Woodworking in Ireland
January 24, 2008 – 6:28 pm
With the continued success of the Online Business Guide below, it has freed me up to take up a few old hobbies I didn’t have time for previously. The main one now is woodworking. I’ve been building my own furniture and also taking on some commision pieces for the fun of it (I don’t make anything on them but it helps me learn more and more).
The hardest part has actually been sourcing good quality timber in Ireland. B&Q (otherwise known as Home Depot in the US) only has pine and even the timber they do have is as crooked as a Worldcom executive. After a few weeks of research I was able to find 2 places in Ireland that fit my needs (straight good quality hardwood timber).
The first is actually a really cool place which I would use exclusively but its a 2 hour drive each way (ouch). It is called the Lisnavagh Project. Basically it was a family farm that looked to providing quality Irish hardwood locally. They have loads of different timbers and if you are worried about your carbon footprint, the trees are felled within Ireland (most times within the farm). I’m no environmentalist so I prefer it because it is really high quality timber. The downside is that it is truly rough sawn and you need to do a decent amount of work to get it to finished quality.
The second source is Strahan Timber. Although they are a more commercial operation and probably sell 100 pieces of pine to 1 hardwood, they are very nice and easy to deal with. I use them as more of a location solution as they are only 15-30 minutes from where I live. The timber is in reasonable shape considering it is American Oak (Any time you ship timber halfway around the world it distorts). A good run through the thicknesser and its ready to use.
If anyone has any other sources (Preffereably on the Northern side of Dublin or in Meath), feel free to post a comment.
By the way, the picture in the upper left is the last piece I completed. A commisioned entertainment center made from English Oak (Grown in Ireland) and finished with just a few coats of Danish Oil.