear epoxy and finish the table in a matt (as opposed to gloss) finish so it looks like timber.
I guess we shouldn't write-off veneers too quickly, either. Plywood is a series of veneers and there was some great plywood furniture made especially in the 50s. I've got some nice plywood chairs from the 50s.
 
depreciator said:
I agree. I don't like highly finished timber - it sometimes looks like plastic. Timber has imperfections - like Simon's face.
The oregon I'm going to make my table out of is 100 years old. I've had it dressed, but it has the odd nail hole and dents and holes where knots have fallen out. I like that. I'll fill the holes with clear epoxy and finish the table in a matt (as opposed to gloss) finish so it looks like timber.
I guess we shouldn't write-off veneers too quickly, either. Plywood is a series of veneers and there was some great plywood furniture made especially in the 50s. I've got some nice plywood chairs from the 50s.
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Hell yes - I love the Eames style steam-bent plywood chairs.

I just am not keen on the stuff where the surface layer has worn away.

They have great repro Eames furniture now - often advertised in the Sat SMH. You would have seen it Scotty. Next time I am down I want to check that showroom out. Should also swing by and drink some of your beers too. Been planning to do that for years now :)
 
Simon said:
Were you saying the ex workbench, heavily marked is a good or bad thing?
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Its much better than the 'fake distressed' crap they sell in most shops, and you're right it adds character, but really heavily marked does mean you can't, say, draw or write on the table as your pen would fall into the holes :)
Not really a problem for our household though, 2.5 kidlets here ready and willing to trash any furniture we aquire. I absolutely adore my very solid and now very 'distressed' coffee table.
 
That furniture place, Simon, is Matt Blatt. It's in my suburb, coincidently. Only open during the week, I think. Which is odd given weekends is the time most people look for furniture.

And despite the fact the he advertisies stuff as 'exact copies', it's not.

My wife worked for Herman Miller for about 10 years. We had some great trips to the US. Ah, those were the days....

This is my TV viewing chair:

http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Lounge-Chair-and-Ottoman
 
I found Matt Blatt via ebay a while ago when we were looking for lounges. I haven't looked lately, but I believe he delivers to Brisbane. Do you know if that is the case? (I will check on ebay, but thought you may know.)
 
RumpledElf said:
Its much better than the 'fake distressed' crap they sell in most shops, and you're right it adds character, but really heavily marked does mean you can't, say, draw or write on the table as your pen would fall into the holes :)
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Thats why Scotty's advice to fill the holes with a clear epoxy is such a good idea!

I got two projects on the go right now. Repairing the kitchen table with a wobbly leg. The leg is actually split on the inside so that one of the two screws can't do it's job. I think I need to make some sort of bracket to secure it - will be hidden on the inside of the table, underneath.

And finishing an old tool chest to use as a coffee table. Warts and all job. I think it is the sort of tool chests that carpentry apprentices had to make for themselves as one of their first jobs. No masterpiece but I am guessing it is well over 50 years old.

Nicely designed furniture is brings an amount of happiness with it. I think Alain de Botton explains it better than I can.
 
depreciator said:
That furniture place, Simon, is Matt Blatt. It's in my suburb, coincidently. Only open during the week, I think. Which is odd given weekends is the time most people look for furniture.

And despite the fact the he advertisies stuff as 'exact copies', it's not.

My wife worked for Herman Miller for about 10 years. We had some great trips to the US. Ah, those were the days....

This is my TV viewing chair:

http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Lounge-Chair-and-Ottoman
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I like it Scotty. But I am at that stage of life where I am resisting going from a TV chair I can share with the girlfriend or the daughters or even a dog to "Dad's Chair" that no one else is allowed to use!
 
You want a dual reclining chair :D

I bought a bright red leather couch the other year. It seats all 4 of us on the seats, or us slobbing around at almost full stretch on the seats and a child on each arm. We frequently get evicted from the couch so two adults end up on the 1 seater day bed, baby gets the couch and daughter gets the floor. Perfectly reasonable distribution of bum space.
 
RumpledElf said:
You want a dual reclining chair :D

I bought a bright red leather couch the other year. It seats all 4 of us on the seats, or us slobbing around at almost full stretch on the seats and a child on each arm. We frequently get evicted from the couch so two adults end up on the 1 seater day bed, baby gets the couch and daughter gets the floor. Perfectly reasonable distribution of bum space.
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I so wanted a Fire Engine Red leather lounge but was over ruled and got black. I like it a lot but I still wish it was red :)
 
Hmm, so this is the brochure.

We're thinking either the 'Sorrento II' in Blackwood which comes in a natural finish only and the end colour depends a lot on the individual piece of wood it comes from.

Note though, in the fine print on another page it says "tops and frames are solid timber, some veneers are used on internal, shelves and side panels"... Hmm...

Perhaps why it's on the cheaper side?
 

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I have a number of items from eclipse and love their work.
If your in Canberra they have show days at Epic every so often which
are advertised in City News.

On a slight tangent my mum is a kindy teacher and they had this large
table at work they wanted to get rid of that was bright yellow. She offered
the school $40 and took it home to use as a sowing table.

When she started stripping the paint off to repaint it. it turned out to
be a solid Jarrah table she touched it up a bit and now has a beautiful solid
jarrah sowing table.
 
Schools toss out loads of good stuff. I picked up three one metre square waist high drawer units on wheels a couple of weeks ago for my wife's studio. They're made of plywood. I'm guessing 60s/70s construction. The school got new science labs and the old stuff had to go.

We're thinking either the 'Sorrento II' in Blackwood which comes in a natural finish only and the end colour depends a lot on the individual piece of wood it comes from.

Note though, in the fine print on another page it says "tops and frames are solid timber, some veneers are used on internal, shelves and side panels"... Hmm...

Perhaps why it's on the cheaper side?
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You'll probably find their tables are solid, but the cabinets and credenzas etc would have loads of chipboard in them.
 
I got my table from a cabinet maker, have a look in the yellow pages, you should be able to find someone in an industrial area near you that will make stuff. 1 or 2 man operation working out of a shed, make almost anything to any size out of any timber, you just have to know what you want and be able to supply a photo or draw it in detail.

We got a solid BlackButt table 2800 x 1200 for about $1500, cost $200 for the piano removalists to deliver. Weighs about 150kg.

It's the sort of table you would pay $4000 for from one of the high end furniture places. eg http://www.jimmypossum.com.au/

Cheers
Graeme
 
schmick said:
Hey Guys,

My GF and I have been looking for a new dining table and we couldn't believe the price of a simple solid timber table and chairs.

We went to a furniture store on Johnson St here in Fitzroy for a look on the weekend. They quoted $1,595 for a dining table 2100 x 1050 x 770 in Blackwood + $2,000 for 8 (discounted from $295 each to $250!) low back chairs in Vic Ash. :eek:

They didn't have the table we liked in an 'off-the-shelf' size so the sales person had to go away and call the manufacturer to see if they could make it.

Anybody know who makes these tables for furniture retailers? From what I could tell this particular store didn't have their own workshops like say Mark Tuckey or somebody does.

Figured I'd be able to get it cheaper by going direct to the source or is this standard pricing these days?

Any recommendations for Melbourne suppliers/manufacturers?
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Have you looked at second hand, if you just want a normal timber table and chairs you can get really good stuff heaps cheap. If you want something a bit different it's impossible.

We used to have furniture store, most shops now are importing from china so there are not very many that will do custom work.

You can still buy good chairs that are cut up in china and assembled in Aus.

cheers
Graeme
 
Monty Burns said:
I get all of my furniture made at www.eclipsefurniture.com.au in wagga
love their work and they have even made up some custom martial arts weapons for me.
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Had a look at the website, nice furniture. We were selling tables similar to those but with Chinese chairs made of vic ash / jarrah / redgum. Even did some chairs from the malaysian timber and stained to match the tables.

chairs are tough as there is so much labour involved in cutting them, so the Aussie chairs are $400+ each while the asian chairs are $50-$300 with most around the $159 / $199 / $259 mark. And so many shops will tell you the chairs are Made In Australia because some one has put them together here.

I've also heard sales staff tell customers that the table is made from Austrlian timber when asked where it's made, bit of deflection in the answer. Might Aussie timber but the timber mills are sending whole tree trunks to china, not even cutting it into planks here.

Cheers
Graeme
 
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