Green oak/sleepers + cutting advice/n.east supplier ?

[redzed]

Hi all

Am looking to buy some green oak to build a door porch but need some advice please.

Would the quality of new green oak sleepers be ok compared to 'constructional' green oak?

A lot of places selling sleepers have sizes as low as 200 x 100mm so surely because the section is so small, are these sleepers in the first place or are they just normal green oak constructional timber?

I've got a Metabo BAS317 bandsaw and am wondering if it would cope with ripping some of the larger green oak sections down? I realise I would need a nice course blade, something like 3 TPI so would there be any recommendations on a good quality blade?

I've found lots of prices online with green oak sleepers as low as £11/cu ft, but am really struggling to find anyone that sells green oak/sleepers in the north east area. So,can anyone recommend any suppliers please in the Tyneside, Wearside, Northumberland or Durham areas ? I live in South Tyneside BTW.

Many thanks

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Redzed welcome to the forum. For your blades you could do a lot worse then go to Ian John's at [email protected]

HTH

Cheers

Mike

 

[Recky33]

Hi M8 and welcome.

Once you get a good blade off Ian your going to have to build your self a bit of a table extension and probably get a friend round to help, other than that the machine shouldn't have a problem cutting it

Allan

 

[miles_hot]

One place I'd avoid buying from would eb UK Oak - which is a shame as they're very cheep however the quality of the deckign joists I got from them was scary bad in terms of the sawing and I understand that BSM had service issues with them.

Sorry to be negative

Miles

 

[redzed]

Many thanks for the very warm welcome and advice.

Have just managed to find Ian John's Tuffsaws shop on ebay and noticed that I had already looked at his blades before getting his recommendations on here.

I've also spotted the 'timber merchants map' which is a great help.

You're not being negative Miles, just giving everyone a heads up and stating some facts...thanks

Fantastic forum by the way!

 

[big soft moose]

One place I'd avoid buying from would eb UK Oak - which is a shame as they're very cheep however the quality of the deckign joists I got from them was scary bad in terms of the sawing and I understand that BSM had service issues with them.

Sorry to be negative

Miles

oh yeah avoid them like the plague I could write a short book on my bad experiences with that outfit (note both miles and I are talking about the yard in corby (who also trade as uksleepers) not the unrelated firm with the same name in powys)

In short, Ive ordered from them twice - the first time they failed to deliver twice because their driver couldnt understand the concept of a depot without a postcode and couldnt follow direction or read a map, so we went up to collect, and while we were collecting they managed to ram our truck with a forklift.

the second time, we just went to collect, only to be told on arrival that they'd sold our order to someone else, they then offered free delivery to our new depot (which has a postcode) and i told them fine but not until after the 7th of july - so they turned up on the 28th of june, and were sent away, then turned up again on the 6th of july and were sent away, before finally managing to deliver on the 8th - then we discovered that the suposedly kiln dried wood was still wet (like actually seeping water), and that the 3 metre bridge bearer was so cracked and split that it would be useful only as firewood

pile of pineapple - they offered me a hundred pound off my next order to make up for the trouble, but frankly it would take a great deal more bthan 100 notes to get me to deal with them again.

I dont know if they are representative of places that sell sleepers - one hopes not, but in general it is worth remembering that sleeper dealers are often not timber yards per se, and that if they are very cheap there may be a reason.

 

[Woodchips2]

I also bought some oak from UK Oak which was sold as air-dried one to three years but more like one to three days!!Nine months on and it is looking usable but I needed it nine months ago.
Regards Keith

 

[Dan-K]

I bought some new chestnut from UKsleepers and it had loads of woodworm! Oak looks ok, though still green currently. No problems with delivery really, though the driver had a good whinge about how narrow the lane was, despite me informing them of this when I ordered - but he didn't seem to enjoy his job much anyhow

 

[Lons]

Hi Redzed

I'm in Northumberland and though I can't help directly with a supplier, I'm pretty sure that many of the "proper" sawmills should be able to supply or at least point you in the right direction.

The bulk of their business is usually fenceposts and general softwood but they usually will take hardwood when they can get it and oak is I think often still used for hd gateposts.

There are a few around the North East and you need to find one cutting straight from the log. If you do a google, you'll come up with a list to contact.

As an afterthough, John Boddy at Boroughbridge might be able to supply as well, though they might be too far away for you.

regards

Bob

 

[redzed]

Quite shocking your stories about uk sleepers/oak, beyond belief to be honest. From ramming Moose's truck, being incapable of reading a map (what did we do before sat navs?), selling soaking wet kiln dried wood, woodworm infested wood etc etc. It really does make you sick that people like this actually stay afloat, suppose landscaping people and DIY' ers help a lot.

Lons,

I've located a sawmill in Sunderland which is only 10 miles away so I'll ring them in the morning. Living very close to the Tyne there's some very big importers but as you've suggested I needed to be looking for sawmills and not timber merchants. I'll start in Sunderland and work my way, more than likely, west along the Tyne valley.

Thanks again.

 

[redzed]

Have only managed to find one company that can supply green oak in the north east and they're asking £39.50/cu ft.

So far it'll work out a lot cheaper if I hire a van for £50/day and spend £50 on diesel.

 

[Treeves]

oh yeah avoid them like the plague I could write a short book on my bad experiences with that outfit (note both miles and I are talking about the yard in corby (who also trade as uksleepers) not the unrelated firm with the same name in powys)

In short, Ive ordered from them twice - the first time they failed to deliver twice because their driver couldnt understand the concept of a depot without a postcode and couldnt follow direction or read a map, so we went up to collect, and while we were collecting they managed to ram our truck with a forklift.

So even though they allegedly damaged your van when you went to collect the first order, and the material was of poor quality, you decided to order from them a second time; doesn't really make sense to me !!

Think I might go to take a look at their stuff anyway, as they are local to me.

 

[Dibs-h]

So even though they allegedly damaged your van when you went to collect the first order,

Could be something called giving folk a second chance, especially if the FLT driver was apologetic (can't see him being otherwise - least the risk of getting thumped) and there may have been no real panel damage to speak of.

and the material was of poor quality, you decided to order from them a second time; doesn't really make sense to me !!

I've re-read that post several times - the cr@p quality relates to the 2nd lot - not the 1st. Suspect that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Think I might go to take a look at their stuff anyway, as they are local to me.

Give it a shot - let us know what the quality was and your experience and how much stuff you bought.

Cheers

Dibs

 

[Treeves]

I will let you know how I get on Dibs. I spoke to them on the phone this morning and have arranged to go and collect 20m2 of flooring on Thursday; let's see how they get on with that.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[big soft moose]

oh yeah avoid them like the plague I could write a poo book on my bad experiences with that outfit (note both miles and I are talking about the yard in corby (who also trade as uksleepers) not the unrelated firm with the same name in powys)

In poo, Ive ordered from them twice - the first time they failed to deliver twice because their driver couldnt understand the concept of a depot without a postcode and couldnt follow direction or read a map, so we went up to collect, and while we were collecting they managed to ram our truck with a forklift.

So even though they allegedly damaged your van when you went to collect the first order, and the material was of poor quality, you decided to order from them a second time; doesn't really make sense to me !!

Think I might go to take a look at their stuff anyway, as they are local to me.

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to imply , but you could start by reading the post propperly

on the first occasion there was nowt wrong with the wood, but the service was porkpieing alwful - we went to them again because one would hope that the incident with the forklift was a one off thing and they are very cheap (like half the price of their nearest competitor)

the second time round the wood was a steaming pile of shiite and the service was still fckin awful - at that point i decided they were out of chances, hundred quid credit not withstanding.

If you want to go to them after hearing all that then thats your perogative - but when your kiln dried wood turns out to be freshly cut or riddled with woodworm , or so warped/badly sawn that its only good for making propellors (miles had some in his raised beds where if he'd planed it flat there would have been none left), dont be suprised if we say we told you so.

 

[Treeves]

Not really trying to imply anything BSM, I suppose I was just a bit concerned about my order with them after reading your post; and was also struggling to understand why you would go back to them a second time after receiving such bad service, as that's not something I would have done.

Needless to say, I will be checking ALL of the material I collect on Thursday diligently.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[big soft moose]

we've been processing more of the wood out of the second batch today - i'll put some piccies up later - so far we've found "green" oak 4x4 that was so rotten you could stick a screwdriver straight through it - and a pallet of 8x1.5ins x 8ft with the bottom layer made up entirely of 4x1.5ins x 4ft - they'll be handy for decking a bridge 4'6" wide - not