Choosing the Right Timber for Your Custom Furniture
Every timber species has its own personality. The grain pattern, colour, hardness, and workability all affect how your finished piece will look and perform. Here is our guide to the Australian hardwoods we work with most at Ca La Donna.
Tasmanian Oak
Best for: Record player stands (The Charo), floating shelves, mirrors, lighter bathroom vanities
Colour: Pale straw to golden honey, sometimes with pink tones. Lightens beautifully with age.
Character: Tasmanian Oak is actually a marketing name for three eucalyptus species (E. regnans, E. obliqua, and E. delegatensis). It has a straight, even grain with gentle figure. It takes oil finishes beautifully and sands to a smooth, warm surface.
Hardness (Janka): 6.0 kN – a medium hardness that is easy to work with hand tools and machines cleanly.
Why we love it: It is our most versatile timber. The consistent grain makes it ideal for pieces where you want clean lines and a light, modern feel. It is also more readily available as reclaimed timber, which keeps the cost down compared to premium species.
Price range: Our most accessible option. The Charo starts from $1,800 in Tas Oak.
Blackwood
Best for: Kitchen benchtops, premium vanities, statement furniture, The Charo (premium version)
Colour: Rich golden brown to dark chocolate, often with dramatic streaks of colour and figure. No two boards look the same.
Character: Tasmanian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) is one of Australia’s finest furniture timbers. The grain can be straight, interlocked, or wavy, often producing a stunning fiddleback figure that catches the light from different angles.
Hardness (Janka): 5.2 kN – softer than Tas Oak, but still very durable for furniture use.
Why we love it: Blackwood is the showstopper. When a client wants a piece that makes people stop and ask “where did you get that?”, Blackwood delivers. The natural variation means every piece we build is truly one of a kind.
Price range: Premium pricing. Blackwood benchtops and vanities are quoted individually based on timber availability and dimensions.
Victorian Ash
Best for: Bathroom vanities, floating shelves, clean-lined modern furniture
Colour: Cream to pale pink, similar to Tasmanian Oak but often with a slightly finer grain.
Character: Victorian Ash (E. regnans grown in Victoria) is closely related to Tasmanian Oak but tends to have a more consistent appearance. It is an excellent all-rounder that works beautifully and finishes to a silky smooth surface.
Hardness (Janka): 5.8 kN – slightly softer than Tas Oak, easy to work.
Why we love it: Victorian Ash gives you the light, contemporary look of Tas Oak with a subtly different character. It is particularly popular for bathroom vanities where you want warmth without heaviness.
Jarrah
Best for: Outdoor furniture, heavy-duty benchtops, feature pieces where deep red colour is desired
Colour: Rich reddish-brown that deepens with age to a magnificent dark red. Reclaimed Jarrah has a depth of colour that new timber cannot match.
Character: West Australian Jarrah (E. marginata) is one of Australia’s most iconic timbers. Dense, hard, and naturally resistant to rot and insects. The grain is typically even and interlocked.
Hardness (Janka): 8.5 kN – significantly harder than Tas Oak or Blackwood. A serious hardwood.
Why we love it: Reclaimed Jarrah tells a story. Much of the Jarrah we source has lived a previous life as structural beams, bridge timbers, or railway sleepers. That history is visible in the grain, the patina, and the occasional bolt hole that we incorporate as character.
Sassafras
Best for: Fine furniture, drawer linings, decorative panels, lighter feature pieces
Colour: Pale golden to mid-brown with distinctive dark streaks and figure. Some boards have an almost olive-green tone.
Character: Southern Sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum) is a Tasmanian rainforest timber with a fine, even texture. It has a subtle, pleasant fragrance when freshly cut. The grain can produce beautiful ribbon figure.
Hardness (Janka): 3.1 kN – a softer timber, best suited to furniture rather than high-wear surfaces.
Why we love it: Sassafras is a furniture maker’s timber. It works like a dream under hand tools, and the colour variations within a single board can be extraordinary. We often use it for drawer interiors or as a feature panel in a larger piece.
Huon Pine
Best for: Premium feature pieces, jewellery boxes, small decorative items, collector pieces
Colour: Creamy yellow to rich golden, with a distinctive honey-like warmth. Darkens to a beautiful amber with age.
Character: Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) is one of the world’s oldest living organisms and is found only in Tasmania. Some Huon Pine trees are over 2,000 years old. It has an extraordinarily fine, even grain and a natural oil that makes it naturally water-resistant.
Hardness (Janka): 3.5 kN – soft but remarkably durable due to natural oils.
Why we love it: Huon Pine is as close to sacred as timber gets in Australia. We only work with salvaged or reclaimed Huon Pine (logging of live Huon Pine has been banned since 2004). Each piece connects you to thousands of years of Tasmanian natural history. We reserve it for special commissions.
Note: Huon Pine is extremely rare and expensive. We source it only from salvaged logs, river recoveries, and demolition timber.
Not Sure Which Timber Is Right?
Every project is different. The right timber depends on where the piece will live, how it will be used, what look you are after, and your budget. We are always happy to talk through the options and show you timber samples in person at our Warburton workshop.