Hardwood & Marine Timber Suppliers UK
A few articles ago, we showed a glimpse of how far back WL West‘s expertise stretches. From woodland enterprises centuries ago, to heritage projects and international timber trade in today’s dizzying digital age, we’ve had the honour of supplying timber for projects from landscaping to church restorations.
But the portfolio doesn’t stop there: we do boat building and boat restoration too. We’ve worked on some of the world’s most famous warships, including H.M.S.Victory and H.M.S Warrior. The best ships in North America feature face and core marine grade plywood, as well as stones marine timber.
H.M.S Warrior in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
WL West and Marine Grade Timber
For 155 years, we have held and supplied specialist timber supplies for the world’s most famous ships and sailing vessels.
Our peerless range of products, and centuries of expertise, make us the ideal suppliers for such projects but we welcome bespoke specialist projects as well, from privately-owned sailing boats and super yachts to Gloriana, the Queen’s rowing barge built for her diamond jubilee.
Gloriana
Timber beams (all with very specific names and purposes) are often the main axis of an interior ship restoration. We offer a variety of specialist hardwoods & softwoods with additional cutting, machining & CNC services available.
We value the worth of heritage in more than one way: sometimes, the old techniques are inimitable. To match hand-moulded skirting details, for example, we use the latest machine innovations to get a result as close to the original as possible.
Where timber alternatives are necessary (eg: if the original timber is a protected species, or nowadays illegal to trade), we work with our clients to find the closest match and application for best performance.
Doris, a long boat owned by one of our craftsmen customers. Fitted out by hand.
Case Study: HMS Warrior – Portsmouth
Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. We certainly get variety in our job, having worked with the Royal Naval Dockyard Portsmouth for decades on HMS Victory and other projects. More recently, the responsibility for historic warships in the UK has passed to the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
During early 2019 we were asked by the museum team how we would go about replacing some of the decorative mouldings on the stern of HMS Warrior. We obtained samples of the profiles required. The ones requiring replacing were made in softwood and laminated horizontally. They were in a bad state of repair, being held together pretty much by the paint surrounding it.
We took a different approach and suggested to the museum team that laminating them vertically would be a better solution. Each layer of the lamination had its own profile to make up the total shape of the moulding. Each one had its own template and tooling made, and was machined using our Weinig moulder. The lamination itself was done on-site in the dockyard. With each piece being glued one at a time on to the stern of HMS Warrior.
The project went very well, and as you can see from the photographs was a great success.
This ship was the Royal Navy’s very first iron warship but never saw any conflicts. Powered by steam and wind, the ship is an impressive sight and well worth a trip to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for a visit.
Case Study: H.M.S Victory
WL West have supplied timber for the restoration of H.M.S Victory since 2016. The oldest commissioned warship in the world, H.M.S Victory is where Nelson was fatally shot during the Battle of Trafalgar. During his last moments he was taken to the very deck we were asked to survey: the Orlop deck.
The Orlop deck on H.M.S Victory.
We were asked to assess the timber beams across the width of the vessel, from port to starboard. Over the years, deterioration had occurred, and some of them needed re-attachment. This we did with 166 high-quality Stainless Steel coach bolts manufactured by Technifast Ltd. These coach bolts ranged from 250mm long to 750mm long, designed then installed by our craftsmen.
Our team were tasked with replacing one of the beam ends. This entailed a delicate exercise of supporting the main beam, cutting the decayed part out, and scarfing a new Oak replacement (ie: bevelling the two pieces so that they fit over and into each other).
Oak boules for H.M.S Victory, set aside for future gun cill restoration to air-dry in our yard.
How We Can Help Your Boat Building Project
Boat building and restoration can be intimidating for the owners, especially specialist projects that have a habit of keeping everyone involved on their toes. Each project is different, so we offer site visits to better understand your requirements.
Here are boat building products we provide:
- Machined Timber Profiles
- Long Lengths of well air-dried European Oak
- Home-Grown English Ash
- Vertical Grain Douglas Fir
- American Black Walnut (for trims)
- Machined Free Issue Teak & Mahogany
- Laminated Timber Sections
- Machined Decking
- Thermally Treated Timber in Ash, Ayous and chemically-modified Lignia
- Restoration & Conservation Timbers
*UK Distribution Available*
Repairing and replacing these can be a difficult and delicate task, especially if the restoration demands exact profiling. So, let us handle the dirty work. We always remain happy to offer expert advice also.
For more information, please click below or contact us; we will get back to you within three working days.
If you have any pictures you would like to share of your own project, reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
