17.07.2018
Inner values count here: How a tree becomes fine veneer
Bad Honnef. As an amateur, you can't see the beauty in a tree trunk or a log by just looking at it. Yet experts in the field quickly identify whether a tree is suitable for producing fine veneer. Handled professionally, the not particularly attractive looking log becomes a filigree work of art, which decorates surfaces as if it were a skilfully staged oil painting.
Many wood species can be used to produce veneer. Really attractive veneer is acquired, for example, from maple or beech. But oak, ash and walnut also produce veneer with fascinating beauty. Felled in the winter - when there are few shoots and the wood is very dry - the log is peeled, sliced, cut or is worked with a special saw to produce a rough appearance. “The subsequent use determines the thickness of the veneer. On average, veneer sheets are produced with a thickness of around 0.45 millimetres to around 6 millimetres. These thicknesses can also differ at the request of the customer”, said the Secretary of Initiative Furnier + Natur (IFN), Ursula Geismann. The veneer sheets then have to be slowly and carefully further dried, otherwise they can become wavy or tear. They are then selected by quality and grade as well as the cut. “The resulting individual parts are then put together to form so-called decks. Using glue and applying under high pressure, these decks are then attached, among other things, to particleboards, MDF boards, multiplex boards, plywood or solid wood laminboards”, said Ms Geismann. What then happens is the metamorphosis of simple everyday objects into small and large works of art - from gems such as reading glasses made of veneer through to fashionable washbasins for upmarket living and cool, veneered furniture for nature-living individualists. IFN/DS
Initiative Furnier + Natur (IFN)
Initiative Furnier + Natur (IFN) e.V. was founded in 1996 by the German veneer industry and its partners. The purpose of the association based in Bad Honnef is to promote veneer as a material. It is funded and supported by European companies in the veneer industry, trade and the veneer processing industry as well as professional associations of the timber industry.
Photo 1: Fine veneer sheets, similar to these ... Photo: Jens Fischer
Photo 2: … become natural art objects, which never fail to affect the onlooker. Photo: IFN/europlac
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