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May 21, 2012

Helping you meet summer demand for garden timber

MDF — Tags: , , — Booker Timber @ 9:05 am

If you’re in the business of supplying wooden furniture, raised beds, shelters and so on for gardens, you might be set to experience a rise in demand for your products over coming weeks. After all, summer is just around the corner and so many consumers will be thinking about investing in new items to ensure their outdoor areas are up-to-scratch.

Of course, if you’re going to be able to meet demand for your products, it’s important you find the ideal timber merchant to supply your materials. By achieving this, you can help ensure your production runs smoothly and your finished items look the part.

The rise of the ‘outdoor room’

In the past, gardens were predominantly seen as areas for plants, grass, ponds and so on. However, there’s an increasing trend toward a more functional use of these spaces and individuals are now inclined to invest in decking, tables, chairs, recliners and other products to help them enjoy their gardens.

Commenting on this issue in the Financial Times recently, Victoria Maw said: “Although Victorian walled gardens might have featured the odd stone bench, their only function was to provide a place to sit and admire the plants. If tea was taken outdoors, it was usually on a table that was carried outside and then swiftly taken away.

“But attitudes have changed over the past 50 years. Nowadays people expect their garden to fulfil a range of different functions and furniture has evolved to meet this need.”

Boosting living space

Ms Maw went on to suggest that more and more furniture is being designed to meet the brief of an “outdoor living room” and a rising number of people are investing considerable sums in outdoor shelters, some of which can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

How we can help

When you’re on the lookout for wood to help you meet demand among your customers, you might benefit from taking a look at what we have to offer here at Booker Timber. We’re experts when it comes to producing superb timber panels.

Our CNC beam saws are among the largest in the UK and we have the capacity to handle and cut sheets of up to six metres in length and four metres in width, with board thicknesses of up to 90 millimetres.

A broad selection and great value

Whether you’re after MDF, chipboard, plywood, orientated strand board, hardboard or melamine faced chipboard, we’re the firm to come to.

Also, our cut to size chipboard and plywood sheets represent superb value for money and to save you even more cash, our optimisation software will calculate the most efficient way to cut your boards where different sizes are required. As well as lowering your costs, this reduces waste, which is good news for the environment.

Find out more

If you’re keen to find out more about what we have to offer, you can take a look around the rest of our website. Meanwhile, there’s also the option of getting in touch with our friendly and professional team by phone.

May 7, 2012

Cut to Size MDF – Some Uses and Benefits

MDF,Sheets — Tags: , , — Booker Timber @ 9:25 am

MDF is an incredibly versatile material that has a lot of uses throughout the home and businesses. First manufactured in the 1980s, MDF is created by turning softwood into fibres and combining it with wax and resin. It is then formed by applying pressure to it at very high temperatures. This strong and stable material is an excellent cost effective alternative to solid wood that can be used to make office furniture, table tops, exhibition stands and much more.

MDF sheets are ideal for a number of DIY applications. It is affordable and easy to work with, and can be used to make furniture that can be used throughout the home and office. MDF has a mild reaction to moisture, making it ideal for use in the bathroom, as well as other high-humidity environments. It is also incredibly strong and has fire resistant properties, making it ideal for use in the kitchen or as a fire surround. MDF is available in a variety of thicknesses, lengths and widths depending on what it is to be used for.

Just like many varieties of solid wood, MDF can give off a lot of dust during cutting. It’s recommended that you wear a mask at all times during the cutting process. However, a more practical solution is to purchase cut to size MDF from Booker Timber. They use the latest in sheet cutting technology to cut MDF into an almost infinite range of shapes and sizes, leaving you free to get on with your DIY projects.

April 27, 2012

Timber supplier

Sheets,Timber — Tags: , — Booker Timber @ 9:00 am

So you’ve found your timber supplier, and got your list of what you need. Now it’s time to choose your wood. Take your time – and don’t forget your tape measure!

Use it to make sure the ends of the planks are the right size. Also check these for splits, and the direction of the growth rings. Check both sides for knots, and any twisting. Remember that bad knots could end up in your cut-offs.

Also check to see whether the wood is straight by looking down its length from one end. It should not be twisted or bowed. And look for any changes in grain that could have an effect on the finished job.

If you are pulling wood out from a pile, keep checking as you pull out. Don’t pull the timber out any further than you have to if you are not happy with it.

Obviously, if you are transporting the wood yourself, you will have to come prepared with rope, straps and a rag to put on the end of a long load so you can drive home in safety.

At Booker Timber, we have a wide range of high quality timber products, and state of the art CNC machinery together with powerful software so we can provide fast, accurate and efficient solutions to your panel requirements, wherever you are in the UK.

We can help whether you need mdf cutting or want to buy cut to size mdf, cut to size plywood or other types of wood. There’s more online.

April 19, 2012

Timber merchants

Sheets — Tags: , — Booker Timber @ 9:00 am

If you’re not used to buying wood from a timber merchants, choosing your supplier can seem a bewildering experience.

Firstly, you need to know exactly what your timber merchants supply, and what services, like sheet cutting, they provide. And, as with any other service
provider, you will get a good feel from your initial contact, whether that’s in person or by email or phone, as to whether you want to use them. If you are treated well from the earliest stages, you’ve found your supplier.

Ask to go and see their products. Find out what they have in stock, so you can put your shopping list together. See before you buy, and get a feel for the wood’s quality. But, equally, have a good idea of what you need for your projects before you start talking to suppliers.

You should also ask about delivery costs, if you are not able to transport the timber yourself. What cutting can they do for you and what will that cost? Can the merchant also cut wood for you that you have brought yourself? What technology do they use for timber cutting?

At Booker Timber, we have a broad range of trade, industry and retail customers. We offer a specialist sheet material cutting, routing and machining service, and our ultra-modern equipment includes some of the UK’s largest beam saws. We also stock a wide selection of quality timber products. Talk to us whether you need pin boards, plywood sheets or anything else – our experienced, knowledgeable staff will be glad to help.

April 7, 2012

Chipboard

Sheets — Tags: , — Booker Timber @ 9:00 am

Sometimes called particle board, chipboard comes in various thicknesses and has a number of different uses. In furniture and packing in particular, it has several benefits to offer over the alternatives.

For example, this type of wood can be a cost-effective option for making furniture, especially for flat-pack items which the customer puts together themselves. And, when it comes to packing or shipping, chipboard is less expensive than corrugated cardboard.

There are also environmental benefits. This timber is made up of approaching three quarters recycled materials, so fewer trees are cut down compared with corrugated or solid wood products.

Equally, chipboard is a sturdy material which holds up well under pressure, offering robust protection for items being shipped. It can create solid furniture
with no weak points.

In terms of appearance, it is available in a variety of finishes, and can be made to look like any top quality wood, without any defects or knots.
It’s also pretty low-maintenance, but make sure it has been sealed when you buy it, and keep it away from damp environments.

At Booker Timber, we’re an independent timber merchant offering cut to size chipboard and a wide range of other cut products. We supply the industrial sector across the UK and the DIY and trade sectors in the north-west. With our state of the art cutting equipment, stringent quality control and competitive pricing, we can handle bulk orders. Come to us with your own material, or we can supply and machine. There’s more online.

March 27, 2012

Medium Density Fibreboard

Sheets — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:11 am

MDF, or medium density fibreboard, is used in a wide variety of building projects as an excellent alternative to more traditional materials like wood and plastics.
It has many advantages, including its quality: its lack of knots makes it hard to damage, and makes mdf cutting and drilling very straightforward. It can also be painted any colour with just about any kind of paint.

Individual pieces of MDF can be joined together with a wood glue or other methods like dowelling, in which a pin joins two pieces of wood . This process is both
environmentally friendly and straightforward.

Equally, because the fibres of MDF are so thin, they can be combined with other materials to give the fibreboard a variety of properties. For example, with the addition of various resins and additives, MDF materials become free from formaldehyde, and fire and moisture resistant.

If you are keen to source good quality MDF, your best bet is to go to a reputable timber merchants providing mdf cutting services to order, and offering a prompt and efficient service along with a high level of accuracy using the most modern equipment.

One such timber merchant is Booker Timber, which caters for all sizes of order for mdf and plywood cutting. Whether you want cut to size plywood or mdf to within 0.1mm accuracy, or supply, or both, make us your first and only port of call. Talk to us about becoming an account customer, and our environmental credentials. Check out our website today – it’s packed with handy information.

March 17, 2012

Manufactured Timber

Sheets — Tags: , — admin @ 9:10 am

One of the most commonly used products of its kind,  plywood is a manufactured timber, made up of sheets of wood veneer. There are many benefits to plywood sheets, including a relatively low price and its flexibility. It’s also a reusable material, and can typically be made locally. Equally, as a strong product, it is resistant to shrinking, cracking and warping.

Plywood layers are stuck together, with adjacent piles having their grain at right angles to one another for greater strength. Warping can also be reduced by having an odd number of piles to balance the sheet – it is difficult to bend it perpendicular to the direction of the grain.

Plywood comes in various forms, including softwood and hardwood, and marine plywood. The latter is made of durable face and core veneers, with few flaws so it lasts longer in humid, wet conditions and is resistant to de-laminating and fungal attack.

Other kinds of plywood include moisture-resistant, sign-grade, fire-retardant and pressure-treated.

Sheets are typically between 0.6 and 3 inches thick, and sheets are most commonly 4ft by 8ft.

At Booker Timber, we’re timber merchants with extensive expertise and knowledge, and the latest cnc routing equipment. Our knowledgeable staff can handle bulk orders, and we take particular pride in packaging to your precise requirements, and take quality control very seriously.
Let us know your cutting requirements and we’ll use our software for the greatest possible accuracy, keeping costs and waste down.  We also take an eco-friendly approach, and are Chain of Custody certified.

March 1, 2012

If you haven’t heard of it before, cnc cutting stands for Computer Numerical Control.

CNC Cutting,Cutting News — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:59 am

It means a computer converts the design which Computer Aided Design software (CAD) produces, into numbers. These are like the co-ordinates of a graph and they control the cutter’s movement. The computer controls the cutting and shaping of the material to give greater precision, consistency and accuracy.

From start to finish, the whole process is automated. The design and shape of the cut are fed into the computer, and the machine does the cutting without manual help.

While cnc machine may once have been prohibitively expensive, and used exclusively by heavy industry, today the lower prices mean the equipment and its benefits are much more widely accessible.  Once the machinery is in place, production is low cost and machines repeat tasks very accurately, with minimal human intervention.

For smaller orders particularly, though, it may not be cost-effective to do your own cutting, so it’s a good idea to get it done professionally.

At Booker Timber, we’re independent timber merchants supplying industrial customers across the UK, as well as the trade and DIY sectors in our region, the north west of England. Whether you need cut to size chipboard, or cut to size mdf, we can help. And we love a challenge!

As well as cutting timber related products, we can cut plasterboard and plastic. We have some of the best and most modern equipment to do it. Check out our website today – it’s packed with helpful information.

February 26, 2012

Inspiring Youth in a Tough Jobs Market

Cutting News,Sheets,Timber — Tags: , — Booker Timber @ 9:02 am

According to the BBC, youth unemployment is a huge cause of concern in the current U.K financial climate. The recession has left a “legacy” of young unemployed people due to most companies streamlining staff and keeping on more experienced employees.
The BBC recruited economics experts to predict the future of such a “lost generation” in terms of future economic success as a nation and in individual terms. Looking back to past recessions, experts were quick to point out that the phrase “lost generation” doesn’t suit the long-term effects of youth unemployment. They pointed out that historically speaking, by the time the current youth hit forty-years-old, around one in five will still bear the scars of youth unemployment in the form of lower wages and less realised career aspirations.
We don’t just focus on sheet cutting and timber ethics here at Booker Timber HQ. We keep a pulse on everything from the latest developments in MDF sheets to the current coalition government’s stance on Health & Safety in our industry. Youth unemployment and the future of the U.K economy is something we follow with daily interest. We believe training and development are the way to make sure the next generations are prepared for their working lives.
In our industry, we stick steadfastly to the moral that peer training and skill development are the key to keeping the next generation in employment, whether that’s overseeing cut to size MDF or developing better eco-practices in our timber yard.

February 16, 2012

Experts in Product Advice – MFC

Sheets,Timber — Tags: , , — Booker Timber @ 9:00 am

The lion’s share of our client base is made up of returning customers and experienced professionals who love our exceptional service. But we know not all clients arrive on our website or at our timber merchant yard with a clear idea of the best products for the job etc. We’re happy to offer as much advice as we can. Saving you money, time and effort is what our welcoming company is all about!
So today, let’s say you’re a layman visiting us for a little information on the best products for the interior of your new small business. Maybe you’re a bookshop, a marketing company, a gadget shop or an electronics firm? In our experience, there’s one material that will offer you the most cost effective, safe solution – melamine faced chipboard (MFC)
MFC is an engineered wood product made using wood off-cuts set with a resin to form a sturdy base around which a shell of melamine veneer is fixed. MFC is typically a superb alternative where exceptional strength, durability, low cost and dexterous style are key considerations. It’s also a fairly lightweight standard compared to its strength, which is why things like shelving are typically made from MFC.
We can precisely cut to size chipboard and various other veneered chipboard product options like MFC. Veneer options include ash, beech, pine, red oak, white oak, maple, cherry, mahogany, walnut, teak, koto, sycamore, chestnut and birch.
If you’re a layman in need of sensible, expert advice, get in touch today on 0333 123 1290 or use the Contact Us tool on the right of our homepage.

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