Sawn Timber

Sustainably sourced sawn timber

At WL West Timber we work with you to source and supply the right timber for your project. We are committed to sourcing our timber sustainably.  We are certified by several chain of custody schemes to supply responsibly sourced timber. If certified timber is required for your project, please let us know at the start of your project. We have a wide selection of sawn boards in stock, as well as offering a cut-to-size service for our customers. You are very welcome to visit us and select rough sawn boards from our on-site stock.

British Timber

Our British timber is available as fresh sawn, air dried and kiln dried boards. British species in stock are: Ash, Cedar, Douglas Fir, Elm, Larch and Sycamore.

Imported Timber

European timber, available as fresh sawn, air dried and kiln dried square and waney edge boards. Stock species include: European Oak and French Walnut.

Tropical species in stock include: Iroko and Sapele.

We also source timber to order, so please do contact us if you have a specific hardwood requirement.

Our Timber Species

  • British Cedar

    A golden straw colour to light reddish brown, this very durable wood is often used for furniture making. Cedar is easy to work, turns, glues and finishes well.

  • British Elm

    British Elm

    Elm wood is strong and durable with attractive figuring and rich, warm colour tones. Our British Elm is perfect for furniture, joinery and flooring.

  • British Larch

    The strongest, hardest and most durable of our native coniferous woods, British Larch flatsawn sections can exhibit a lot of character and interesting patterns in the growth rings. A stable timber, Larch is an excellent choice for framing, joinery, cladding, shakes and shingles.

  • English Ash

    English Ash varies in colour from cream to a light gold. Look out for burr, ripple and quilted grain boards. Its great strength, shock resistance and density make Ash particularly suited to furniture making, flooring and sporting equipment.

  • English Douglas Fir

    Locally sourced from responsibly managed Sussex woodland, our top-quality Douglas Fir is perfect for cladding, polo pitch boards, joinery work, roof trusses, laminated arches and beams. It is usually a light to reddish brown with darker growth rings and a straight or wavy grain.

  • English Sycamore

    Our English Sycamore timber stock is selected for its pale creamy-yellow colouring and lustrous grain pattern. Sycamore is becoming ever more popular and is often used for furniture, musical instruments and turning.

  • European Oak

    European Oak

    Our selection of European Oak is based on decades of experience of working with our customers to fulfil their wide-ranging requirements. European Oak is a strong and durable timber, usually with a straight grain. Grades include Veneer, First Quality and 1-2 grade and Pippy. We also stock beams and squares, often produced to specification.

    Our European Oak is available as log sawn boules and square edge boards in short to very long lengths, including extra wide boards.

  • European Walnut

    We stock and source high-quality European Walnut for furniture and cabinet making. European Walnut is a very attractive timber with exquisite rich brown colour, beautiful grain figuring, and can be polished to a fine finish.

  • Iroko

    This very durable golden-brown African hardwood can be used internally and externally. Iroko is an ideal exterior wood for outdoor furniture, decking and landscaping due to its resistance to rot and the fact that it does not need preservative treatments.

  • Sapele

    Sapele has a distinctive reddish or purple-brown colour with a well-defined stripe on quartered surfaces. This beautiful, durable and sustainable African timber is typically used for furniture, joinery, doors and worktops.

Why source from WL West Timber?

  • Wood cut to size and shape

    An extensive range of machinery enables us to offer a wide range of timber milling, cutting and preparation services for our clients. Our Mebor Sawmill can handle logs of up to 1.9m in diameter and 8m in length.

    European Oak is the most popular option, but we also stock a range of other timbers. Our European Oak and British timber are available as square edged and waney edged (through & through) boards - fresh sawn, air dried and kiln dried - in a range of thicknesses, widths and lengths. British species in stock are: Ash, Cedar, Douglas Fir, Elm, Larch and Sycamore. We also stock European Walnut, Iroko and Sapele.

  • Air dried through and through

    All our European Oak is cut from logs at our sawmill. We grade the timber as we saw the logs, and air dry it in our yard for around one year per inch of thickness. When the oak reaches 17-21% moisture content it is suitable for external use as cladding, decking, timber frames, joinery, outdoor furniture or for kiln drying in our onsite kilns.

  • Kiln dried square edge boards

    We keep a good range of square edge stock, in a selection of thicknesses, widths and lengths. The variety of grades and species we offer are especially suited to joinery, machine profiling and flooring manufacture. Species in stock include: European Oak, Iroko and Sapele.

  • Machined profiles

    With dozens of different profile cutters available, we are able to machine a wide range of profiles for a variety of end uses. If we do not have the right profile to meet your requirements, our expert team are usually able to use our state-of-the-art equipment to design the profile you require. Prices will alter with the size of the run, the larger the run the lower the price. All the timber species we offer can be machined to profile.

Sawn timber in West Sussex

Looking for a particular piece of information, asset or advice? Visit our Resource Hub to find an array of resources on all products. From timber species and grading, to blog posts and case studies, through to downloadable information such as timber certification.

Do you require sawn timber for your next project?

We are a leading UK hardwood timber merchant & machinist, supplying homeowners, trade and commercial sectors.

From sawn timber to specialist services such as CNC machining, we can help. With over 155 years’ experience, timber is what we do. Get in touch with our Sales Team to get your sawn timber quote.