As a carpenter I have to buy a lot of timber and it's more expensive than you think.
This little lot of wood in the picture above was the best part of £300, although it is oak and planned to size for me, some for a job in the next village and some for our house.
So my message for this post is that if you have a tree that you think you could plank, make sure you do rather than cutting it for firewood. Even if you sell the timber once it's done the value will be much higher than firewood.
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| On a axe workshop and chainsaw milling course a few years ago |
Although it seems expensive to get someone in to plank it with a mobile mill it works out to be a good investment once you've left it to dry for a few years. Also this way it can normally be milled on site and then each piece is easier to move meaning there is no need for big machinery. There are hundreds of varieties of trees that make great timber with lots of uses; like Larch for cladding or Ash for furniture, the list just goes on and on.
Has anyone else milled their own timber and gotten good results? There are no trees here that would make good timber so I'll have to keep buying mine for now!
