As mentioned under “Sources”, I get most of my wood from a local tree surgeon. He has learned very quickly what wood I want, and how to cut it. Nowadays he even gives me a call before he takes a tree down, so we can discuss the best way to use it. As it turns out, he generates such an amount of wood, that I cannot possibly use it all myself. So the two of us decided to make his wood into turning blanks and offer them for sale to the general public.
Our turning blanks are generally not kiln dried. Some of them may have had some natural seasoning (storage in dry conditions for 1-12 months), but they are definitely not anywhere close to the 8-10% humidity one will find in a centrally heated home. In fact, some of them are positively green wood (i.e. moisture content well above 20%). Green wood generally turns nicer, but it does mean you’ll have to rough turn your items, and then let them dry out in a cupboard for at least a few weeks before finishing them.
We try and provide blanks that are free from defects and knots, but naturally we cannot look inside the blanks. There are also a few items where the knots have deliberately been left in (e.g. some of the monkey puzzle blanks), if you want that, just send us an email (via the contact form) and we’ll see what we can do.
Our blanks are not covered in wax, but the end grain will usually be sealed in some manner to prevent splitting. They are generally cut with the chain saw, and we then use a planer to get one side smooth to expose the figure of the grain.
Availability of particular species obviously depends on what we have coming in from his tree surgery, although we will also use other tree surgeons as suppliers for interesting pieces. In this section you’ll find pages for all the species we intend to offer, but not all of them are available all the time. We try and keep them up to date as best we can. If you have special requirements with regard to dimensions, it’s probably best to send us an email first.
The prices stated do not include VAT, as we are not registered for VAT. They also do not include delivery, and, as you can imagine, shipping green wood can get expensive, therefore we recommend you give us a call and we arrange a date when you can have a look at all that is available. Having said that, if this is not feasible, we are more than happy to arrange delivery anywhere in the UK (except the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland). Please ask for a quote.