We employ a combination of state of the art and traditional technology throughout the procedure from felling to final sawing. Smaller older tractors such as the Fordson Major have their place in woodland extraction where trees must be removed with the least disturbance to ancient woodland.

Great care is taken to optimise the quality and character of the sawn tree through careful milling. Particular care is taken when milling beams to avoid structurally weakening knots, shakes or sapwood. Sapwood is not only of lesser compressive and tensile strength but very much more prone to infestation by woodworm and death-watch beetle larvae, than is the heartwood.

Small clusters of knots as a result of epicormic growth “side shoots” enhance the character appearance of beams and boards without significantly detracting from their strength. These are particularly prevalent in English Oak and result in a very attractive grain formation sometimes known as “cats paws” on account of their paw print like pattern. Every endeavour is made during milling to feature them.
Larger beams in particular are sawn so as to “box the heart of the tree”. This is to avoid distortion during seasoning. An important process for this UK Timber Supplier.

Aggressive kiln drying is no substitute for seasoning and can result in uneven hardening of the timber and the formation of internal stresses and resultant cracking. However air-drying alone in the British climate will not bring timber to a state of dryness in equilibrium with centrally heated buildings. We dry timber to match, as closely as possible its final application. This UK Timber Supplier knows how crucial this is.