This week one of the boards from the OneOak tree was delivered to Carpenter Oak & Woodland for use in an innovative new house build. Project manager Gabriel Hemery went along to witness at first hand the creation of two timber braces and their installation in the oak frame.

The OneOak timber arrives at Carpenter Oak & Woodland Ltd

The Board

From the 22 boards milled from the OneOak tree at Deep in Wood sawmill 18 months ago, board 2.2 was selected for the timber framing project.  This was a board 4350mm long× 670mm wide × 105mm thick, cut from the second length (4.5m to 9.0m up the tree stem).

See more about this board and the others in our interactive online Sawn Timber Catalogue.

The build project

The OneOak board will be used in a large new build house in Gloucestershire.  It consists of 13 mono-pitched cross frames set out on a curved grid.  It is a complex, unusual and innovative architectural design.  All the timber, other that our OneOak board, consists of oak imported from France: a total of 19 tonnes of oak.  The timber frame is scheduled to be erected in late October.

The frame

The OneOak board was destined to be used to create two timber braces about 1700mm and 1500mm long.  Most of the frame had been constructed by the time our OneOak board was delivered.  Assistant Team Leader at Carpenter Oak & Woodland, Matt Collins, first cut the two rough lengths to 175mm wide using a skill saw, squared them and planed them smooth with an electric planer.  The two braces donated from the OneOak tree were only 18 months air-dried; normally the braces are dried for a minimum of five years. In this case however, the drying conditions at the sawmill produced timber that was sufficiently dry.

Set among the beams and working tools, the working drawing shows the curved grid design of the new build

Carpenter Matt Collins marks out the two timber braces against the main frame after they have been sawn to size and planed

The angled tenons are cut in the braces

The two braces complete and ready to test for fitting into the newly created mortices in the main frame.

The completed cross section with the two OneOak braces in place. Carpenter Matt Collins has been timber framing for five years.

The frame will be disassembled ready for transportation to the site of the new house build sometime in October. Typically the erection of a timber frame will take about one week on site.  We look forward to witnessing the frame being erected and to posting more about it here in the future.

Our thanks to all the team at Carpenter Oak & Woodland.