Messmate, The ultimate recycled timber

Messmate timber pretty much fell into my laps by chance, buying a pack lot of Tasmaian Oak the timber suplier had found a buried pack of Messmate that nobody new how long it had been hidden there, i was offered it at a great price and the moment i opened the pack......I was in love.

Messmate Timber grows in the cooler southern states of Australia and has a pretty gnarly life of bush fires and freezing conditions. All of this is shown in the texture and tone of the timber. Messmate requires alot of work to get it to a high standard of finish it requires massive amounts of filling with epoxy, dealing with problem areas of lifting grain. Once all these have been dealt with all that you are left with is timber that looks like timber. Flowing sap lines point to how trees feed themselves, amazingly defined growth rings show the yearly hardship these trees have to get to the 100m's in height, varaiance in tones from rich chocolate to more pale watered down chockolate milk.

When you get a piece made by us you get the real deal, furniture made to order and be functional, super hard wearing, but using timber that will hold its colour and not fade and the most important feature is that it looks like timber.

Why we use Tung oil finishes and Bombora

Why we use Tung oil finishes and Bombora

People often ask when we are discussing their dream piece of furniture ‘how much maintenance does my table/cabinet need?’. After many hours of  heart ache in using the ‘plastic’ finishes on pieces such as Poly urethane, Danish oil, Scandinavian Oil I am now convinced 100% that Tung Oil is an all round better finish both practically and aesthetically.  

Tung oil is a extracted from the Nut of the Tung tree, Tung oil goes way back into history dating from 400BC. The anchient Chinese used the extract to water proof ships.

Apart from Tung oil being around for plenty of years and that fact that it works, my main reason for using Tung oil is that it just looks…bloody awesome.. It gives the timber an amazing wet look, it still surprises me and excites me every time I freshly oil a raw piece of timber, the smallest detail of grain can just get enhanced to the point that it become a feature of the piece. The other winner of Tung oil vs a plastic finish is the feel it leaves the timber, with a plastic finish all you get a is a plastic finish, don’t expect to feel the subtle hair folical rises and falls of  individual grain or a lovely gum vien running down a board, all you get is a slab of timber preserved for life in a case of ‘plastic stuff’.

The other cool thing about Tung oil is its ability to rejuvenate table tops with a simple wipe up and down the table with a dampened rag, the Oil re penetrates and brings the grain back to life and it also slowly builds up layer upon layer to actually create  a finish as good as any plastic coating.

Ill only use natural finishes now because I love working with timber and I want my clients to feel and smell what I love about timber as well. 

Check out the new website

Bombora Custom Furniture now has a brand new and shiny home at www.bomboracustomfurniture.com.au.  The new website has a heap of images from our portfolio of custom built furniture such as dining tables, outdoor table settings, coffee tables, sideboards, bookcases and much more.  Also using this new format we have included lots of information on the types of Australian hardwood timbers that we prefer to use in our furniture as well as finish choices.

Come and check it out!

70's inspired TV stand

Beautiful solid hardwood custom handcrafted TV cabinet taking a 70's flare into the new millennium   Each slat of timber on the front of the piece is continuous with the next for visual appeal. Timber was carefully chosen to be rich with a diverse color palate and lots of grain details. 

Box join detailing on the legs is not required for stability but used for the visual appeal. It is details such as this these that you get from Bombora Custom Furniture. 

This photo shoot happened on the rocks at low tide of the awesome Point Impossible, Torquay on the Victorian surf coast. 

 Rather than using ugly handles that distract the eye from the beauty of the piece, these finger holes were used to enable easy sliding of the doors.

 End grain contrast on the side of the piece.

 Box join details on the legs

This Tv cabinet is constructed out of a frame of 35mm thick Tasmanian oak. The draw front panels are made of feature grade messmate. The frame has been made with external box joins on each end really showing a contrast between face grain and end grain as each reflects light differently and generally end grain will always look darker as it absorbs alot more oil. The draw fronts were cut from the same piece of messmate, the grain pattern continues from one piece to the other creating a lovely balance. There are no draw handles as i find these  create to much clutter on pieces, if i want a piece to look busy or more striking i prefer to choose a piece of timber which will do this not by adding hardware. To operate the draws you simply push in 10mm and they pop out 60mm.

This coffee table is part of a matching pair with the previous table. The top is 30mm thick and the legs are square 40mm x 40mm. finish is oil wax combinations which gives the piece its organic feel with no plastic look that a varnish can give.

40mm thick messmate dining table

This stunning dining table is constructed from 40mm thick recycled Messmate for the table top and 50mm thick legs.
The top pieces are subtle and not overly busy with all pieces blending in together nicely.
The legs have been joined with 45degree mitres giving the table a more refined feel. Old holes and sap pockets have either been filled with timber plugs or pale epoxy resin. The finish is a danish oil which has been hard burnished to provide a hard lasting finish and then 3 layers of beeswax to really give depth to the overall patina of the timber. 

Exposed leg messmate dining table custom designed and hand made in Torquay

The beautiful results of a photoshoot at Point Impossible on the Victorian Surfcoast.  The timber was specifically chosen for this Messmate table because of its striking features with lots of saplines, fiddleback and birds eye's. The chunky exposed legs create a great visual balance combining classic and modern together in a piece that will be 'in style' for decades to come.

Our new workshop in the rolling hills of Torquay!

After the 'big' move from Melbourne to the Surfcoast, we are very excited to finally be in the last stages of building a workshop at the Ashmore Arts Precinct, 55 Ashmore Rd in Torquay.  We would love to have visitors but by appointment only please!   Other than just a much improved view, the new workshop means Luke is able to work on many more pieces at the one time. And to Lukes great joy, it also means much more available space for new 'toys'.  When he is not in the workshop,  Luke is doing some heavy duty 'research' into the latest and greatest tools much to his wifes (ie my) dismay!

Ply box bookcase

Make a statement with this marine ply book and display case.  Custom designed and make by Luke to a clients specifications.  This style of piece is a great storage solution for the modern home. Marine ply chosen for construction due to the quality of the outside veneer.