Timber Buying Guide

This is our default finish option. The material is planed to accurate measurements. The edges are square and parallel and ready for use for your projects.

Measurement accuracy: +/- 1mm from quotation.

Possible defects: Minor tearouts on the faces, furry grain on the ends of boards, slightly denting on sharp corners during handling, light scratches on some surfaces.

The timber can be oiled directly after planing, which brings out the colour of the material without too much effort. We use a linseed oil blend, which dries and cures inside the surface of the wood. The edges will be lightly rounded for better hand feel. This option is perfect for outdoor furniture or rough kitchen furniture that will not be scrutinised.

If you’re buying material for a fine project, such as a cigar box or an instrument, we can sand the material for you before hand to P400. This material will be free of tear outs or chips, with the edges slightly rounded and ready for use. Some customers prefer this option as they do not have power sanders at home or at their workplace.

We can sand and oil your wood to perfection for you. This option will get you a board that is ready to use, sanded to P400 and oiled twice before sending out.

We offer rough lumber as an option. This option is significantly cheaper as there is no finishing done on the material.

Your dimensions will be rounded to 25mm or 50mm approximate and less than 200mm in width. These boards come straight from the sawmill. You will need either a machine planer and table saw or a lot of muscle to process them as these boards are not guaranteed straight or flat.

Thickness variations are +/- 5mm from quotation.

Dark, easy to plane and cut, smooth.

Orange, Interlocked, challenging wood, durable and weather resistant.

Golden, easy to plane and carve, smooth and fragrant.

Very hard, cuts and planes well, indoor use only.

Responds well to cutting, planing, sanding, sawing, steam bending and carving, a true all-rounder. Indoor use only.

Cuts and planes easily and finishes to a high lustre without any waxes or oils. Weather resistant.

Very hard and strong, cuts and planes well, polishes well.

One of the most amazing materials to work with, walnut timber has all the desirable characteristics – workability, lustre and strength. Despite being a medium density wood, walnut is extremely easy to saw, cut and plane. The dark rich colour of nut woods is also one of the reasons it is coveted.

We sell American Black Walnut from Eastern United States.

Our African Mahogany is locally sourced from dead fall and trees cut down during land clearing. The wood is very strong and weather resistant, suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. The grain is interlocked and difficult to plane and carve. Fresh Mahogany is pink in colour, and oxidises to a deep golden brown after a few weeks of exposure.

Wood of the Angsana Tree is golden in colour when finished and handles very well with all hand tools. It is also an aromatic wood, so you’d enjoy the medicinal fragrance as you work and sand it. This is a new addition to our offerings and is also locally sourced from dead fall and waste logs, making it extremely low-environmental impact.

Also known as Hard Ash, this wood is one of the most open-pored materials with beautiful grain patterns that are instantly recognisable. It is also a very hard wood, notoriously difficult for carving, but holds up detailed joinery very well. Ash is also one of the whitest woods available, but will yellow over time to a vintage tint.

Susceptible to termite damage in high moisture applications so only for interior use for fine furniture and instruments.

Beech is our best recommendation for beginners. It lends itself well to cutting, planing, sanding, sawing, steam bending and carving, a true all-rounder. It’s also a medium density wood and suitable for all kinds of interior furniture.

Susceptible to termite damage in high moisture applications.

Burmese Teak is one of the kings of South-East Asian timbers. Teak cuts and planes easily and finishes to a high lustre without any waxes or oils. This is due to its natural oils that permeates the wood, giving is exceptional weather resistance. Used indoors, it would last generations of use. The only downside of Teak is its price and sustainability, thus reserving it for heirloom projects and small objects usually.

Rock Maple is the harder variety of maple timbers, and is often used for high strength elements such as snooker cues, guitar necks and furniture. It is tough and polishes extremely smoothly due to its closed pores. Like Ash and other white based woods, maple develops a vintage yellow hue as it ages. It is not an easy wood to carve despite it’s straight grain, this is due to its high density.

3mm plywood comes in 3 ply, with 0.6mm top and bottom veneers. Actual thicknesses vary from 2.3.-2.7mm.

Surface quality varies largely with this grade, if you’d like something more consistent, consider our 5.2/6mm option.

5.2mm Basic Plywood is a special grade that we carry, listed as 6mm on our pricesheet.

This grade is popular for CNC Laser Cutting due to is higher surface quality and simplistic 3-ply structure.

Actual Thickness varies from 5.0-5.8mm

9mm Basic Plywood is a 5-ply materials with 3 core plies with two face veneers. This is a great material for small boxes, shelf bottoms and drawer bottoms. It is also sometimes used as bed boards but we recommend 12mm for that purpose.

This is also a standard material thickness for router template making.

Actual Thickness varies from 7.8-9.0mm

12mm Basic Plywood is a 7 ply material which can be used for drawer construction, small boxes and bed boards.

Actual thickness varies from 11.2-12.0mm

15mm Basic Plywood is is a 7 ply material which can be used for building shelf carcasses and other structural components. It is thick enough for some light screw attachments but we recommend 18mm if you’re building something more sturdy. Also great as an overlay material for table tops and drawer fronts.

Actual thickness varies from 14.1-15.0mm

18mm Basic Plywood is usually an 8-ply material suitable for screw joinery to build workbenches or other utility furniture. It is most commonly used as cabinet door fronts as this is the minimum thickness required for mounting euro hinges. Most industrial shelf racking are done in 18mm if budget allows, providing sufficient stiffness to span up to 900mm shelving.

Actual thickness varies from 16.8-18mm.

25mm Basic Plywood is usually a 9-12 ply material and is the thickest plywood measurement generally available in Singapore. This material can be laminated to form 50-100mm blocks that will allow you to build to thicker dimensions. On its own, 25mm plywood is most commonly used for heavier cabinet doors or counter tops.

Actual thickness varies from 23.2-25mm

3mm hardboard feels like thick card. It is very hard on one face, and can be used as a workbench overlay. The under face is porous and rough for gluing to other materials.

MDF is available in 6/9/12/15/18/25mm thicknesses.