Last week Thursday I passed my driving test.
On Monday, I found myself behind the wheel of a rental van.

No gentle easing into it. No quiet Sunday drives to build confidence. Just straight into the deep end: a big, boxy delivery van with zero rear visibility and mirrors that suddenly felt like my only connection to reality.

If you’ve never driven one of these things before let me paint the picture. You can’t look over your shoulder. You can’t glance through the rearview mirror. Reversing feels like negotiating with physics. Every turn requires a bit of faith, a bit of geometry, and a lot of internal dialogue.

The Plan

The goal was simple: visit a handful of wood traders and find the right pieces for a couple of projects I’ve been thinking about for a while:

• A round dining table
• A smaller epoxy coffee table
• And some material to experiment with (and inevitably mess up a few times)

The execution? Slightly less simple.

Driving from yard to yard, navigating tight industrial areas, awkward entrances, and forklifts that seem to appear out of nowhere it was a proper initiation into both van driving and the world of raw timber.

But somewhere between the stress of parking and the smell of freshly cut wood, it started to click.

The Finds

And then the good part.

After digging through stacks, peeking behind piles, and asking the inevitable “Do you maybe have something else in the back?” I came away with three pieces I’m genuinely excited about.

Iroko Slab (The Big One)

A full slab of iroko that will become the round table.

It’s got weight, presence, and that rich golden-brown tone that deepens beautifully over time. Iroko is often called “African teak,” and you can see why durable, stable, and perfect for a table that’s meant to last.

This is going to be the centerpiece project.

Walnut Slab (The Elegant One)

A smaller crosscut slab of walnut for a coffee table.

Dark, warm, and with that unmistakable walnut character. This one almost builds itself minimal intervention, let the wood do the talking, maybe some subtle epoxy work if it asks for it.

Cherry Burl Pieces (The Wildcards)

And then… cherry with burls.

Irregular, unpredictable, full of character. Exactly what you want if you’re getting into epoxy work. These pieces are less about perfection and more about exploration learning how resin behaves, how to fill voids, how to turn “flaws” into features.

Or, realistically, how to make mistakes and learn from them.

The Drive Back

Loading everything into the van was one thing. Driving back with it different story.

There’s something about carrying heavy, valuable wood in the back that makes every corner feel sharper and every brake a bit more deliberate. Add to that the ongoing challenge of navigating purely on mirrors, and it was… focused driving, let’s say.

But I made it back. No dents, no disasters.

First Trip, Not the Last

Looking back, it was a bit chaotic, slightly intimidating, and completely worth it.

In total i drove five and a half hours on the first day, which was exhausting. However there’s something deeply satisfying about selecting your own material seeing it raw, imperfect, and full of potential. It changes how you approach the build. It’s no longer just “a table,” it’s a piece with a story that started in a dusty yard, on a Monday, in a van you were only just qualified to drive.

This was the first run.

Definitely not the last.

Now I have to build a rack in my shed to hold the wood…