If you have not ordered timber online before it can be a daunting task, but actually with a bit of basic knowledge it is very easy to find your perfect wood, online.

Firstly you need to decide if you require your timber to have a smooth finish, on all sides, or if you are happy with a rough finish to the surfaces of the boards, i.e. straight from being cut by the machine saw, with no planning taken place.

Sawn timber is normally cheaper than planed wood because there has been very little processing or machining apart from the cutting.

One advantage of sawn timber is you can cut, plane, machine, carve or mould it to your desired end use. A bit like a blank canvas.

Once you have decided on the timber type, and finish, you then need to be aware of a few of the terms regulating to the cuts. We have outlined these in the table below:

Term	Finish	Thickness	Width	Length
Planed All Round (PAR)	Planed to a smooth finish on all four faces	Cut and planed smooth to specified thickness	Cut and planed smooth to specified width	Not always cut to exact length, but total length ordered will be supplied
Planed Square Edge (PSE)*	Planed with square edges (90 degrees to each other)	Cut and planed smooth to specified thickness	Cut and planed smooth to specified width	Not always cut to exact length, but total length ordered will be supplied
Sawn Boards Cut to width	Rough sawn finish on all sides	Cut to specified thickness (not planed smooth)	Cut to specified width (not planed smooth)	Not always cut to exact length, but total length ordered will be supplied
Sawn Boards Not cut to size	Rough sawn finish on all faces	Supplied at or over specified thickness	Supplied at or over specified width	Not always cut to exact length but, total length ordered will be supplied
Cut to lengths	N/A	N/A	N/A	Cut to the lengths specified

* PSE and PAR can often be used to mean the same thing. The only real difference is that PSE has square edges and technically might not be planed to all surfaces. PAR is always planed all round the shape doesn't have to be square.

Rough Sawn Timber	Planed All Round (PAR)	Planed Square Edge (PSE)

The above cross section diagrams shows example of the cut finishes explained in the section above,. This is for indication and reference only but should clearly show the difference between Sawn, PAR and PSE wood boards.

As stated above, when you specify the width and thickness (with sawn timber) the board may be supplied larger to cover the sizes you request. Again, unless specified as cut to size.

The sawn timber for sale on our site is almost always cut to widths, so you will get the sizes you specify, unless otherwise stated. The timber is left with a rough finish.

Planed all round timber will always be finished to the exact thickness and width that has been specified.

The length specified is normally assumed to be the total length required, so if you order 1200mm of timber you could get one length of 1200mm or slightly longer to ensure you are covered, say 1250mm.

If you requested, for example, 100m of timber - you would receive random lengths to cover this total amount. We mostly offer the ability to set your lengths (rather than a total).

If you require the exact length then please make sure you select the 'cut to length' option on the quoting page. Sometimes requesting cut to lengths cost a little more as more work is required.

Sometimes specifying shorter lengths or thinner widths could result in better prices due to the availability.

Try and avoid ordering long lengths, instead break this down and increase the quantity.

All the timber for sale in this site is cut to order so will be more expensive than off the shelf, standard size boards, with our service you get the exact sizes required and every piece of timber is inspected for quality before dispatch.

Useful Links:
Buy Planed All Round Timber
Buy Sawn Timber Boards
How to plane rough sawn timber
How To Measure Sawn Timber and PSE
What is the difference between PSE and PAR?

Published: 20/12/2022

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