Bog oak: description, properties and use for furniture products. Stained pine Stained larch
Stained wood is a tree that has lain in water for many years, while gaining incredible beauty and strength.
Everyone knows what is valuable breeds trees, but there are more affordable ones, such as pine or spruce. But there is a very special category of wood - stained. This is a tree that, having lain in the water for tens, hundreds, thousands of years, acquires incredible beauty and strength. Let's talk about stained wood.
Stained wood - incredible beauty and strength
Trunks and fragments of trees lying under water are commonly called driftwood. A logical name, given that the tree really turns out to be drowned, has been at the bottom of the sea, lake, river, swamp for decades. It is noteworthy that some trunks at the same time turn into dust, rot and, of course, cannot be used. But other trees, on the contrary, acquire a truly stone strength.
The most valuable stained wood is oak. This royal tree is already valued for its strength and beautiful texture. Having lain under water for at least 300 years, the oak acquires delicate pale shades. If the tree is black, then it has lain in the reservoir for about 1000 years!
In the pre-industrial era, “black gold” was not called oil at all, but bog oak. Products from it are almost eternal, not subject to rotting, fungus or mold. They do not need protective covering, and stained wood looks extraordinarily beautiful.
In addition to oak, larch is considered the most valuable stained wood. This is not surprising. It is these tree species due to high density sink, sink to the bottom, where a transformation process takes place under a layer of silt or sand. Even in fresh water there are salts that interact with the tannins of wood and help it acquire special hardness and strength.
According to experts, in order for a tree to really become stained, it must lie under water for at least 40 years. In general, the longer the better, experts say. Ideal places stagnant waters of swamps or lakes are used to obtain stained wood. But the tree that lay in sea water, soaked in salt, will also be no less durable.
Literally anything can be made from stained wood: furniture, parquet, various crafts, figurines and figurines, caskets, billiard cues, pipes, other interior items, and even jewelry. There are no drawbacks to this material, but it is not available to everyone. Stained wood, especially oak and larch, is very expensive! There are several good reasons for this:
- First, it is a rare material. Although, as calculated at the Central Research Institute of Timber Rafting, approximately 1% of the entire floated volume sinks in the process of transporting tree trunks, and about 9 million m3 of drift wood has accumulated in the Volga basin. That's a lot, you say. But finding sunken trunks is not easy. In addition, only 50% of all sunken wood can be classified as commercial, that is, suitable for further use. And oak among driftwood is no more than 5%. In Europe, the search for and lifting of flooded trees has been done for a long time and purposefully, so it is already very difficult to find driftwood in European countries. Russia still has reserves of this material;
- Secondly, it is technically difficult to raise a tree to the surface. Special equipment is needed, usually the help of scuba divers is required. The wood becomes heavy, you can’t get a solid trunk by hand;
- Thirdly, it is not enough to get a firewood. It also needs to be dried before use. It takes about a year, and in no case should the process be accelerated, drying should occur naturally;
- Fourth, to process what has become very durable tree difficult, requires special skills and tools. Not all carpenters take up work with bog oak.
Therefore, for three kilograms of bog black oak on the Internet they often ask about 2 thousand rubles! Or 200 rubles for one small piece, literally a cube, suitable only for cutting, for example, a knife handle. And a finished comb made of bog oak, such as shown in the photo above, will cost more than 12 thousand rubles.
Can you imagine how much a parquet made of such material will cost or kitchen set. Experts compare the cost of a good bog oak log with the price of a car. Cheaper bog birch, pine, aspen - they ask from 1.5 to 20 thousand rubles per cubic meter, depending on the condition and quality of the wood.
With such prices for stained wood, it is not surprising that manufacturers of furniture and interior items achieve similarity with the help of stains and special impregnations. Yes, this is already an imitation, in terms of strength and hardness such a tree does not differ from the usual one, but the color becomes darker, nobler, the structure is emphasized.
Stained wood is an elite material. Only for expensive interiors, yacht decoration, exclusive car interiors, furniture that is in the offices of presidents and heads of large companies.published
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Wood has been used by mankind in construction and decoration for a very long time. This material has a special variety. This is stained wood. Such material lived two lives. At first, the tree grew under the rays of the sun, and then ended up in the bowels of the water. Here it was for a long time.
As a result, the material acquires a characteristic dark shade. In addition, it improves building qualities. The wood becomes very durable. After such natural processing, it is not subject to decay, bugs and insects do not start in it.
In addition to their strength characteristics, stained wood famous for its luxurious appearance. This is an excellent material for interior decoration, furniture facades. The cost of stained wood is quite high.
To give the material a sophisticated look, apply various means. Therefore, it is quite possible to process wood with your own hands.
Stained natural wood
The natural process of wood processing occurs in a natural way. The tree falls under water, where it is for a long time. The longer, the better its quality. To establish how many years the material has been under water, an analysis of stained wood is carried out. In some cases, the duration of this period exceeds 1000 years.
The cost of the presented material reaches 300 thousand rubles. per cube m. This is a very rare oak wood. Other breeds may also be subjected to natural processing of the type shown. Most often on sale you can find birch, larch, pine, aspen or spruce, the staining process of which lasted 30 years. The cost of the material, depending on the variety, can range from 2.5 to 25 thousand rubles. per cube m.
Not everyone has the opportunity to use such material. Therefore, wood is processed artificially.
Buy or make stained wood?
AT modern world more popular than cheap option. This is an artificial stained tree. The material is treated with special compositions, emphasizing the beauty of the texture.
The sale of stained wood, which has been processed artificially, is carried out everywhere. This material is widely used in the furniture industry, when finishing floors, walls or ceilings. Various building construction and the details are made from this tree.
Price artificial material significantly less. But it should be remembered that unscrupulous sellers with the help of wood stain can sell cheap ones under the guise of expensive varieties. It is sometimes quite difficult to determine what type of material is presented to the consumer without examination. Therefore, if you want to use artificially stained wood, it is better to do the processing yourself.
stain properties
Artificial materials allow you to create a product such as stained wood. Almost everyone can do the impregnation with their own hands. Before this, it is necessary to study the properties of tinting and the technology of its application.
Special chemical compositions applied to the prepared surface. They are absorbed by the wood, which makes it possible to preserve its unique structure. First of all, the presented impregnations are designed to ennoble natural wood.
Using one or more shades, you can create beautiful finish interior. This turns parquet, furniture facades into a real work of art. Some types of stains extend the life of the material by protecting it from insects and fungus. Such chemicals prevent the formation of wood decay processes. Therefore, their use is beneficial in all respects.
Water-based stain
Stained wood, which is very expensive to extract and process, is used in luxury construction. Most often, the materials on the market today are treated with water, alcohol, oil, wax or acrylic based formulations.
The first variety is actively used in self-processing wood. water stain is dry and ready. In the first case, the powder is mixed with water in the required proportion.
The presented stains are somewhat difficult to use. They lift the fibers of the wood. It takes a lot of time to achieve an even shade. First, the starting material is impregnated with water. Next, the surface is sanded. This makes the wood resistant to negative influence moisture. This type of stain allows you to emphasize the texture of wood.
Alcohol stain
Alcohol-based stain differs from the previous variety in the speed of drying. It does not lift the wood fibers, which eliminates the swelling of the base. Alcohol stain is characterized by good antiseptic properties. But due to the high drying speed, a non-uniform shade and even spots may appear on the surface.
Therefore, when creating, for example, stained wood parquet, it is worth giving preference to other types of chemicals. Alcohol stain is used for small wooden parts. In this case, the impregnation lays down evenly, spots will not appear.
The pigments included in the composition on small surfaces look pretty good. Thanks to this treatment, wood will be durable in operation. Apply alcohol stain exclusively with a spray. The brush in this case is unacceptable.
Oil stain
Another popular type of chemical impregnation is oil stain. It has a number of advantages. Dyes are dissolved in drying oil or oil. This type of impregnation has a wide range of shades.
Furniture made of stained wood, treated by similar means, it turns out very beautiful and durable. Fibers are not used during impregnation, and the agent lays down quite evenly even over large areas.
This type of stain is less demanding on the method of application. Even a person with minimal experience in carrying out the work of the type presented will be able to use it. After processing, the products are quite simply repainted and restored. When working as a solvent, widely available white spirit can be used.
Wax, acrylic stains
In the modern world, stained wood processing is carried out according to the highest standards and requirements. The most environmentally friendly and fireproof substances for tinting the material are wax and acrylic stains. They don't highlight bad smell, easy to apply to the base. They are used in a wide variety of industries.
Acrylic impregnations can be mixed to obtain more subtle toning colors. This quality is widely used to create parquet or furniture. Even applying the product in 2 layers, it will be possible to create a monotonous shade without spots or lines.
Wax stains are applied to the base with a soft cloth. The agent is rubbed on the surface. When applying this type of tinting, it should be remembered that it is incompatible with acid-curing varnish or polyurethane coatings. Wax stains look very good after polishing. Therefore, they are actively used in the woodworking industry.
Methods for applying stain
Stained wood is obtained by using one of the 4 techniques below. The product can be applied by rubbing, spraying, as well as using a roller or brush.
The first method is suitable for porous wood species. The agent is rubbed on the surface. In this case, a slowly drying stain is used. Spraying is carried out using a spray gun. The tool is evenly distributed over the base.
Applying tinting with a brush is not applicable to all types of wood. This makes the color more saturated. For small parts apply the stain with a roller. This approach allows you to achieve a uniform color. But this method is still better to use for small surfaces. The application method must be chosen in accordance with the type of product.
Stained wood requires adherence to when creating a special technology. This allows even at home to create high-quality material for further use. Experts recommend applying the stain in 2-3 coats using the most suitable method.
The first layer should be thin. When it dries completely, the base is sanded. The product is applied strictly in the direction of the wood fibers. After all layers have been created and dried, the surface is rubbed with a sponge, polished soft cloth. Movements are made along the fibers or diagonally.
If you need to process large area, it is divided into sections, each of which is processed separately. The layers must dry one by one completely. Depending on the type of product base, this process can take from several hours to several days.
If the product is very thick, it can be diluted. Wood stains on water based in this case, they require, respectively, water, and oil - a solvent.
Elimination of defects
Properly treated stained wood looks exquisite. But novice masters in the process of applying the product may have certain problems. It is quite difficult to eliminate defects after the product has dried. In this case, the top layer of material is mechanically removed.
If streaks appear during processing, it means that too much substance has been applied. It should be removed. To do this, a second layer of the product is applied, and the excess product is removed with a rag.
To prevent stains from forming on the wood during work, it is necessary to check the application of the product to an unnecessary piece of this material. If the layer lays unevenly, you must choose a different stain. It will be thicker and dries more slowly.
Choosing the right stain for wood, taking into account the advice of experts in the process, you can get high quality material.
In the late 70s of the last century, the pages of American publications flew around the story of the builder George Goodwin from Florida. His life was radically changed by chance: Goodwin, building a house for himself, wanted to build “something like that” in it, and one day his fisherman friend, instead of fish, brought him a pine log that had lain in the water for several decades as a gift. Goodwin was struck by the high quality of the wood, and he also realized that there were other connoisseurs of this material.
George invested $100,000 to buy a plot of land along the river bank and started catching logs, cleaning them, drying them, and selling them. His business is thriving to this day, bringing in $3 million a year. Now his company produces products from stained pine (parquet, furniture) that adorn hotels, galleries, universities in America, as well as homes and offices. famous people, including musician Paul McCartney and designer Ralph Lauren.
According to rough estimates by Russian scientists (no one will name the exact figure, since large-scale exploration work in this direction was not carried out - it is too expensive), more than 38.6 million m 3 of sunken and flooded wood rest at the bottom of Russian water bodies. However, so far none of the Russians has become as famous as Goodwin, and companies that are professionally and consistently engaged in the extraction and processing of driftwood (as a rule, this is wood sunk during mole alloys) can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Why is the mining of bog forest not being developed in Russia? And whether this business is profitable in the conditions of our country, we figured it out together with leading experts and scientists dealing with this problem.
Figures and facts about stained wood
According to the Central Research Institute of Timber Rafting, during the transportation of harvested raw materials, up to 1% of the alloyed volume sinks in water. For example, in the Volga basin, according to scientists, about 9 million m 3 of wood was flooded, in the Yenisei River - 7 million m 3, in the Ob and Irtysh basins - 6.5 million m 3. According to preliminary estimates, from 30 to 50% of sunken wood is commercial (and more than 25% - conifers, and about 5% - oak, the most valuable material). However, according to experts, wood of all species, which has not turned into dust, has value. Wood, which has been aged in water for decades, is a unique raw material for the production of decorative, building materials, technological chips, high-quality charcoal (200-300 kg of coal is obtained from one cubic meter of firewood). Mineralization of wood occurs in water, it becomes stronger, and with proper processing it acquires the strength of a stone. It does not rot, a bug does not start in it, and products made from such material are eternal.
But there is another side of the coin. Russian ecologists are sounding the alarm: the driftwood resting at the bottom has a detrimental effect on the state of the reservoir and its inhabitants. It releases phenol and mercaptans, displaces oxygen and thus causes fish to die. On Internet forums, stories are told about how foreigners (in one case it was the Japanese, in another about the Finns, in the third about the Chinese) wanted to take on the cleaning of Russian rivers from driftwood and were ready to do it for free, however, provided that they take all the "catch" for themselves, but the local authorities did not give the go-ahead for such work. In fairness, it must be said that recently the state has begun to take measures to clean up rivers from driftwood. Not so long ago, on the Baikal Info portal, with reference to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the region, Oleg Kravchuk, a message appeared that they plan to build a plant for processing fuel oil on the site of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill. Transport company Since 2010, RusHydro has been cleaning the reservoir of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP from fuel oil, and its volumes in the water area have decreased by almost two-thirds - from 730 to 281 thousand m 3. because of Low quality wood is immediately disposed of, and very original way: covered with a layer of earth and gravel, and then sown with grass. However, this is only a drop in the ocean on the scale of our country. Scientists and enthusiasts have been thinking for years about how to make the extraction of driftwood attractive for business and thereby clean up water bodies from industrial waste (this is the official status of driftwood).
Toplyak is a delicate matter
Alexander Dupanov, director of GODO "Trans-Center" (Gomel, Belarus), which since 1998 has been engaged in the extraction and processing of natural bog oak on an industrial scale, witnessed a real boom in the extraction of bog timber. According to him, in the 90s of the twentieth century, many entrepreneurs tried to organize a business in this area, but they wanted to do it quickly, without significant investments, without involving highly qualified specialists. As a result, thousands of cubic meters of valuable material were mediocrely destroyed.
On the Internet, even now you can find many offers for the sale of bog timber, but, according to Alexander Alexandrovich, the overwhelming majority of these are one-time offers and, as a rule, entrepreneurs do not guarantee the shipment of material in the declared volume, and even more so of the declared quality.
"On the post-Soviet space there are only a few enterprises capable of providing the entire cycle - from the extraction of firewood and its processing to the output of finished quality material. A number of companies simply do not have proven technologies, Mr. Dupanov says. - In addition, when organizing production, they do not take into account that the funds received from the sale of dry bog wood do not cover the long-term costs of producing high-quality material. For example, in order to obtain 100 m 3 of high-quality dry bog oak, it is necessary to find, extract and process at least 1000 m 3 of firewood.
Extraction and processing of stained wood is a complex and lengthy process. First you need to conduct reconnaissance, draw up maps of the location of the flooded wood. To do this, specialists have to explore 300-400 km of the river, then scuba divers get down to business - they go down to a depth of 30 m to find the exact location of the flooded forest. Sunken trunks must be brought ashore (and in such a way that they are not damaged), carefully transported, sorted and processed. Experts say that bog wood is a very capricious material, it can lose its properties after lying in the open air for several hours.
According to Vladimir Pushkarev, head of the Samrat company, which is engaged in the extraction and processing of driftwood, several million dollars must be invested in the business in order to engage in stained wood at an industrial level. “The extraction of stained raw materials is fraught with risk. It is necessary to create a team of like-minded people. And those who hope to get rich quick in this business will be disappointed, he says. - Our company is engaged in the extraction of firewood not for the sake of extracting huge profits and enrichment, but because we like this business. To do this, you have to be a fan."
Good log - for the price of a car
Arkady Arakelyan in the late 1980s worked as the manager of a large construction trust, which carried out its own logging operations and included timber processing enterprises. When about 10 million m 3 of melted wood was found in the area of the Gulf of Ob (something sank during the rafting, something during the ice drift), then, according to Arkady Arakelyan, there were several attempts to extract this wood from the bottom of the bay, but none one was unsuccessful: the costs were incommensurable with the result obtained.
"Most quality logs, as a rule, are located at the very bottom of the wood lying on the bottom, and in order to get them, you must first remove the entire top layer. Mostly it is dust, but you also need to manage to get the lower logs so as not to damage them. Yes, and pulling it out is still half the battle, the most difficult thing is to bring the extracted wood to the place of processing, - the specialist shares his experience. - In the water column, it did not come into contact with air, and after rising to the surface, it begins to crack. When we first brought the wood raised from the bottom for processing, we constantly moistened it with water, the second time - in a specially equipped aquarium. And still they didn't deliver everything. But it still needs to be sawn in its raw form, and then also competently dried. ”
Arkady Arakelyan confirms the words of Alexander Dupanov: useful output got very small. Per good log, according to Mr. Arakelyan, in Soviet time they gave several thousand rubles (then you could buy a car for that kind of money). But even such a high price for the material obtained did not cover the costs of its extraction and processing. The management of the construction trust, where Arkady Arakelyan worked, considered the business unprofitable, and the work was stopped.
Today, the range of prices for stained wood is very wide. The cost of stained wood depends on many factors: species, its condition and quality, shipping conditions ... For example, 1 m 3 of stained birch is offered at a price of 2 to 15 thousand rubles, 1 m 3 of stained pine - 3-20 thousand rubles. rub., 1 m 3 larch - 4-15 thousand rubles, 1 m 3 stained aspen - 1.5-15 thousand rubles. The widest range of prices for bog oak: 1 m 3 of oak board can cost $200 or $30,000, the cost of an untreated log is from $500 to $3000.
“It is expected that the average price of 1 m 3 of bog oak in solid trunks in 2014 will be 3,300 euros, and of high-quality dry material - from 6 to 150 thousand euros,” Alexander Dupanov shares his forecasts. - But in order to sell a product at such a price, many conditions must be met: it must have excellent consumer qualities. The price below the market should alert a potential buyer. This may mean that the seller is either engaged in illegal mining of raw materials, or he accidentally got it. Moreover, in both the first and second cases, there is a high probability that the material has been in contact with air for a long time (which is detrimental to it), and could also be repeatedly dried and re-immersed in water (it is difficult to obtain high-quality dry material from such raw materials).”
Efficient way to extract driftwood for small rivers
A mechanical engineer from Barnaul, Vladimir Nevsky, devoted more than one year to finding an economically viable method of mining, transporting and transshipping sunken wood on small rivers (mole rafting was often carried out precisely on small, non-navigable rivers). And found it! Vladimir Alexandrovich developed the design of a small-sized floating crane - a mobile and compact unit that can pass where other equipment is beyond its power. The invention of Mr. Nevsky was repeatedly tested on small rivers Altai Territory.
“Blood littered both small and navigable rivers, where high-performance floating cranes can be used for mining. However, the costs of searching for logs scattered across the underwater expanses of rivers, their extraction, transportation and transshipment will be incommensurable with the end result. But on small rivers it is easier. There are driftwood logs in pooling pits, near the rifts of narrow streams, and it will not be difficult for a professional riverman to find them, ”says Mr. Nevsky.
The idea of developing underwater deposits captivated Vladimir Nevsky back in 1992. Then he managed to gather a group of enthusiasts who, armed with archival information about timber rafting, set off on a voyage along the rivers of the Altai Territory. They determined the volumes of sunken timber, compiled pilot charts, plotted roads and maps on diagrams and maps. settlements. But when they began to calculate how much money needed to be spent to raise the forest out of the water, they realized that an attractive idea resulted in a difficult economic task.
According to Vladimir Nevsky, such common methods of mining sunken mole alloy wood on small rivers, such as diving, trawling from the shore, are, firstly, ineffective, secondly, labor-intensive, thirdly, not always possible in hard-to-reach coastal areas and, fourthly, they are economically unjustified. And the use of high-performance floating cranes, according to the expert, is impossible on small rivers due to the lack of fairway sizes that allow the use of such equipment.
“The domestic industry produces fuel-lifting units LS 65 and LS 41. But the cost of these units exceeds several million rubles. In addition, due to their large dimensions, they cannot be used on small rivers. But the operation of a floating crane with minimal dimensions is possible where a sparrow is knee-deep: on reservoirs with a fairway width of 4.5 m and a depth of 30 cm.
According to Nevsky's calculations, with the help of such a floating crane, 700-900 m 3 of driftwood can be mined per month. The productivity of the floating crane depends on the depth of the reservoir and the degree of silting of the logs. The consumption of diesel fuel for lifting the fuel oil, transportation at a distance of up to 50 km and transshipment to vehicles - 1500 kg / month. The average cost of 1 m 3 of raw materials is 550-600 rubles. (including lifting, transportation, transshipment and loading onto a timber truck), and the average price of round timber today is about 3 thousand rubles. “So judge for yourself whether it is profitable to engage in this business or not,” says Vladimir Alexandrovich.
How it works?
According to experts, the volume of annually floating wood at the Boguchansky reservoir will be up to 1 million m 3 per year
According to Vladimir Nevsky, there are no tricks and tricks in managing a floating crane. The unit moves along the reservoir with the help of deck winches, the cables of which are fixed to the coastal supports (natural or artificial). The so-called bottom trawl (like a heavy rake) is attached to the floating crane, which, when the crane moves, rakes everything that is at the bottom of the reservoir. When the resistance to the movement of the floating crane reaches the limit, it returns to the trawl and lifts everything assembled onto its deck. The raised wood is formed into a bundle. After the formation of a bundle of 10-15 ridges, a pontoon is attached to it. A beam with a fixed pontoon is dropped into the water and towed by a boat to the transshipment site, where it is lifted by a log hauling winch to the coastal warehouse and disbanded.
A big plus of this technology is also that the raised log is not immediately sent to the shore, but is in the water, being tied over the side of the floating crane. Vladimir Alexandrovich says that this helps to avoid the so-called caisson disease - cracking of logs.
“The log lifted from the depth seems to boil, clicks are heard. The gases contained in the wood, which has lain at the depth of the reservoir, where the pressure is higher than atmospheric, with a rapid rise can break it, - says Mr. Nevsky. “In addition, the crane swings during operation, the logs attached to it are in motion and thus washed from silt and sand.”
It is possible to deliver a floating crane to the place of work by towing along the river or by an ordinary truck without any approval from the traffic police, it fits into the road dimensions. And he gathers in three or four hours by the forces of three or four people. Vladimir Nevsky says he had experience joint work both with public organizations and with scientific institutes, but neither the first nor the second wanted to develop his business.
“There were several meetings with potential investors, but they were usually interested in final result, they demanded all the information up to the developed business plan, which takes into account all tax deductions, accounting calculations, investment risks ... This work requires different knowledge and approaches than the work of a designer, ”says Vladimir Alexandrovich.
We determine the quality and quantity of firewood blindly
The introduction of the inventions of Alexander Rozhentsov, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Volga State Technological University (Republic of Mari El), could greatly facilitate and reduce the cost of searching for driftwood. Alexander Pavlovich developed and patented two devices in Rospatent. The first helps to detect sunken wood under water (with limited visibility and even in its complete absence) and accurately point the load-gripping mechanism at it. The second device is designed to determine the hardness of sunken wood by the density of the structure: dust - firewood, conditionally hard - business. That is, in order to determine the quality of the driftwood, it is not necessary to raise it to the surface, and this is a serious saving of time and money.
“Both devices are quite simple, so their cost is low. Moreover, in order to use these devices, you do not need any additional equipment, says the scientist. “The devices are installed directly on the jaws of the load-handling clamshell mechanism.”
At one time, Alexander Pavlovich defended his dissertation “Improving the processes of searching for and evaluating accumulations of sunken wood on timber rafting water bodies". The results of the research were used in the production at the timber enterprises of the Republic of Mari El: JSC "Mari Pulp and Paper Mill", woodworking plant "Zarya", State Enterprise "Mari timber merchant", JSC "Kozmodemyanskaya rafting office".
“With the help of the invented devices, the firewood was raised twice. True, bog oak was not found, but for me the main thing was to confirm the viability of the devices, which was done,” says Alexander Rozhentsov. According to Alexander Pavlovich, the firewood raised during the first tests was sold to the population for firewood, and the one that was raised during the second test was transferred to Mariysky Pulp and Paper Mill, where it was processed into corrugated cardboard and toilet paper. At that time, there was no suitable woodworking enterprise in the Republic of Mari El, where it would be possible to properly process the raised firewood.
“In our republic, now the extraction of driftwood, in fact, is not carried out. Previously, this was done by timber enterprises that were engaged in rafting, - says Mr. Rozhentsov. - However, at present, almost all large timber enterprises have gone bankrupt. Small private entrepreneurs are trying to do something, but they lack experience and special tools.”
According to Alexander Pavlovich, the raising of the driftwood is an urgent and profitable business. But in order to seriously engage in it and achieve success, it is necessary to strictly observe the technology, without missing a single stage: to invest money not only in the extraction of raw materials, but also in exploration work, high-quality processing of the material. According to Alexander Rozhentsov, most of those involved in the extraction of flooded wood, trying to save money, do not follow the technological chain. The scientist says that he was approached more than once by enterprising fellow citizens who wanted to buy maps of sunken wood in the Republic of Mari El, but no one came with an offer to invest in exploration work.
“From a business point of view, this business certainly has prospects. After all, stained wood is ten times more expensive than freshly cut wood, and if you sell it not just in logs or boards, but make some products from it (furniture, home accessories, souvenirs), you can develop quite well, - Mr. Rozhentsov believes. - There are a lot of rich people in Russia who are ready to pay for furniture made of stained wood, especially oak, and it would be much more profitable for these people to buy it here than to bring it from overseas. Yes, and we must take into account that in Europe the stocks of stained wood are exhausted.
Marina SHEPOTILO
Geoffro Witto
creates his sculptures from driftwood found on the ocean coast
James Doran-Webb
originally from the UK, but for the last 20 years he has been living in the Philippines. From branches thrown by the sea, he makes graceful creatures.
The rarest wood in the world, which is a kind of precious material, is bog oak. A cubic meter of this wood costs an average of $2,000. The bog oak has two whole lives, one of which it lives on the ground, and the second under water.
This second life began many centuries ago, when, subject to intergalactic laws, the rivers changed their course. Time washed away the coast, and trees from coastal oak forests were under water, where they remained until an inquisitive person discovered them.
Only in the post-Soviet space such huge reserves of bog oak have been preserved. For example, in European countries, the discovery of a single specimen of bog oak has been an event for 100 years. And such findings are reported in the media.
For 100 years, many enterprising people in all corners of Russia have been harvesting bog oak. Mostly bog oak in the composition of other firewood was used as fuel.
Once, pulling the trunk to the surface and trying to process it, he was amazed at the beauty and strength of the resulting wood. Admiring, the person asked himself the question: what unknown force turned the familiar oak into a mysterious material, covered on the surface with torn pieces of coal, and inside hiding the strongest, smoky, lively, unique texture of the material? And he began to look for answers to his questions, working with bog oak and giving it a third life...
In Rus', furniture sets and souvenirs were created from bog oak, which now occupy pride of place in museums of fine arts and antique shops all over the world.
Not a single foreign furniture company can offer for public viewing products worthy of natural bog oak. This is the prerogative of only Russian masters. Since from the beginning of the millennium to the present day, relict oak forests throughout the world have been completely destroyed, the reserves of bog oak have remained only in Russia.
