Sawn Timber

Suppliers of sawn timber for joinery and furniture makers.

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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

Jonathan A.

I've purchased various products from Vastern including cladding, character boards, planned timber and huge oak slabs. Everyone is extremely helpful and professional, especially Wolf who's helped me out many times to find exactly the timber I needed. They always have a large range of character boards in stock and the quality of timber is always exceptional.

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 Gould
Murray & 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.

Ioan F.

I recently had an excellent experience with Vastern Timber for purchasing some amazing ash boards !

The range of wood options is impressive, and the quality is unmatched.
A special shoutout to Wolf for his exceptional assistance—he was not only helpful and knowledgeable but also incredibly polite and professional. He made the whole process a breeze.

I highly recommend Vastern Timber for top-notch products and outstanding service. Thanks again, Wolf!

Sam W.

Always a great experience at Vastern. Prices are reasonable considering the quality is so good, and the staff are all very helpful & knowledgeable, even dealing with small quantity orders. Special shout out to Wolf, he's bloody brilliant. Always happy to help dig to the bottom of a pile to find the perfect boards for the job, and he's got a proper interest in timber and woodworking.

Mat H.

Had a really lovey experience up at Vastern a few months back.

I’ve been a cabinet maker for 15 years based in Chichester, have almost always just sourced timber very locally, unfortunately one of the main sawmills locally to me is no longer really taking the time to support smaller businesses. As a maker is imperative to at I get to hand select boards to find the best timber for my clients.

I drove about 2 hours to get up to Vastern and was not disappointed. Wolf who is in charge of the yard and showing customers around was brilliant, very patient with a rather picky customer :) picked through plenty of boards to find just the right ones, thanks again wolf. I will 100% be using them again soon for more projects.

I also have never been to such an honest wood yard, there was a small miscalculation on the bill, I had no idea as was very happy with the end price compared with south coast prices, Wolf literally came running out to inform me and sort out the refund. Well worth the drive. Customer thrilled with the kitchen and end result which is the main thing in the end.

Matt Hibbert
Mathibbertdesigns.co.uk

Scott S.

I had been meaning to visit Vastern's for years and the opportunity came up with a commission for which I wanted to use some first quality home grown oak and some ash. First impressions were good with a lovely tidy yard and plenty of beautifully stacked timber air-drying. Selecting out the oak, Wolf couldn't have been more helpful, responding to my requests to search for particular grain. Nothing was too much trouble for him, even when I spotted a promising board at the bottom of a pack of GIB ash, and he even put some air in my tyres for the journey back to Cornwall! All round exemplary service. Thank you.

Kierstan L.

We have just installed Brimstone poplar cladding on our new extension and are absolutely delighted with it. It's a beautiful finish, full of character and interest. We're already enjoying watching it change gradually as it seasons. We are so pleased we chose Vastern - a local, independent supplier with a strong emphasis on sustainability and locally grown timber and responsibly managed woodland. Right from our first visit, and the brilliant display boards in the car park showing cladding as it matures in all different aspects (ie North facing, South facing etc) and the beautiful showroom, we knew we had found something special. The team have been hugely helpful in outlining options, explaining technical aspects and advising on choices and the customer service has been excellent.

giles4060

Went to Vastern to collect some waney edge boards for our table making business. Met Wolf who was really helpful. Took the time to show us there stock and even invited us back the next day to view the larger slabs they had in their storage shed. Great service. Will be back for sure.

Neil G.

Ordered and fitted some lovely Elm floorboards supplied by Vastern about 14 years ago at the recommendation of Simon Lunt of Boniti. Recently we had a flood that ruined a handful of these. Replacing them could have been a pain, as usually these are only supplied in large lots - as per my original purchase. Wolf from Vastern said he would look to see if there were any unprepared boards in the yard that I could buy and then cut and adjust the thickness for myself, which he did and found there were. So I was already delighted. And then, having researched hiring a thickener to take the boards from 28mm down to 20mm myself Wolf kindly offered to cut and reduce the thickness of the boards specially for me. Not only did this save me a lot of hassle, Wolf sorted all this out for me at a pro rata price roughly equivalent to that available to those buying £1,500 plus orders. For which I am hugely grateful. Beautiful timber, beautiful people!

Caroline H.

Vasterns held a great selection of oak boards and we were able to choose the ideal length and width for our project. We received good help and guidance in our search for the best wood to use and how to care for it. We would highly recommend Vasterns for quality and variety of wood.

david P.

A great sawmill with quality british timbers.
We buy large quantities of english ash and it's easy to find loads of flat boards.

Freddie D.

A really good experience picking up some oak boards which were easy to find in the well ordered barn. Wolf and Dee were both friendly and helpful and it makes a huge difference to a small studio like mine. They also seem to care about the long term health and biodiversity of British woodland which for me is fundamental. I look forward to going back. Thankyou, Fred

Glenn R.

Great staff especially Wolf who was at hand at all times helping us go through the timber. Huge selection of kiln dried and air dried UK timber. Lots of interesting boards to look through too. I highly recommend a visit 😀

Ashley H.

This place is Fantastic. The selection and quality of the wood is outstanding and so is the service. I wanted advice on which wood to use to make chopping boards. The chap who helped me has done the same his self which gave me more confidence when buying. I wish I could remember but I’ll be for more anyway.
Excellent

Maylinne C N.

We visited Vastern Timber this week and had a great experience. The selection of timbers, shapes and sizes is amazing, and we ended up with buying what we needed, and more! Wolf was very patient as we were going through boards to pick just the right one - thank you so much for your help. Out timber was also cut for us which made it easy to pack into the car. We are delighted with the quality of wood, it is simply beautiful, and good pricing. It's a bit of a drive for us but this is the only place that always delivers the highest quality timber for any project. Highly recommended!

Patrick

I recently ordered around 500 metres of green oak feather board, 100 metres of Larch and sawn oak timbers. All of the timber was as it should be and the machining on the feather board was excellent. All the staff I dealt with were friendly and knowledgable and a big thanks to Andy the driver who helped me unload it all when my Labour didn’t arrive!
How a trade supplier should be.

Brian M.

I requested quotes from a few suppliers for green oak boards and Vastern were the only ones to respond with anything that made sense and at a good price. Robin calculated the quantities perfectly for the cladding and the order arrived as arranged. The quality was brilliant, virtually no waste, all straight and flat. The final result is much better than I thought I could achieve with green oak.

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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.

Prime / First grade oak

The cream of the crop. The cleanest oak boards we have.

European oak

First quality cut from French oak logs.

Pippy oak

Oak boards with regular knot clusters or ‘cat’s paws’ across the board.

Brown oak

Naturally brown or streaky brown oak with character

Cedar of Lebanon

A true cedar with a distinctive scent and grain

British Elm

Gorgeous ‘wild’ grain in a variety of colours, subject to availability

Call us to discuss your project

01793853281

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CASE STUDY

English oak church furniture for St Thomas of Canterbury

CASE STUDY

Windsor oak transformed into twin tables for the Crown Estate

CASE STUDY

The ‘Amity’ Seat, English Oak and a workshop tour

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.

Videos

Product specifications

CPD certifications

Fitting information

Measurements

RESOURCE CENTRE

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’.

Making the Grade

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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.

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Take a look at our other products

Hardwood Flooring / Mouldings / Oak Beams / Timber Cladding

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Sawn Timber

Suppliers of sawn timber for joinery and furniture makers.

Buying rough sawn boards

Google Reviews

Buy Timber Boards

Find stunning Oak Planks and more!

Sawn timber choices

Prime / First grade oak

European oak

Pippy oak

Brown oak

Cedar of Lebanon

British Elm

Call us to discuss your project

English oak church furniture for St Thomas of Canterbury

Windsor oak transformed into twin tables for the Crown Estate

The ‘Amity’ Seat, English Oak and a workshop tour

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.

Videos

Product specifications

CPD certifications

Fitting information

Measurements

Grading of sawn oak

Making the Grade

Oak cut to size

Know what you want?

Take a look at our other products

Hardwood Flooring / Mouldings / Oak Beams / Timber Cladding

Contact Form

Download Guide

Request a quote

Contact

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