• Custom sawmilling

    I generally use a swing blade type sawmill from a Kiwi manufacturer called Peterson to cut up most of my timber. This machine uses a circular saw blade to cut boards horizontally and vertically, and if I need wide slabs I also have a chainsaw attachment allowing me to cut up to 155 cm or 5 feet wide. I also use a chainsaw with a slabber attachment or even freehand with a long bar. All these options allow me to harvest trees from inaccessible areas. If you would like to see a short video of me using my sawmill click on the button.

  • The wood

    The wood

    Virtually all the timber I source come from either storm falls or trees that are dangerous to dwellings or roads etc, and often end up as firewood or worse left to rot, I think this is tragic as so much of the timber used in this country is imported, and I believe we have some of the most beautiful wood in the world

  • Dimensional timber or Slabs

    Once the wood is sawn and stacked, it is air dried under cover but with a good air flow for roughly a year per inch of thickness. Then kiln dried to reach the required moisture content.

    Grain orientation is crucial to cabinet makers/joiners and for good reason, and how a tree is cut up has so much to do with how that piece will hold up over time, traditionally makers look for straight grained quarter sawn or rift sawn boards from the bole of the tree, as this has the most stable timber, this is slightly different with the more recent trends of slab or live edge pieces, where unusual grain patterns and shapes are sought after

  • It's Ready!

    Once the timber reaches the required moisture content of 8-12% (indoors) or 16-20%(outdoors) it is ready to be used.

    Most timber needs to be kiln dried to ensure stability in solid wood pieces.

    I can also supply kiln dried woods of various species if you fancy making your own projects.

  • Passionate about trees

    I am passionate about wood, but I am just as passionate about trees, as anyone who’s ever gone for a walk with me will know, from spewing out boring tree facts, literal tree hugging, taking arty tree photos and boring my children. As a farmer I love planting and growing things, and some of the things that I enjoy the most on the farm is managing the three acres of forestry and woodland, and planting new trees

SAWMILL

Tree to furniture

Taking the wood from a tree to the point where it sits happily in your house or garden, is a complicated business, if the tree is still standing more complicated still, I won’t fell a tree unless it’s dangerous or there is a good reason.

The wood needs to be sawn as green if possible, air dried for roughly a year per inch of thickness then either kiln dried or kept in a climate controlled environment until it reaches a moisture content of 8-12%, (some species dry faster and are less likely to split and warp) before finally being suitable to be used for indoor furniture.

As my timber is all sourced relatively locally, this means that the carbon footprint is pretty small.

I generally keep more timber than I can use so please feel free to contact me to see what timber I have in my inventory.