Phil Koomen and James Binning debating the quality of the OneOak tree

Wood gurus James Binning from Deep in Wood sawmill and furniture designer Phil Koomen visited the OneOak tree this week. We asked for their expert opinion as to the possible amount of usable timber we may be able to harvest from the tree. We hope to be able to make many wooden products from the OneOak’s timber and these will need good quality wood – free of knots and bends. Those parts of the tree with such ‘defects’ will be used for other things such as wood for creating heat or energy, or for smaller craft items.

James and Phil thought that it should be possible to cut some good quality timber from the OneOak tree but it may contain less than its large size suggests. There is a heavily-branched section midway up the main stem that may prove difficult to cut to produce the best quality timber.

At the end of the day, foresters only know the quality and quantity of usable timber from a tree when it is felled – so we will have to wait and see!