Today we reached a major milestone in the OneOak project as the OneOak tree was sawn at Deep in Wood sawmill.

Owner and sawmiller James Binning invited some of the future users of the wood to watch the sawing.  Guests included Joe Bray and 13 students from Rycotewood Furniture Centre, green wood furniture designer-maker Rodas Irving, timber framer Norman Guiver, and Chris Mills from Upton Smokery.  The foresters from Blenheim also came to watch their tree being milled.

Our main advisor in the wood aspect of the project, Philip Koomen, was on hand to advise on how best to cut each of the tree’s three timber sections.  We all waited anxiously as the first 4.5m long section was cut into for the first time.  It is never possible to know how good the timber in a tree will be until it is sawn.  It could be that after 160 years of growing in the woodland at Blenheim, and a year of planning in our project, that the timber may have been of poor quality!

We were delighted and relieved that, as board by board was sliced off the giant logs by the super powerful bandsaw, the quality of the boards was excellent.  In the trade they would be called “low grade character timber“.  Expert Philip Koomen was surprised by the quantity of usuable timber and delighted by some of the figuring and colouring in the boards.  For many of the potential uses of the tree this will help in bringing extra value and beauty to the objects.

Now begins a patient waiting game.  The boards were put back together one by one to reform the log with sticks in between.  They will now be kept this way and allowed to air dry.  The usual rule of thumb is one year for every one inch (26mm) of board thickness.  We will need to wait until 2012 for the larger boards to air dry, although the thinner boards will be ready for use in 2011.  Other boards will be used sooner still – by green wood workers – and we look forward to seeing our first manufactured products later this year.

Sawmillers James and John Binning from Deep in Wood sawmill brought their forwarder and heavy lifting equipment to extract the OneOak timber today.

In contrast to the weather on the day of the felling, Blenheim’s woodland was bathed in glorious winter sunshine. They lifted the three main lengths of timber from the OneOak tree onto the trailer.  A large bent branch that we hope will become the brace for a timber-framed building was also taken away.  The branches that remain in the woodland will be used by craftspeople, who will come to select what they need to make dozens of small items.  A sculptor, a firewood merchant and a bioenergy company will also be selecting what they need from the remains of the tree’s crown.

The woodland looked so different than before, now that the OneOak tree is absent.  The eye was drawn to the space at its centre.  But nature was already visibly repairing itself.  The leaf tips of bluebells were emerging, and woodland birds were in full song. The sight of the laden forwarder disappearing down the rutted forest ride was very poignant.  The end of one chapter and the beginning of another.  Any thoughts of sadness at the loss of the tree will now turn to joy as we start to celebrate the creation and beauty of wood. Gabriel Hemery, Project Leader

The timber was transported to Deep in Wood sawmill, just 12 miles away from the woodland.  On the journey, the trailer was taken to a weighbridge where the massive logs were weighed – just over five and a half tonnes.  The weight of the main stem was the last piece in the jigsaw for scientists from Forest Research, who spent two days after the felling weighing every branch and twig, in a massive effort to calculate the total tree’s weight.

Milling is scheduled for next week.