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Google Reviews
Based on 212 reviews
Buying English Oak boards
If you’re a furniture maker or joiner looking for locally-grown oak boards, you’re in the right place. As we run our own sawmills, we have a full overview of the entire process, from buying the logs through to kiln drying and grading the planks. This means you can be sure of the highest standards at every step.
Want to choose your own sawn timber oak boards? Great. Come along to our yard. No online purchasing forms. No hassle. Just friendly people and big stocks of oak boards for you to view. All we ask is that you make an appointment first, so we can prepare your wood and organise a team for you. Whether you’re a professional or DIY, we’ll help you find the right timber for your project.
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.
English oak has held a very special place in the hearts of artisans for hundreds of years. Its strength, resistance to decay and sheer versatility is engrained in our national heritage. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, customers still cherish English oak for its beautiful grain and figure, which tend to be more decorative and unique than in oak from elsewhere.
At Vastern Timber, we’re dedicated to supporting local woodlands by processing and marketing locally grown wood. We firmly believe that the best way to protect our remaining forests is to ensure they have a value.
We select and store planking grade English oak butts at our Studley sawmill ready for sawing during the winter months. From experience, we know that cutting during these colder and wetter months reduces the chance of surface splitting (checking), a problem caused by rapid drying. We like to store each log for at least a year after felling to allow it time to relax and release tension.
In our experience, we find that patience pays off and the reward is flat, straight wood. Once cut, we air-dry the planks according to the time-honoured rule of one year per inch of thickness. It’s well worth the wait.
English oak boards
During the cutting process we divide the oak into a number of grades according to colour, knot content, and cutting format. We may also separate particularly large or long logs. Our grades are broadly based on the Forestry Commission produced document ‘Making the Grade. A guide to appearance grading UK grown hardwood timber’.
Call us to discuss your project
Waney edge, crown cut and quarter sawn oak boards
Most of our oak is produced as waney-edge boards (WE), otherwise known as ‘log sawn’ (LS) or ‘Through and Through’ (T/T). This means that the boards will have the wane or bark attached to one or two edges. Thicknesses from 20mm up to 54mm tend to be cut through the log producing crown, rift and quarter sawn boards. The thicker boards, from 65mm to 150mm, are billet cut resulting in only quarter and rift cut boards.
Crown cut boards will show the swirling patterns that result from cutting through the growth rings near their crest. On close inspection, these boards will also include small black flecks (medullary rays) which travel from the heart to the outside of the tree.
Quarter sawn boards with medullary rays running parallel to the direction of the cut exhibit beautiful sliver figuring – the result of the rays being sliced longitudinally. Quarter sawn boards are renowned for their stability although they can suffer from greater shrinkage during drying.
Know what you want?
Buying waney-edge timber
We sell our UK hardwoods as waney-edge boards, which means the sap, and sometimes the bark, is still attached. Some people call these live-edge planks. The boards will vary in width and length.
When measuring the planks we take an average width measurement, including half of the wane. Depending on the grade of plank that you’re buying, we may reduce the measure a bit for splits and large knots.
We have some standard grades for our UK hardwoods but we’re also happy for you to select a grade that suits your project. From squeaky clean to raw and rustic, we can normally find boards to match your design.
To make sure we have time to help you, please make an appointment before arriving at our yards to select your wood.
Calculating how much timber to buy
If you’re cutting a square-edge specification out of your waney-edge boards, you will waste as much as you use. It sounds horrendously wasteful but that’s how it is. To estimate how much to buy, work out the volume for each thickness in your specification and double it.
If you’re including the waney-edge in your design, it will be cheaper and far less wasteful too.
A final thought
It’s not an exaggeration to say that we’re passionate about promoting the use of British grown timber. Tom Barnes, our MD, is carrying on a 100 year family tradition of processing native wood.
He says: ‘It is a case of use it or lose it. Not just in terms of the woodland itself, but also the skills and jobs that exist in the woodland economy. Over 60% of our broadleaf woodlands are unmanaged, yet only 6% of the hardwood used in this country is grown here. We can and must do better!’
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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.
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Google Reviews
Based on 212 reviews
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