Thor Diesendorf first started learning about timber as a kid, watching his grandfather in his shed and passing him tools, sweeping up sawdust and holding boards steady for him. His grandfather bought Thor his first hand plane when he was 12, and his first project with it was shaping a couple of pairs of stilts for Thor's brother and himself.

Grandad would take Thor along when he went to the tip. In those days, you could wander around and scavenge, so they usually took home some prizes, sometimes timber for the furniture that he made. That was Thor's first experience of timber recycling.

Thor learnt to work with salvaged timber on a bigger scale in the early 1990's, while making furniture and kitchens with Paul Lynzaat as his (unofficial) apprentice. It was, and still is, really exciting to plane back a dark old grey piece of demolition timber and see the fine grain and rich colour. That got Thor hooked.

Having made contact with the local demolition companies and done a few salvage jobs, Thor saw how much good timber was going to waste. Once a building is ripped down and loaded onto trucks to be taken to the tip, there is little left among the crushed and splintered remains that is re-usable.

This was the impetus to start "Thor's Hammer". By helping increase the value and create a demand for recycled timber, waste going to land fill is reduced and the Australian hardwoods used in old buildings get a second life appreciated for their quality, beauty and history.