Oak Finishes
Find your perfect oak finish
The green oak timber is cut into beams by the timber supplier using a Band Saw. Once delivered to the Westwind Oak workshop, we fashion the timber into the frame pieces using hand held planes and chisels. The green oak will take on small amounts of black staining where the moist tannins come in contact with the metal tools. Some of our customers like to keep the frame as it is, complete with Band Saw marks and tannin staining, but most prefer a cleaner finish.
Sandblasting
Most of our customers opt for the oak frame to be sandblasted. We recommend a local sandblasting company Avon Blast Cleaning. The specialist sand, which contains no metal impurities, removes the black staining and helps smooth away a lot of the Band Saw marks.
Oxalic acid cleaning
Once the building is waterproof, with a SIPs envelope or another building system, the frame can be cleaned using Oxalic acid. The acid will remove the staining but will leave the sawn finish intact.
Planing
The smoothest finish is achieved by planing the oak frame. This is the most time consuming option but will eliminate all of the surface imperfections.