This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Google Reviews
Based on 212 reviews
Buying rough sawn boards
We offer rough sawn oak, cedar, ash and elm in all manner of shapes, sizes and grades. Our job is to make it easy for you to find the right wood for your project. We do that by encouraging you to come and select your own boards with the help and guidance of our team. All we ask is that you make an appointment before coming to see us.
We cut all of our oak from logs in our Wiltshire sawmill. We carefully dry it, kiln it and then grade it. This can take anything from a year to four years for thick oak boards. It’s no exaggeration to say that we get to know our oak boards quite well. While oak is our most popular timber, we also process Cedar of Lebanon, British grown elm and ash as well as sycamore and sweet chestnut.
Our logs are cut into a range of board thicknesses from 20mm up to 150mm. We offer prime oak boards as well as pippy, brown and character grade oak planks. For external work, we have air dried oak stocks and for internal jobs, we have plenty of well-kilned oak and a selection of semi-seasoned timber.
Google Reviews
Chris S.
I went to Vastern to get a burr oak waney edge board. Their customer service was excellent, I was given a lot of help and advice to pick out the very board that met my needs to make my river table. I went back to get some planed oak for the legs/base. Thoroughly recommended!Edit Oct 2024: Visited again to get some planed oak boards for a custom lounge light. Customer service and the personal touch was still top notch!
J A.
Was really impressed with the service at vasterns, knowledgeable, patient and thorough, my client bought three, 1st grade oak waney edge boards and Wolf was on hand to help guide us to the right choice. Top guy, top gear. Was patient and aloud us time to make decisions and think about our options.No pressure, no rush. Recommended.Look forward to getting stuck in to them.Thanks
David G.
Since opening our workshop Murray & Gould Ltd in 2022, Vasterns Timber has become our first choice timber merchant. It certainly helps being local, which got us through the door the first time around, but it’s the service and quality of products that keeps us going back.It’s so easy to make an appointment giving details of what timber and dimensions you wish to select.The timber is made accessible and ready by the time of the appointment which saves so much time. You are taken through the process by ‘Wolf’, who is happy to help however he can to find the timber boards that you require. He’s incredibly patient and helpful so you don’t feel at all rushed or pressured to select unsatisfactory boards, as is often the case elsewhere.The prices have been good every time we’ve been and very fair on any ‘character’ in the boards.If they have, or can source, the species we need, then they are our first port of call. Having been shown round the whole site by Wolf, we have a great picture of the huge stock that is available and the variations within them.David GouldMurray & Gould Ltd
Cyrus
My first time at Vastern's following a recomendation and my word what an epic and positive experience. Totally customer focused. I had a small (under £220) need for a window seat and they could not have been more helpful. I am difficult to please and this place exceeded my expectations. Thought they would be too big an operation for my little DIY project but not at all. "Wolf" (not kidding) moved 3 towers of sawn wood just for me to get to the right bit, and that was after changing my mind from oak, to ash to oak and back to ash again. Patient and helpful and the price was reasonable too. A perfect experience.
Jamie F.
Great selection and service as always. I can always count on Wolf to help me find the perfect boards for my furniture pieces.
Robert F.
As an amateur furniture maker I have been buying small or very small volumes of sawn boards from Vasterns for nearly 20 years. Mainly oak or sweet chestnut - I still have a little bit of cherry left from a purchase over 10 years ago. I have been delighted with the service over the years, their willingness to disturb their routine to dig out a couple of 2" boards of prime Oak ( today's request) and to turn over boards to find the right one. A first rate service and I cannot recommend them highly enough.Here is my recently finished sideboard in sweet chestnut.Thanks Wolf!
Stephen P.
I'm an amateur and wanted to clad my daughter's ugly extension. Vastern's prices were excellent but it was their service that was outstanding. They spent time helping us choose what we wanted. When we scrimped too hard and ordered short, they were quick to help us out. And a final request for two soffit boards was met with equal kindness. These people are terrific, I recommend them.
Sawn timber choices
We have a great selection of sawn boards to show you. We have oak boards with no knots and boards with lots of knots. Or, how about brown oak with its chocolate streaks or pippy oak boards that include the appropriately named ‘cats paws’?
We also offer oak boards with varying levels of character from the odd small knot to full on rustic.
Call us to discuss your project
Resource Centre
Looking for a particular piece of information, asset or advice? Visit our Resource Centre to find an array of resources on all products. From videos and case studies to downloadable information such as product specifications, certifications and product measurements.
Grading of sawn oak
During the cutting process, we divide our oak into a number of grades according to colour, knot content, and general presentation. Our grades are broadly based on the Forestry Commission document ‘Making the Grade. A guide to appearance grading UK grown hardwood timber’.
If you’re used to French grade descriptions, this table will help you make comparisons with our grade descriptions.
| Vastern Timber Grade | Making the Grade | French equivalent |
| Prime | 1A | Q-B A |
| First | 1B | Q-B 1 |
| Character | 2 / 3 | Q-B 2 / 3 (4) |
| Pippy | Pippy | Pippy |
| Heavy pippy / burr | Burr | Burr |
| Brown | Brown | Rouge |
Oak cut to size
Looking for cut-to-size oak? We can help you with that as well. We have a mill filled with big saws that can handle all shapes and sizes. For some oak cutting lists we can also offer planing and profiling.
Know what you want?
Take a look at our other products
Hardwood Flooring / Mouldings / Oak Beams / Timber Cladding
Contact Form
Download Guide
Sign up for our monthly newsletter of timber news, with inspiring case studies and specially selected stories from the wonderful world of trees and woodlands.
Request a quote
Google Reviews
Based on 212 reviews
The content of this website is © Vastern Timber Limited unless otherwise stated