Mountain ash. The best firewood: how to make a choice What to make from rowan wood

Common rowan is a tree that grows up to 15-20 meters in height. Also, this tree has long been used as a medicinal tree; its fruits have enormous potential. Family Rosaceae, genus Rowan.

Common mountain ash - description of the tree, photos and videos

First of all, it is a deciduous tree or shrub, but this is of course less common, the Rosaceae family, up to 15-20 meters in height, the height primarily depends on climatic conditions. The bark is gray in color, it is very smooth to the touch, the branches are fluffy.

Leaves are also various shapes, starting from regular and ending with oblong-lanceolate. Just blossomed, young leaves are pubescent below. Flowers white, also come in pink, but as for the smell, rowan flowers have a very unpleasant one.

The fruits are small berries, they have a spherical shape, and the color is orange-red, the fruits are slightly sour in taste, and quite juicy. This tree blooms at the end of May, beginning of June, the fruits ripen in September and remain on the tree itself until late winter.

It begins to bear fruit at the age of 5-6 years, and annually. As a rule, a good harvest occurs in mountain ash once every 3 years. But the tree produces its greatest harvest from the age of 40. It reproduces by seeds, which are often carried to new areas by the wind, as well as by various animals.

– most widely distributed in the forest zone of Europe, North Africa, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Among trees, rowan is almost always included in the second tier, and of various types of forest, be it coniferous or damp forest, growing mainly in the mountains or on the plains.

It always grows either in single specimens or in small groups, and never forms large stands of its species. For example, in the Caucasus it is found in birch forests, as well as in the forest belt.

Typically, mountain ash is part of 2-3 tree layers, and often grows in broad-leaved, coniferous and small-leaved forests.

In the mountains it grows up to 2000 thousand meters above sea level. This tree is quite whimsical; it cannot grow on saline soils, as well as on swampy or peaty soils.

Mainly prefers fertile soil such as black soil, but can also grow in loamy soils. It grows only up to 80 years, perhaps more; there are specimens that have grown to 100 years or more, but this is still rare.

It is of great economic importance. In particular, it has long been used as a medicinal and also as a fruit plant. Rowan fruits are very rich in various vitamins and acids. This tree is quite well cultivated; the most popular cultivated species is the Nevezhin rowan. Rowan bark contains a lot of tannins, so it is widely used in medicine.

Also, it is widely used in city landscaping, as it is resistant to dust, gases and dirt. The wood of this tree is used in furniture production, as well as in turning. In Russia, rowan has long been considered a tree of happiness and a guarantee of peace in the family, so they always try to plant it closer to home. Also, this tree often appeared in various rituals and traditions.

Beautiful rowan.

In the autumn, clusters of rowan trees delight the eye, decorate gardens and warm the soul.

There are about a hundred varieties of this plant. Especially famous is the common rowan, which grows everywhere in the forests and gardens of Russia.

In autumn, rowan looks very impressive - it is decorated with crimson yellow leaves and bright fruits.

This plant is not demanding and grows well in any soil and under any conditions. climatic conditions. It only needs timely removal of weeds and shallow loosening of the soil. Rowan loves moisture, but it should not be in excess. Every year organic fertilizers must be applied to rowan trees.

Rowan is often grown as an ornamental tree; for this purpose, its crown is formed.

Rowan berries are actively used in cooking: they are soaked, pickled, made into jam, jellies, marmalades, jelly, and marshmallows.

Rowan is considered the most valuable medicinal product. Its berries and even leaves contain many vitamins, tannins, dietary fiber, macro and microelements. There is more carotene in rowan than in carrots, and ascorbic acid more than in a lemon. These beneficial properties are preserved even in dried form.

IN folk medicine Rowan is used to reduce sugar, strengthen blood vessels, and for general strengthening of the body. And also as a diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic, laxative and analgesic.

But people who are prone to blood clots should not get carried away with treatment with this berry.

Watch the video - mountain ash and its beneficial properties

Description and beneficial properties of rowan tree

Common rowan is a deciduous fruit tree, less commonly a shrub. Belongs to the Rosaceae family. Grows in middle lane Northern Hemisphere. Retains decorative qualities throughout the year. Rowan fruits are traditionally used in medicine. Berries contain vitamins and minerals.

Description, useful properties

In Russia, the culture is found in the central and northern regions. Unpretentious, grows and bears fruit on dry and wet soils. It grows in individual specimens, often among spruce and pine trees. In garden plots, the tree is planted in the sun, here the mountain ash bears fruit. In the shade the tree grows upward.

Rowan is a tree up to 12–15 m high. At higher elevations and near mountains, this species is found in the form of a shrub. The root is stable, up to 2-3 m deep. The crown is rounded. Young shoots are greenish in color. The bark of adult branches is gray-brown, without grooves. Rowan leaves are oval, narrow, with jagged edges. Arranged alternately. The inflorescences are white, collected in umbrellas. The fruits are round, bright orange, red in winter, collected in clusters. The taste is bitter and tart.

Source: Depositphotos

The tree has bright orange fruits collected in clusters

The photo shows the bright appearance of the tree. In summer the tree is covered with dense foliage. In winter and autumn, clusters of red berries stand out against the background of bare branches. There are garden species with a hanging and pyramidal crown.

Rowan is valued in folk and traditional medicine. Berries contain the following beneficial substances:

• malic, citric and succinic acid in an amount of 2.5%;
• magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium salts, essential oils - up to 20 mg%;
• pectyl and tannins - 0.5%;
• ascorbic acid - up to 200 mg%;
• natural red pigments or flavonoids.

After frost, the berries lose their bitter taste and some useful substances. Therefore, for homemade preparations and medicines, rowan fruits are used in the fall, before the onset of cold weather.

Scope of application

Individual parts of the tree have useful economic value:

• the berries are processed and used as a vitamin supplement, as well as raw materials for alcoholic beverages;
• medicinal raw materials are obtained from rowan fruits;
• Furniture and decor items are made from wood;
• tree bark is used as a tanning agent to soften leather.

In spring, rowan is valued for its honey-bearing qualities. The flowers produce honey with a slightly reddish tint. The tree is popular among Russian residents.

Rowan. Rowan. GenusSorbus

Rowan is widespread throughout almost the entire forest zone of Russia, but is considered a species of limited use due to the small reserves of its wood, which are not of significant commercial interest. Nevertheless, this breed should not be neglected.

Rowan - a Eurasian tree or large shrub - is known in Europe under the names Ebcresche, Vogelbeere, Quitschc, Drosselbeere (German), Whitebeam, Rowan, Service Tree and Mountain Ash (English), Sorbier (French), sorbo selatico ( it.), serbnal (spanish). The Latin name of the genus is believed to come from the Celtic word sorb, meaning “tart, bitter,” referring to the taste of the fruit. Most of its popular names in Europe are due to the fact that rowan fruits are the favorite food of a number of birds (Vogelbeere - "birdlike" berry" or Drosselbeere - "blackbird berry"). Latin name mountain ashordinary— Sorbus aucuparia - is also associated with birds (avis (au) is translated from Latin as “bird”, and sarege means “to catch”), since the berries were widely used as bait for catching thrushes. The similarity of rowan foliage with the foliage of ash led to the emergence of its other names: Eberesche (“false” ash), or Mountain ash (mountain ash). Rowan belongs to one of the most widespread (almost all over the world) and numerous (100 genera and over 3000 species) families - Rosaceae.

Range and main species

Most of us know only one rowan - the common one. Meanwhile, throughout the world there are more than 80 of its species and a significant number of hybrids distributed in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, including 28 species in Russia. They differ significantly from each other in the color of the fruit, bark, leaf shape and other characteristics. In Russia, rowan is found in the forests of the European part, in the mountains and foothills of the North Caucasus, in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. Most species grow in open forests on mountain slopes or along gorges, as single trees or groves. They are found in the undergrowth and in the lower tier of mountain forests, where they rise to the upper border of the forest belt, and sometimes even enter the subalpine zone.

Let us list the general morphological characteristics of the genus. The bark is smooth, sometimes cracking (in old trees), gray or reddish. The leaves are alternate, simple, entire, pinnately dissected, lobed, sometimes compound, imparipinnate, with jagged or serrate edges. The flowers are bisexual, white, in thyroid inflorescences, with a strong odor, somewhat reminiscent of the smell of bitter almonds, pollinated by insects. The fruits are apple-shaped, spherical or pear-shaped.

Common rowan is a tree 4-15 m high. favorable conditions(for example, in the forests of Thuringia) reaches a height of 24-27 m, and the diameter of the trunk at chest level is up to 50 cm. The crown is ovoid, the flowers are white, blooming in May-June. The fruits are orange-red and ripen in September. It grows in the European part of Russia (mainly in forests, but along river banks it penetrates into the forest-tundra and steppe zone), in the Caucasus, as well as almost throughout Europe. Found in North Africa, Turkey and Northwestern Iran. Participates in the structure of the second layer of various forest types, most often wood sorrel and nemoral groups; it is absent in long-moss and sphagnum forest types. In the Caucasus, it can be found in subalpine open forests, high-mountain pine forests, fir forests, and spruce forests. Widely distributed in culture throughout almost the entire territory of Russia.

Siberian rowan(Sorbus sibirica)— tree up to 15-17 m high, grows in the northeast of the European part of Russia, throughout Siberia and in the southwest of the Far East, found on mountain slopes in Mongolia. In coniferous and deciduous forests it can be found quite rarely, mainly in the form of second-tier trees or large shrubs. It is more often and abundantly represented in floodplain forests.

It rises high into the mountains, but rarely reaches the boundaries of the forest belt.

In domestic mountain ash (large-fruited, or Crimean)— Sorbus domestica - leaves are complex, with a large number of leaflets (7-10 pairs) and large yellowish-red or greenish-yellow, spherical or pear-shaped fruits with a diameter of about 3 cm. Found in the Crimea, in the undergrowth of broad-leaved forests in the Gelendzhik region and on Western Caucasus. It is grown in small quantities as a fruit tree. It is one of the dominant species of the undergrowth of stone-birch forests in Kamchatka.

Rowan medium (intermediate, Swedish)— Sorbus intermedia - a medium-sized tree, 10-15 (sometimes up to 18) m tall, usually with a short trunk, the crown is ovoid or round, the main branches are directed vertically, the shoots are horizontal or curved, do not hang down; annual growth is 10-20 cm. Modest white social branches resemble scutes in their shape. It blooms in late May early June, the flowers have an unpleasant odor. The fruits are round, orange or scarlet, and ripen from the beginning of September. The leaves are ovate, slightly split-leaved, rough, pale green, with gray pubescence below, acquiring a pale yellow tint in autumn.

Grows in Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Central Europe (for example, on the plains of Germany). It is found in culture in Ukraine and central Russia. This species is often confused with hybrid rowan, but it does not have a compound leaf. The fruits are orange-red, up to 1 cm in diameter.

A species with whole, almost round, leathery, bright green leaves above, covered with white-tomentose pubescence below - Rowan aria(Sorbus aria). Grows in deciduous forests of Western Europe. In autumn the leaves take on a bronze color. It begins to bloom and bear fruit at the age of 10. White flowers are collected in a shield up to 8 cm in diameter. The fruits are spherical, orange-red or orange-pink with powdery pulp. They are used in the food industry.

Natural distribution area mountain ash glogovina, or medicinal birch(Sorbus torminalis), is the southwestern part of Ukraine, Crimea, the Caucasus, Western Europe, Asia Minor. This is a slender tree with a rounded crown up to 25 m tall. The bark on trunks and old branches is dark gray, with longitudinal cracks, and olive on young shoots. The leaves are simple, broadly ovate, up to 18 cm long, rounded at the base, heart-shaped, pointed at the apex, with 3-5 sharp lobes, finely toothed along the edge. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green, shiny, the lower surface is hairy and pubescent. In autumn the leaves turn yellow or orange. Flowers up to 1 cm, white, in loose, corymbose inflorescences, up to 8 cm in diameter. It blooms for 10-12 days. The fruits are round, up to 1.8 cm in diameter, orange or reddish, later brown; pulp with stony cells, mealy, sweet and sour.

A wide variety of mountain ash is observed in the Far East. The most interesting: rya-mixed bin(Sorbus commixta) with o. Sa-khalin, from China, Korea and Japan and rowanelderflower(Sorbus sambucifolia) with a wide range - from Anadyr, Kamchatka, through the Okhotsk coast to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Mixed rowan, growing in mountain forests, is a shrub or tree up to 4-8 m in height with dark gray smooth bark, bare sticky buds and leaves, by which it can be immediately distinguished from other species. The leaves are also not pubescent. It begins to bloom and bear fruit at the age of eight. The flowers are collected in dense inflorescences up to 8-12 cm wide and open in June. The fruits are no more than 7 mm in diameter and ripen in August. It can be successfully cultivated south of St. Petersburg.

Elderberry rowan is a low-growing (height 1-2 m) shrub with a rounded crown, growing in birch forests, often on dry rocky and sandy soil. The leaves reach 18 cm in length and 12 cm in width, consist of only 5-7 leaflets serrated along the edge, dark green and glossy on the upper side, reminiscent of the leaves of evergreen plants with their shine and leathery structure. Corymbose inflorescences, reaching a diameter of 10 cm, consist of white or pinkish flowers up to 1.5 cm in diameter each. Flowering occurs in June from the age of seven. In September, spherical, bright red, sour, but pleasant-tasting fruits ripen. In landscaping it is used singly, in groups, and also for low hedges.

Rowan Schneider(Sorbus schneide- riana) - low, up to 2.5 m in height, shrub with slightly smaller and also shiny leaves. Corymbose social branches of white flowers only 8 cm in diameter bloom in June. In September, bright red, sometimes orange, fruits ripen. It grows on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, in mountain forests, on slopes, along the banks of forest streams, on the edges.

The most famous of the mountain ash trees in Central Asia is Rowan Tien Shan(Sorbus tianschanica) — shrub or small, up to 5 m in height, tree with dark green shiny foliage with a metallic sheen, olive or red-brown young branches. Blooms from 6 years old. Inflorescences up to 15 cm in diameter. The fruits, which ripen in August-September, are spherical, up to 12 mm in diameter, dark red, and acquire a bluish coating when fully ripe. It grows in the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai mountains, near the upper limit of forest vegetation.

Ashmere rowan(Sorbuscashmiriana) widespread in the pine forests of the Western Himalayas at an altitude of 2300-4000 m and reaches almost the upper limit of forest vegetation. It is interesting for its pink-white or slightly bluish fruits up to 1.5-1.8 mm in diameter and whitish-pink, sometimes pink flowers. The plant has also taken root in central Russia.

Among the rare species in need of protection, mention should be made rowan ayastanskuyu(Sorbus hajastanica) — endemic to Transcaucasia, and Turkestan rowan(Sorbus tukestanica), extremely rare in the mountains of Central Asia.

There are approximately six species of mountain ash that grow in North America. And in its eastern part there grows a very winter-hardy mountain ash(Sorbus americana) — a small tree (up to 9 m tall), differing from ordinary mountain ash in larger social branches and leaves. It begins to bloom and bear fruit at the age of 10. The inflorescences reach 14 cm in diameter, the fruits are round, bright red, and ripen in October. Decorative orange-brown autumn foliage.

Rowan Sitka (Sorbus sitchensis) — shrub up to 4-6 m high. Distributed in the north-west of the continent.

The so-called chokeberry- a species of chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) close to the true rowan from North America, widely cultivated for its edible fruits.

Conditions for growth and reproduction

Rowan is a pioneer tree: it is one of the first to populate wastelands, clearings, and abandoned arable lands. It is propagated mainly by seeds, less often by layering, and in culture by cuttings and grafting. In the wild, the seeds are distributed by birds and some animals (for example, foxes and badgers) that feed on its fruits. Prefers moist, fertile soils and lives up to 200-300 years. Does not like damp peaty swampy or saline soils. It grows better on loamy soils than on sandy soils. In some places, usually near nesting grounds of field thrushes, it forms numerous populations that exist stably thanks to the regular supply of seeds. In shading conditions, rowan is also capable of vegetative propagation by stump shoots, root shoots and rooting of creeping shoots. In forest clearings, clearings and edges, it also renews well, begins to bear fruit earlier (at the age of 5 years), has a longer life expectancy (50-80 years) and larger fruits. Of all the flowers on the tree, approximately one third forms fruit. In addition, during the development of fruits, a significant part of them falls off before final ripening. It is characterized by cross-pollination with the help of insects, and in some cases self-pollination occurs. There are known cases of the formation of seedless fruits.

The decorative nature of rowan and the use of its fruits for various purposes has led to the widespread cultivation of various species, and more often natural or artificial hybrids.

In cultivation, species-specific rowan trees are propagated by seeds, and decorative forms and varieties are propagated by grafting onto ordinary or Finnish rowan, since the latter has a more powerful and deep root system, and plants grafted on it suffer less from dry soil. Good results can be obtained by using common hawthorn as a rootstock. Budding is usually carried out in July-early August with a dormant eye. Rowan does not grow well on ordinary rootstocks; it grows well only thanks to grafting on wild pear trees. When rowan trees are propagated by seeds, sowing is carried out in autumn or spring, with seeds stratified from autumn. About 150 seeds are sown per 1 linear meter. Dried or last year's seeds are pre-soaked for 3-4 hours before stratification. Sowings carried out before winter must be insulated with leaf litter. Seedlings of most types of mountain ash grow quickly and by autumn they are suitable for planting in a school for growing and formation.

The technology for growing planting material from seeds is much simpler, and in some cases more convenient, than propagation by grafting - a dormant bud or cuttings. However, when propagating by seed, one should take into account not only the degree of variability of the species, but also the later entry into flowering and fruiting of young plants. A number of rowans, for example, Finnish, elder-leaved, large-fruited, Moravian, sweet-fruited, nevezhinskaya, "Burka" and some others, when propagated by seed, produce offspring that are practically no different from the maternal forms and are not inferior to plants obtained by grafting. Rowan shoots grow quite quickly and, as a rule, mature. It is best to plant young plants in a permanent place in the fall, leaving 3-4 m between vigorous species, and 1.5-2 m between short-growing species.

Caring for plantings comes down to the timely removal of shoots, which often form at the root collar, and shoots growing below the grafting site, as well as watering, fertilizing and loosening the soil, molding the crown and controlling pests and diseases. Since rowan trees begin to grow quite early and quickly in the spring, pruning and fertilizing of plantings should be carried out as early and as quickly as possible. At the same time, weak and broken shoots are cut out from young trees, the longest ones are shortened somewhat to the outer bud. When pruning fruit-bearing plants, the nature of fruiting should be taken into account. In species and varieties that bear fruit on last year's growth, the shoots are only slightly shortened, and the thickened crown is thinned out. For plants with weak growth, rejuvenating pruning is done to two- or three-year-old wood to stimulate the growth of new shoots. The rowan trees bearing fruit on various types fruit formations, shorten the semi-skeletal branches, systematically thinning and rejuvenating the ringlets.

Starting from the third year of life, young plants must be fed with mineral fertilizers. The most effective is three-time fertilizing: in the spring, before flowering, when 20 g of nitrogen, 25 g of phosphorus and 15 g of potassium fertilizers are applied for each square meter landing; in summer - 10-15 g of nitrogen and phosphorus and 10 g of potassium; in the fall, after harvesting, 10 g of phosphorus and potassium. Fertilizers are applied shallowly, slightly digging up the soil, after which the plantings are watered abundantly.

American mountain ash is frost- and drought-resistant. It propagates by seeds and cuttings, the rooting rate of which is up to 30%. Mixed rowan is propagated by seeds and cuttings, which give rooting about 80%. Its first introduction into culture dates back to 1880.

Elderberry rowan is also propagated by seeds and cuttings.

Schneider's rowan is resistant to frost, unpretentious to soil fertility, and can be grown in the forest-tundra zone. Both species have been cultivated since 1905.

In Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, intermediate rowan has been cultivated for a long time, which is propagated by seeds and cuttings. It is very winter-hardy and drought-resistant, and also tolerates gas pollution and smoke well (unlike ordinary mountain ash), is unpretentious to the soil, and tolerates its compaction. It is most decorative in the fall when the fruits ripen and the color of the foliage changes to yellow and orange.

Rowan aria, the fruits of which are widely used in the food industry, is drought-resistant, but prefers bright sunny places and soils rich in lime. Can be grown in cultivation south of St. Petersburg. Reproduces mainly by seeds.

Diseases and pests

One of the main reasons for the death of rowan trees and losses of commercial timber are tinder fungi (false, alder and maple), which most often affect mature plantations and cause the development of heartwood or heartwood-sapwood white or yellow-brown rot in the trunks and large branches. Infection occurs through frost cracks and mechanical damage, mainly in the butt part. Infection with tinder fungi often leads to the appearance of hollows, a decrease in the yield of industrial wood (up to 100%) and the death of trees. At the same time, I resort to control measures characteristic of all rotting diseases of trees: sanitary felling, timely removal or chemical protection of harvested wood, removal or destruction of dead wood, windbreaks, logging and other wood residues. In parks and gardens, individual protection of trees is recommended: pruning damaged and withered branches, treating wounds, filling cavities, destroying the fruiting bodies of rot pathogens.

Among the diseases caused by fungi, it is worth noting anthracnose, which damages leaves, shoots, fruits and seeds. Rowan (as well as other breeds) is characterized by damage by specialized parasites - Gloeosporium aucuparia. Measures to prevent this disease cover the early stages of plant development: from seed treatment to fungicide treatment of crops, mother plantations and schools late autumn or early spring, as well as treating trees during the growing season.

Another disease worth mentioning is mummification of fruits and seeds, also known as fruit rot (moniliosis). Affected seeds and fruits of stone fruits (including rowan) become unsuitable for further use. Control measures: destruction of last year's diseased fruits in forest seed plots, their timely collection, sorting and chemical treatment before storage, chemical treatment of seeds.

Rowan in section

Rowan is a heartwood species with wide reddish-white sapwood and a red-brown heartwood. The annual layers are clearly visible in all sections. The vessels are small. The medullary rays are faintly visible on a radial section. The texture is smooth, dull, thin. The wood has a characteristic shine and high uniform density (uniform distribution of mechanical tissues across the width of the annual layer). The number of annual layers per 1 cm of cross section for the common mountain ash (distribution area - Central regions European part of Russia), as a rule, averages 6,6.

Physical and mechanicaland technological properties

Most of the rowan species belong to medium-density species along with oak, beech and a number of other deciduous species. The average density value (humidity 12%) for most types of rowan is in the range of 570-600 kg/m3. Common mountain ash from the central regions of the European part of Russia has an average density of 594 kg/m3. Rowan glogovina has the highest density - 802 kg/m 3 (Abkhazia). In Central and Northern Europe its density ranges from 670 to 900 kg/m3, i.e. this species can be classified as a high-density rock.

• when stretched along the fibers - 131 MPa;
• when shearing along the fibers in the radial direction - 11-12 MPa;
• in the tangential direction - 10-11 MPa.
• Impact strength - 84.6 kJ/m2

The static hardness of ordinary mountain ash and mountain ash is significantly different:

• end hardness - 60.1 (ordinary) and 97.7 (glogovina) N/mm 2;
• radial - 40.8 and 67.5 N/mm 2;
• end - 41.5 and 74.2 N/mm 2 (respectively).
• Elastic modulus - 12.8 GPa.

The wood of most types of rowan is well processed by cutting, sanded and polished well. Due to its pleasant color, shine and strength, it is often used to imitate valuable types of wood, which is also facilitated by its good ability to absorb stains and stains. The stability of rowan products is assessed as good. It glues well and holds fasteners (nails and screws). The ability to bend is slightly worse than that of beech.

Scope of application

The wood of this species is a valuable craft material. In carpentry and furniture, it can be used without restrictions and at the same time compete with oak and beech wood, since parts made from it have greater dimensional stability than oak and beech. Currently, craftsmen clearly underestimate this breed, whereas previously it was highly valued for its strength, toughness, elasticity and appearance. In Europe (especially in Germany) in the 19th century, rowan was widely used by carriage makers, carpenters, turners and carvers to imitate expensive and scarce tropical wood. Gunsmiths and coopers also did not neglect it. It is still used to make excellent handles for hand tools, dishes and various household utensils.

Currently, interest in mountain ash is being revived again. First of all, furniture manufacturers and interior decorators are turning to it, due to the emergence of effective technologies for producing laminated wood (furniture panels, etc.).

The structure of rowan wood and its properties make it possible to use tonkomer and other non-commercial wood of this species in the production of high-quality cellulose; it makes excellent firewood and raw materials for charcoal.

It is especially popular nevezhinsKaya (Nezhinskaya) mountain ash, bred in the vicinity of the village of Nevezhina, Vladimir region and represented by several varieties - sugar, vat, yellow, red-fruited. Before the revolution, the fruits of the Nevezhin rowan were widely used to produce the famous tincture. There is one interesting legend associated with this mountain ash. Having heard about the numerous advantages of these varieties, the rich merchant Smirnov bought all the berries from the Nevezhinsky peasants. And this meant that the entire harvest that the peasants would harvest from now on belonged only to him. However, the merchant had many competitors who also wanted to get their hands on the famous mountain ash. And in order to deceive his rivals, Smirnov called the mountain ash Nezhinskaya. And since the city of Nizhyn is located in Ukraine, competitors rushed to the Chernigov province, hoping to bring seedlings or seeds from there. But no matter how much they searched, they did not find anything like it in those parts.

I.V. Michurin was the first to develop new varieties of rowan using hybridization. To increase the size of berries and improve them taste qualities, he crossed rowan with chokeberry, hawthorn, medlar, apple and pear. This is how copra “Burka”, “Granatnaya”, “Dessertnaya”, “Rubinovaya” were obtained. Their advantages include low growth, winter hardiness, early fruiting and low acid content in fruits.

In the Russian folklore tradition, rowan often symbolized happiness and peace in the family, so people tried to plant it closer to home. She has long been mentioned in stories, legends, poems and fairy tales in combination with such epithets as “curly”, “cheerful”, “thin”. From time immemorial, rowan has been considered a plant that protects people from all sorts of misfortunes, and has appeared as an inspired character in many customs and rituals.

"DEREVO.RU" 4/2007

Properties of wood of various species and their comparative characteristics

Pine and spruce

Judging by the appearance of a growing tree, it is unlikely that anyone will confuse pine and spruce (Fig. 1 inset). But still, let us point out at least one characteristic feature by which they can be unmistakably distinguished: in Scots pine 2 (Fig. 10) coniferous needles are located on the hands in pairs (in some types of pines there are more of them), in spruce 1 they are dispersed along the branches alone. It is advisable for a woodcarver to distinguish between spruce and pine by the wood, but this is much more difficult to do. As for wood, pine has a darker core and light sapwood (the outer part of the trunk), spruce does not have a core, it belongs to the so-called coreless wood species. But this sign is unreliable - in pine only at the age of 30-35 years (according to literature), and even then not always, the core appears. The carver may end up with a workpiece made from only one heartwood part, when there is no color boundary between the dark heartwood and light sapwood. There are pine trees with a faintly distinguishable color difference between the core and sapwood, which is especially typical for the outer surface of old lumber.
But there are other signs of the difference between spruce and pine that a carver working with wood should know. It is their combination that allows, in some cases, to accurately indicate the breed. Freshly planed spruce wood is brightly light (pine is darker, more ocher), the contrast of its growth rings is less clearly expressed. Over time, spruce darkens more slowly than pine, but their tone still gradually evens out. Pine wood smells like resin, and the smell of spruce wood resembles the smell of its pine needles. The texture of spruce has a distinctly straight grain and it splits easily. In its longitudinal section one can see small, isolated, as if inserted, torn from the rest of the wood and running to the sides from the core; they even sometimes fall out of the craft while working.
In terms of texture, pine can easily be confused with larch, also heartwood, especially since mature pine has the same large growth rings. The distinction between them based on resin ducts recommended in the literature (in pine they are larger and more numerous) is difficult to implement in practice. A reliable sign is to lower a piece of wood 5-7 mm thick into water: in two to three weeks the larch wood will get wet and sink.
Among mixed unedged softwood boards, spruce boards differ from pine boards in their dark, even black, and smoother bark. The larch bark on the boards, under the influence of air oxygen and light, acquires a red-cherry color, sharply different from the color of the bark of pine and spruce. In addition, larch boards are noticeably heavier. In larch, even a young one, a large dark brown core is clearly visible, and on the light sapwood there are narrow stripes on the sides, while in spruce there is no core at all, in pine it is narrow and then only on wide boards.
For a woodcarver, conifers are convenient due to their availability. Thanks to them wide application in construction, in the manufacture of household crafts, you can easily find the necessary blank for carving. However, pine and spruce also have significant drawbacks that limit their scope of use in carvings: the wood’s harshness and its striped texture. Therefore, it is best to use pine and spruce for carving large crafts with large elements. These are house carvings, decorative panels on the walls of public premises, carvings in gardens and parks. In such carvings, the imperfections of wood can either be leveled out or even played up. Thus, contrasting stripes make large fields of carved panels more expressive; they can be emphasized by firing and toning.
Coniferous wood is also convenient for slotted carvings, the design or ornament of which looks like a silhouette (Fig. 11). Basically, all slotted and applied carvings when decorating a house are made from spruce (usually) or pine (we will get to know this in detail when studying house carvings). But even on the flat surface of carved crafts for the interior, an experienced carver skillfully uses strips of coniferous wood. They turn, for example, into an interesting pattern on the smooth curve and polished surface of a vase.
Large-layered bright coniferous wood is not suitable for making a small mask (a mask here means a sculptural image of a face) of a woman or child, but sometimes it can add additional expressiveness to the mask of an old person. The same contrasting stripes of spruce or pine can make up the decor of a simple conventional or ritual mask of a simple shape.
The woman's mask in Fig. 12 is made in a stylized manner and is part of the ornament. Here the wood texture does not interfere, but is successfully used, bringing poetry to the product, the craft intrigues the viewer: is all this really made from a whole piece of wood? It is the pattern of the layers of wood that summarizes the composition.
In Fig. 13 we again see how the master plays with the layered structure of coniferous wood, uses it as a cameo material: sculpts the form, linking it with light and dark stripes of wood.
Finally, we advise the woodcarver to consider that the striped grain of softwood can be used for smooth polished panels surrounded by carvings. Such
We sometimes see this technique in house carvings. Striped spruce or pine wood will not interfere with the mask ornament (Fig. 14-16), which can be used to decorate the wall of the house and for the upper part of the trim. If the carving is painted, it can be composed of various types of wood.
In the same forest you can find different pines, which differ both in appearance and in the properties of the wood. Thus, pine that grew in a dry, high place has harder, denser wood, the texture of which will also have dense, narrow rings (remember, for example, ship pine). And pine, which grew in a low, sometimes swampy place, has softer wood. A mighty, thick dried pine once grew alone among the young trees. Its wood in the core part will have a beautiful range of wide growth rings. And the outer layers dating back to the time when the tree encountered growth impediments will be marked by anomalies: curling in places where old knots are overgrown and damaged; tarring (areas impregnated with resin) - the result of healed wounds; resin pockets are also parts of tree rings impregnated with resin.
It is even more interesting for a woodcarver to compare the individual properties of spruce and pine (as well as larch), which appear during the wood processing process.
Usually pine or spruce is easy to cut, saw and plan. But pine that has stood for a long time or has been lying dry is difficult to cut and sometimes crumbles. When dropped, a workpiece or craft often breaks. In some places, the wood of lying pine, especially if it has begun to partially rot, is cut with extraordinary difficulty, crushing the sting of the blade. It is almost impossible to cut such wood with a semicircular chisel across the grain; you have to simultaneously press on the chisel to rotate it around the longitudinal axis - to create a more effective cutting force by moving the blade. In this case, the hope is to plan with a knife made of strong steel at an angle of 45° to the direction of the grain.
The woodcarver needs to avoid such areas on pine wood where delamination has already begun: the resinous layers have become completely hard, and the soft ones have burned out. Under pressure, such wood does not cut, but only wrinkles, springs and breaks. When choosing wood, you should also avoid those areas on the pine trunk that have darkened due to the tree lying on the ground for a long time, although they do not look rotten. When wet, such wood seems durable and suitable for processing; a blow with an ax to this place is loud. But after it dries, it doesn’t cut at all, it dulls the tool, and no matter how hard you try, it will still have to be replaced with healthy wood.
In this regard, it is useful to draw the carver’s attention to the fact that a material that is “soft” and “easy to cut” with a tool is not always the same thing. For example, leather is used to straighten the blade of a knife (wood carvers also use this) or a straight razor. Cutting leather, a material softer than wood, dulls the knife more. And the cutter of a lathe becomes duller from wood than from steel.
When considering the external similarities of pine and spruce, the carver must take into account that the contrast of the growth rings of these wood species decreases over time, and the wood acquires a generalized deep ocher tone. If the contrast of the stripes spoils the craft, it should be taken into account that this defect will decrease over time or completely disappear. And vice versa, in the case when contrasting growth rings are used for additional decoration of the product, the achieved effect will decrease after the wood is exposed to light.
Note that the color of the core and sapwood gradually evens out over time. This applies to both pine and larch, although there is pine wood that is susceptible to disease, where the sapwood is even darker than the core.
Let us draw the woodcarver's attention to the fact that often not all the positive properties of spruce and pine are used for decorative finishing of a carved product. Obviously, the reason for this is the availability and abundance of material, which causes insufficient “respect” for it
(by the way, in many countries where this abundance of coniferous species does not exist, pine, spruce and especially larch as building materials are more expensive than mahogany). A more attentive attitude to our conifers and studying them opens up wide possibilities for using the trees described. It has been noticed, for example, that seasoned pine wood has the warmest tone (yellow or orange). Individual tarred areas of dry pine that have stood in the forest for a long time resemble amber. Such wood retains its shape and hardness and does not soften from heat. It is good for making beads, berries, and decorative inserts in intarsia. The author conducted an experiment in collecting tarred pieces of pine wood and made a bunch of grapes from them, collected from chiseled berries. When kept in the sun and varnished, it really seemed amber, and individual berries showed through, like grapes. Even the stripes of annual layers, with a certain orientation and rotation of the chiseled berry, made the carving even more expressive. The most suitable tarred places in a pine trunk for this purpose are the knots running inside the trunk and places where the tree is wounded (tarred). With such brushes, made from turned berries, inserted with the legs into holes on the wooden base of the brush, it is good to decorate the outer contour of any frame or use them to decorate a carved column, for example, in house carvings (see Fig. 18 and 27).
Tarred parts of pine should not be tarred before varnishing: this makes them dull and gray. This happens because the resin (resin) dissolves in the oil.
It is advisable to combine a dark ocher brush from the resinous parts of pine in the ornament with lighter leaves of grapes from the same pine, but made from heartwood or sapwood. For leaves, you can also use composite wood, using strips of annual layers of the leaf's constituent parts as leaf veins, as well as varying the pattern of veins with the width of the strips, depending on the direction of the leaf processing plane to the annual rings. For the main veins, it is advantageous to make inserts from dark veneer.
The core of an old large pine with large growth rings is very beautiful in a longitudinal section and along and across the rings, it has an amber tint and looks like a lemon tree. This wood turns especially yellow when a craft made from it is exposed to the sun and kept for one to two weeks, then oiled and kept in the sun and air again. The contrast of the growth rings softens, and the overall ocher tone deepens. From the pine core you can select sections and lighter rings for making berries and yellow inserts for intarsia.
Unlike spruce, pine wood is characterized by the interweaving of the fibers of the trunk with the fibers of the knots extending from this trunk, which gives an interesting pattern in the cross-section. Some carvers now use this to make chiseled or multifaceted vases and stands for stationery. The so-called whorl - a part of the trunk with branches - is used as a blank for such a craft. The more knots that move away from the trunk in a given place, the more interesting the pattern on the craft will be. A threaded product can be made from one whorl or from a set, where several small whorls are pre-glued layer by layer along flat machined surfaces and with very different orientations to each other. It is clear that in this case, the adjustment of the bonded surfaces comes to the forefront in technology, i.e. Preferably machine processed.
Even more interesting crafts using bent pine can be obtained by gluing the product with layers of such wood. It does not have to be a chiseled or faceted vase. By manually selecting and adjusting along curved seams, it is possible to obtain a product of any shape, and individual parts can be solid-cut from the same pine or wood contrasting in color (for example, from linden, birch). For a vase, such details can be a lid, handle, bottom (base), inclined ornament, etc. (in Fig. 47 inset, a vase is made in this solution, but from a different material, similar to striped pine). When gluing a craft with layers of pine wood using a mixture of sawdust and wood glue, precise adjustment of the joints of curved surfaces is not necessary, as well as in the gaps of the seams; between the gluing parts you can insert an additional part of any shape and any size, but maintaining the harmony of the wood pattern.
Pine wood behaves interestingly, which due to the disease has acquired a reddish or even bright red tint. These reddenings occur in various places on the trunk. As a result of the experiments carried out by the author with such wood, it turned out in one case that the oiled and seasoned wood gradually lost its completely beautiful shade and turned into ordinary wood. In another case, such redness was detected in a large trunk of a dry pine tree that had stood for a long time. Under the influence of light and oil, this wood, with a slight fading of the red hue, acquired a sharply expressed contrast of growth rings, while the resinous layers became dark red, the texture of the wood became extremely elegant and decorative. It is especially advantageous to turn such rings (strips) into wide ones, orienting them according to the shape of the surface being treated.
Let us draw the reader's attention to the fact that the long thin roots of pine have exceptional flexibility and are therefore used for artistic weaving. This can also be used by a wood carver when it is necessary for a bent part to be reliable and convenient in a carved product (for example, the handle of a small vase, the tail of a monkey). Some craftsmen use spruce roots for this purpose, which are also suitable for artistic weaving.
We will talk about other properties of pine and spruce that appear during its processing, as well as about the technology of processing this wood itself when describing house carvings, where coniferous wood is the main material.

Larch.

Larch 4 (see Fig. 10) is the only European coniferous tree with needles that fall off in the winter. It is most common in our country. There is more of it than spruce, pine and fir combined. Moreover, it grows much faster than these trees (per year by 1 m). In addition, it has the highest yield. And only two factors prevent its widespread use: firstly, when left in water for a long time, it sinks, and therefore, the possibilities of rafting are limited, and secondly, this wood is more difficult to process than pine and especially spruce. It is heavy, dense, its strength and density are 30% greater than that of pine.
However, larch has a valuable property - it is resistant to rotting, especially in conditions of severe wetness. Piles, supports, sleepers, telegraph poles, dams, piers, ship formwork are made from this wood, and without special impregnation. In addition, larch is the champion among trees in terms of frost resistance. Products made from it, found in excavations in Altai, lasted 25 centuries. The wheels of the Scythian war chariots were also made of larch.
Let us also take into account the fact that larch is a long-liver. True, in some foreign literature, spruce and fir are considered to be the longest-livers among coniferous species in Europe (up to 700 years), and the lifespan of larch and pine is assumed to be up to 300 years. But in the Sayan Mountains there are larch trees up to 900 years old. (The longest-living tree found on the American continent is Taxodium mexicanis, growing in Santa Maria del Tule, its age is about 6000 years.)
The thickness of the trunks of such trees can be judged by the fact that the larch planted by Peter I on the shores of the Gulf of Finland has a trunk of two girths. Such large sizes The ridges also allow you to conceive a corresponding craft, which would be impossible to make otherwise than from a whole tree trunk. Of course, this in no way means that relict trees need to be cut down for carving, but the possibility of encountering thick trunks with larch is greater than with other trees.
Larch, like pine, is a sound-bearing species. It has a pronounced large dark core, the texture is also similar to that of pine, but brighter and more decorative, which is why larch is often used for cladding furniture. The signs and rules for using it in carving are similar.
When dry, larch wood is more susceptible to cracking than pine and spruce.
We have already mentioned that some craftsmen specially boil larch bark to obtain a red dye, which is used to stain wood. True, the author of these lines was not able to test such staining for light fastness over time or come across data about it in the literature. The reader is given the opportunity to experience this property in practice. It must be assumed that the wood of the larch itself is most suitable for staining, just as for staining a walnut tree an alcohol solution of the distillation product of ground nut shells or the juice of this tree is used.

Fir

Fir (see Fig. 10) is a coreless tree (like spruce). Its wood is the lightest. Therefore, fir is very soft and, along with cedar, is the least resistant to dents from impact. In terms of splitting strength, the wood of both of these trees ranks last among the wood of other ornamental tree species.
Fir is used for crafts that should be light, and also as a substitute for spruce, including for the production of musical instruments. It is particularly used in the production of cellulose.
A distinctive feature of fir wood is the absence of odor. But its bark smells strong and very pleasant. The needles of white, or European, fir (there are about nine types of fir in our country) are soft, and there are two white stripes on the back of each needle. Fir balsam is obtained from the bark, and fir oil is obtained from pine needles and branches.
In house carving, boards made of this wood can be used as a background for slotted and applied carvings. For relief and even more complex artistic crafts, it is better not to use fir.

Cedar

The scientific name of cedar is Siberian pine. In terms of physical and mechanical properties, it is between Siberian spruce and fir, but is more resistant to rotting. Cedar is very well cut and processed in all directions. By the way, pencils are made from cedar. For carving, including house carving, it is a valuable material, especially since it has a beautiful texture and a pleasant yellow-pink or light pink core color. The growth rings and the transition of the kernel to the wide yellowish-white sapwood are not sharp, they are shaded.
The wood has a characteristic smell of pine nuts. Unlike other conifers, cedar has the largest resin ducts (a sign for recognizing wood species). It is not resistant to impact and splitting, but in terms of its resistance to cracking during drying, it belongs to the group of resistant species (like spruce, pine, fir, aspen, linden, poplar). The density of cedar is insignificant, it is a light species, it cuts very well under a cutting tool and does not wrinkle.

Birch

Its wood is the lightest (white with a yellowish or reddish tint), which is taken into account in carving, marquetry, and intarsia. On the radial split you can see narrow shiny and short transverse stripes - medullary rays. There are also longitudinal brown lines - core repetitions.
Birch wood is homogeneous, fine-textured, and cuts well. It is convenient to use it for small crafts (Fig. 17), since birch reacts to air temperature and humidity and can warp in large products. For the same reasons, it is better to oil threaded items made of birch with vegetable oil, which, due to its slow drying, has time to penetrate deeply. The oil will protect the wood from moisture. It is even safer to keep dry birch for 4-5 hours in hot oil, linseed or sunflower, but do not boil, since in boiling oil birch, especially wet birch, can crack or even darken and char. With moderate drying under natural conditions, birch does not crack (only small cracks are possible at the end), so the birch block can be dried sanded. In the open air, birch wood quickly rots, even if it is protected from rain. Therefore, birch is not used in house carvings.
Beautiful carved crafts can be made from the butt of a birch, especially in the places where the ridge meets the roots. The texture of such wood with spectacular moire stains is advantageous to use in polished, smooth surfaces, for example, in the recess of a vase bowl, sometimes with inlay of other types of monotonous dark wood or with incised areas of marquetry.
Ordinary smooth and polished birch wood has the ability to reflect light differently depending on the direction of the grain. At the same time, its color changes from restrained grayish to bright light, when the shine of the wood appears. Marketers use this to vary colors and shades. For example, from the same sheet of birch veneer you can get both the sky and the clouds on it. If you paste small pieces of veneer of various shapes over the surface of the craft, you will get an interesting shimmering background. The carver needs to know this. In this way, you can cover wood defects or flaws in carvings, for example on the surface of a vase. The cladding of such a surface can be done with inserts from other types of wood, i.e. apply the marquetry or intarsia method (see Fig. 232).
This property of birch wood (especially due to the fact that it is very light) also has negative sides: its pieces cannot be joined, since the seam will certainly be noticeable, and the joined parts will differ from each other; defects in wood cannot be masked with inserts or covered with putty. For example, on the tabletop (see Fig. 32 inset), in order to make the tone of the interlacing tape uniform, it was necessary to abandon the lining of the tabletop using the marquetry method (from making this tape in a joined form) and use a more labor-intensive intarsia method: cutting on a flat field tabletop, covered with ordinary multi-layer plywood, the entire top veneer, except for the pattern of the ribbon ornament, and glue a veneer of a different color in this place.
Birch has one special property compared to other known types of wood: it has the least resistance to splitting in the radial direction. This is also used when chopping birch firewood, always pointing the ax towards the core of the wood. This same property was previously used by peasants and shoemakers to prick plates from birch logs, from which wooden shoe nails were then made. Such plates were also easy to sharpen with a knife from one edge when moving the knife tip forward (see Fig. 107). The woodcarver will remember this feature of birch that is easy to process and, on occasion, will use it in his work.
In terms of splitting in the tangential direction, birch is quite strong.
Birch, as a fracture-resistant wood, is used to make ax handles for axes subject to heavy loads, when chopping firewood, for example, as well as handles for tools.

Aspen

Folklore has created an aura of mysticism and mystery around the aspen. In proverbs and sayings it is characterized unflatteringly:
"Aspen is ugly, bitchy and noisy."
"Aspen does not burn without kerosene."
“The aspen keeps whispering, damned tree” (aspen leaves have long legs and are constantly in motion; according to legend, Judas hanged himself on an aspen tree).
“There is blood under the bark on the aspen tree” (the bark under the skin is reddish).
“Fever and teeth are spoken to the aspen tree” (rubbing the gums with bark until they bleed).
They don’t like aspen wood and how ornamental material in the specialized literature on woodworking: it ranks one of the last places in terms of the percentage of output of parts of excellent and good quality during processing - planing, milling, turning, drilling. But woodcarvers love aspen, like linden, for its ease of processing, light tone, fine fiber texture, and because it is accessible and even more common than linden. In the handicraft industry, aspen is also “respected” for the fact that it is not afraid of moisture and for its low density. Only Siberian fir and poplar have a density less than that of aspen, and linden has the same density. Therefore, aspen is used to make lightweight toys and dishes. Previously, troughs, tubs, and gangs were made from it. In addition, it does not crack or prick from impact. In addition, aspen peels well - it is used to make shingles and matches.
Those who are more familiar with it look at aspen completely differently. It turns out that a healthy aspen tree, if it has dried out for at least two to three months, burns very well even without kerosene. When aspen is burned, the chimney of the stove is cleared of soot, since it has an amazing ability to burn during its combustion the soot that remains in the stove from other types of trees. Therefore, it is used to fire rural and regional bathhouses, village houses, and boiler houses. This is where a wood carver can find a block of wood for small-sized crafts with blind carvings, and he can’t go wrong if he does it in advance, for future use. The fact is that aspen has one more completely unexpected property - a strong increase in strength during aging. With its lightness! The practice of our ancestors confirms what has been said, although it does not fully reveal all the reasons and secrets. It turns out that the walls of the huts, built from aspen many years ago, still amaze with their strength, whiteness and cleanliness. The ax bounces off such wood and, at best, penetrates only shallowly. It is not for nothing that aspen is now used in villages to make shelves and benches in bathhouses, and to line their walls - it is hygienic, light and clean, not afraid of moisture, does not warp or crack.
It also turns out that experienced villagers make handles and handles for agricultural implements, when the combination of lightness and strength, just from aspen, is worth its weight in gold. Only for this purpose it is necessary to cut down a young aspen in the spring, when the wood is filled with sap, and give it the opportunity to dry well in the shade - to wither. Then it will become both light and strong, like bone. Obviously, the aspen does not just dry out, some kind of polymerization occurs under the influence of the components of its juice.
Oral legends say that they did the same thing with the preparation of aspen logs for construction, only on each of them two or three grooves were made along the log on the bark so that the wood would not rot during drying, and the necessary juice would be preserved in moderation.
For the same reasons, when drying an unsanded aspen trunk, some branches were sometimes left on its top, which drew excess moisture from the wood. To obtain ideal aspen wood, its trunks were harvested together with the birth of a son in the family, and it dried until the son separated from the family and a house was built for him.
The best ax handle for the carpenter and joiner, as well as for the home craftsman, is also made from well-seasoned aspen. It is not only light, but also does not crush your hand or cause calluses, which usually happens when working with a birch ax handle that gets polished and slips out of your hands (however, it is better to buy an ax handle for an ax for chopping wood from birch: its breaking strength does not depend I slept depending on the time of year).
The woodworker, of course, will take these comments about aspen into account - he will not miss the opportunity to stock up on aspen that has been seasoned for years, but cut down in the spring. It turns out that, depending on the duration of exposure, the carver can use aspen of any hardness. A craft made from soft aspen acquires hardness over time and becomes not only resistant to splitting, but also to accidental dents from impacts.
Another property of aspen deserves attention, which is a flaw in woodworking, but a godsend for a carver in house carving. This is the presence of hollows and rot in the middle of large trunks. These will make a wonderful hollow carved column (Fig. 18), and you need to select the wood until a ring layer of the required thickness is formed in a damp trunk and not worry about drying the workpiece: in this form it will not crack, but will only compress more tightly (see Fig. section on wood drying). In this case, there is no need to achieve the strength of seasoned aspen.
In terms of chipping strength, aspen is similar to linden and is superior in this to coniferous species, as well as poplar. And in terms of resistance to splitting from impact, it stands next to birch and ash, even ahead of beech, oak, maple, walnut, linden, and coniferous trees. This indicates the viscosity of aspen.
The author also tested aspen that had been seasoned for several years in carving (Fig. 19); it proved to be very good. It’s as if the cross-cut of the aspen is uneven, even loose in appearance. But as soon as you plan it with a sharp knife, a clean, even cut is revealed. Such aspen is cut elastically, even tightly, with effort, but the surface is good in all directions, it is perfectly sanded and polished. If you grab a part of the trunk with a branch on a knot to prepare a craft, you can, when finishing this place, get a play of texture that is not at all similar to aspen, but in warm colors, somewhat reminiscent even of Karelian birch. You just need to avoid the aspen core - in the craft it will be a loose dark brown strip.
Considering the indicated properties of aspen, it is especially advantageous to use it for crafts with blind carvings, for making complex, solid-carved ornaments or decorations such as in Fig. 20.
Let us also mention the famous property of the silvery glow of aspen, which we observe on the roofs of the cathedrals of wooden architecture of the North of our country covered with ploughshares (curly carved planks). The fact is that, as we have already mentioned, any wood that is not protected with varnishes or paints becomes gray and gradually collapses and rots. Unpainted aspen also turns gray, but unlike other types of wood, it is more resistant to weathering and, acquiring its silvery, metallic gray color within a few years (according to some reports, within 8-10 years), retains it for many decades . The use of a ploughshare in the roof was supported not only by the interesting shape of the ploughshare itself, but also by the successful use of the silvery color of aspen, which plays on the relief of the roof and forms a whole range of transitions from light and sparkling illuminated places to dark gray, almost black, in shaded recesses. It must be assumed that for the ploughshare, the old masters used high-quality wood blanks, i.e. cut down while filling the aspen with spring sap.
The restored ancient tented church of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery near Vologda, transported there from another place, has exactly this enchanting silvery glow, which cannot be compared with any decorative coloring.
Note that cool gray color combines favorably with red and burgundy. This is taken into account during the restoration of some churches and cathedrals made of red brick with gray lead, or even painted roofs, slopes, and tents.
In appearance, aspen can only be confused with its related poplar (aspen has a second name - trembling poplar). It, like the white poplar, has a smooth greenish-gray bark, brownish at the base, cracked (in old trees). But the aspen leaf, unlike the poplar leaf, is ovoid (Fig. 2 inset).

Linden

This tree has very soft wood and can be easily cut with a sharp knife (a dull knife will crush some loose areas). On the hardness scale of 50 European and exotic wood species, linden ranks first (the softest). Therefore, it is widely used by professional carvers to make various crafts. If you have experience and a sharp tool, carving linden does not require much effort; the ability to cut significant volumes of wood with a knife allows you to often make do with a small number of tools when carving. But linden, like aspen, is quite suitable for making complex reliefs of blind house carvings.
Linden has a valuable feature - it does not change its shape much. That is why drawing boards, models in foundries, dishes, barrels for honey and other food, and blanks in the production of hats are made from it.
But linden is famous in wood carving as a good material for geometric carvings and small crafts: shelves, stands, frames (Fig. 21, 22). However, for solid works of relief carving and sculpture, it is better not to use linden: it is easily vulnerable both from blows and from the accidental breakdown of a chisel, and the light tone of linden and its delicate texture do not allow repairing defects. Of course, if a linden product is intended for subsequent painting, then this drawback can be easily eliminated.
Note that sometimes there is a type of linden, especially overdried, that is difficult to cut: the wood becomes wrinkled, and the tool quickly becomes dull.
If the carver decides to use an old drawing board for the ornament (previously they were made from linden), then it must be taken into account that only areas where the buttons were not pressed can be suitable for carving with a transparent finish. After processing, the area from the tip of the button will stand out as a spot against the light background of linden wood. Artificially sealing such places with tinted putty will also not give results: even a carefully selected color of putty will be noticeable in certain lighting. In general, contact of any wood with metal leads to its darkening, and with prolonged contact of some types of wood with iron, it leads to blackening (for example, oak).
Linden grows very slowly, but is long-lived: small-leaved linden lives up to 800, and large-leaved linden lives up to 1000 years and reaches a diameter of 3-4 m. But large-leaved linden penetrates into the east of Europe only to Western Ukraine and Moldova. It blooms two weeks earlier than small-leaved linden.
The most characteristic species characteristics of linden are the following: a later flowering time than other trees, the fruits are smooth ball-shaped nuts with a diameter of 4-6 mm, reverse side the leaf has barbs of hairs in the corners of the veins (see Fig. 2 inset). Other characteristics: the leaf is heart-shaped, pointed; blooms with small yellowish flowers with a characteristic pleasant (honey) smell; the bark is dark gray, furrowed.

Its wood is light, soft and tough. It cuts very well, does not prick when carving, is not fragile, and does not crack when dried. The end of the wood is processed well and can be used for the front side of the craft, for example, for making ornaments on flat end cuts from round blanks (Fig. 3 inset). Alder is especially well used in small miniature crafts, for example in intarsia, where inserts of yellow and brown tones are required (see Fig. 38 insert). Viscous and pliable for processing in all directions, it is used in such important products as musical instruments: in some types of accordions, all wooden parts are made only from alder. Alder burls are especially valuable for artistic crafts.
To enhance the yellow color of dry alder, it is useful to keep the treated surface in the sun, periodically moistening it with water, and then varnish it. It is even more effective to moisten the craft with the juice of the same alder wood.
Freshly cut white, i.e. ordinary alder (in total, about 15 species of alder grow in our country) quickly turns yellow, up to orange tones, but then the bright yellow color fades, the wood turns gray, although the end remains quite yellow. Dry wood in split and cross-section is also not bright yellow in color, but under oil or drying oil it again acquires, although not as bright as in a fresh cut, a fairly intense, uniform color that distinguishes it from other types of wood. Under the influence of oil, alder from the end acquires a particularly rich yellow color, which can be used to highlight crafts made on end cuts, or such details as we talked about when describing resinous pine knots. For example, a carver can take advantage of this property if he decides to make some kind of home carving decoration using the natural colors of various types of wood and coating them with oil (fruits, flowers in a garland - Fig. 23). In this case, it will be useful to combine alder parts with ocher, deep-colored parts made from the internal resinous knots of pine. The core part of an apple tree, and a pear imitated with crappie varnish (art paint) to look like mahogany, as well as the imitated alder itself (see description of oak wood) are suitable for this purpose.
A characteristic negative property of alder is that it drills very poorly (the last place among the known ornamental species). Another disadvantage of this wood, which is uniform in texture and color in the total mass, is that it often contains core repetitions in the form of longitudinal narrow brown lines, and sometimes in the form of darker wide inclusions.

In sunlight, alder wood loses its orange tint in two to three months, its color becomes similar to the color of seasoned pine wood.
The species characteristics of alder are as follows. The fruits are woody cones on strong stems measuring 14-18 mm, which is especially noticeable in winter. The leaves of black alder are obovate or rounded, bluntly chopped off or even have a notch; The trunk (only of black alder) is elongated and straight. Black alder received its name for the black-brown color of its bark with cracks. Black alder flowers with earrings form in the fall and bloom in March. White (or gray) alder blooms two weeks earlier, its leaves are broadly oval, gray-green on the underside, and the bark is smooth and gray in old age. White alder wood is slightly lighter in color and stronger than the yellow-red wood of black alder.

Pear

Its wood is especially delicate, fine-textured, very beautiful in small crafts and in combination with other types of wood (intarsia, mixed carving techniques). It is useful for the carver to keep in stock the blocks and blades of old planks that were once made from pear wood. When making carved wooden frames, an internal edging made of pear wood (shared stripes from the crossbar) can be very useful in combination with wood of many species, both light and dark tones. It is easy to do and looks noble. For example, a twisted edging on the tabletop is cut from a pear (see Fig. 32 inset).
Garden or wild pear can also be used in house carvings, of course, better for highly artistic details. By the way, wild pear wood is better suited for carving, it is more viscous and almost does not crack.
The pear requires careful carving; when used with force, it chips, not along the grain or in a straight line. When lightly tinted with krapplak (art paint), the pear successfully imitates mahogany, and with the help
carcass or black nigrosin, it can be turned into artificial ebony (black) wood.
The pear has another amazing feature - it resists splitting from impact, especially in the tangential direction. Of all the common ornamental wood species, only the most durable wood white acacia. Even the wood of hornbeam, elm, birch, and ash is inferior in splitting strength in the tangential direction to pear. Here, of course, its extraordinary viscosity affects it.
In terms of resistance to splitting in the radial direction, pear occupies an average place among other wood species.
Pear warps little from atmospheric influences - a property that is also useful for house carvings. It is no coincidence that earlier patterns, drawing rods, and frames for optical instruments were made from pear.
Characteristic features of the species difference of the common pear: in the leaves of a rounded-ovate shape, the petiole is longer than the leaf blade, the lateral short shoots end in a sharp thorn.

Beech

This wood is an excellent ornamental material for interior decoration (Fig. 24). Beech is not suitable for house carvings, as it is extremely hygroscopic and warps when wet. If, for example, you wet the entire treated surface of a beech plank, it will bend until it completely loses its shape. This means that for crafts, if there is a danger of moisture getting on it, you can only use well-dried beech.
Beech can help out a novice carver when he does not have a more suitable material in stock.
Beech has a fine-textured wood; it is easy to recognize it among other types of wood by short strokes on a longitudinal, especially tangential, cut. These strokes seem to have been applied evenly over the entire surface with a thin pen and brown ink. Beech has no kernel, the wood is yellowish-reddish, sometimes dark, similar to mahogany. Beech is characterized by the presence of wide medullary rays, which are clearly visible on a radial section in the form of curved spangles directed perpendicular to the wood fibers.
Beech cuts very well, although dry wood crumbles and splits in fine carvings across the grain. This disadvantage can be reduced by lightly wetting the area being treated, but before wetting one area, you need to let the other dry, keeping in mind the hygroscopicity of wood.
Beech is a champion among other common ornamental wood species in its ability to be well planed, processed on a lathe, and bent in a steamed state (in this it is second only to walnut). Resistant to splitting, but not resistant to cracking. Subject to rotting. In everyday life it is used to make drawing rulers and squares, shoe lasts, parquet, furniture (especially cribs and playpens). These items, which have served their purpose, can be used for carving.
Characteristic features of forest beech (or European beech): smooth silver-gray bark; leaves are simple, entire (i.e. without teeth along the edges), wavy; The fruit is triangular, the sharp-ribbed nuts, 1 cm in size, are arranged in twos in the spinous pellus (Fig. 4 inset), and fall to the ground when ripe.
Beech grows in Western Ukraine, the Caucasus and Crimea.

Poplar

Its wood is very soft, light, and its density is even lower than that of linden and aspen. Therefore, poplar is used to make wooden shovels, troughs, dugout boats, and plywood. This is a soundwood species with white sapwood and light brown heartwood. The softness of poplar is a disadvantage for carving - it sometimes wrinkles rather than cuts, especially when working with chisels and chisels, and is not resistant to dents from impacts. It is susceptible to rotting, fungal attack, and is not resistant to splitting from impact. Actually last place Among the most famous species is poplar in terms of the percentage of parts produced of good and excellent quality: when planing (21%), milling (3%), and grinding (in this it is slightly better than only linden, which has an indicator of 17%). Only alder drills worse than poplar (it has a rate of 64%). The only advantage of poplar compared to other species is that it is easy to hammer a nail into it - the wood does not crack. In this case, only willow can compete with it. But it’s easiest to screw screws into poplar.
As can be seen from the given characteristics, it is better not to use poplar in carvings, but to use it for such auxiliary parts as, for example, background boards on which the applied thread is mounted using nails and screws, background boards for fastening the applied thread and on which the contour ornament is cut out house carving.
Also in house carving, soft poplar can be used to make a hollow box of a carved decorative column or other large parts (see Fig. 477 and 479).
The most valuable and distinctive quality of poplar (albeit, some of its types) for a wood carver is the unusually beautiful flat cuts of its butt part. This wood is used to make veneer for lining expensive furniture. In house carving, this veneer can be used for panels and panels in carved frames, well protected with transparent waterproof varnishes. At the very least, you should not walk past the butt or stump of a felled poplar. It can be used to make a large decorative vase, part of a column, etc., where large and smooth polished surfaces will reveal the elegant pattern of its texture.
Based on the appearance of the trunk and bark, white (or silver) poplar can be confused with its related aspen. But white poplar has different leaves (see Fig. 3 inset): not round, like aspen, but five-lobed. Black poplar differs markedly from aspen in having dark gray bark with deep longitudinal cracks and triangular or rhombic leaves that are wedge-shaped at the tip.

Apple

Apple tree wood is heavy and dense. It has an almost brown heartwood, very different from the creamy sapwood. It has a number of undoubted specific properties that are useful for carving small interior items, as well as in intarsia, where the deep ocher tone of its core part is valued. In house carvings, it is used only in small crafts and in applied carvings. Making large crafts from apple trees is practically impossible, since it cracks a lot when dried. Not only in a short, gnarled and gnarled trunk, but also among the branches it is difficult to find a whole area suitable for carving, especially since the apple tree itself or its branches are cut down when they are dying and often already rotting. Wood affected by rot, if it is also dry, is cut with great difficulty. It is viscous, dense, sometimes wrinkles under the blade, and is especially difficult to carve at the end and in the core, where it sometimes crumbles into small crumbs and dust. You have to use short sliding cuts of the knife to adapt to the direction of the wood grain. When cutting the ends of a board with a semicircular chisel, a rotational movement is performed with the tool while simultaneously advancing the blade using the thumb of the left hand. It is much easier to cut the apple tree in the direction of the grain, and if you use sliding movements of the knife, you can get shiny, even cuts. The apple tree is very good at sawing: therefore, wherever possible, you should use a saw.
Another inconvenience of working with an apple tree is that due to the great effort required when using the tool, and this is due to the density and viscosity of the wood, you often have to sharpen the tool. Sometimes even the blade of a knife or chisel becomes chipped.
Perhaps it is more interesting to use the raw wood of its young branches for carving in an apple tree, which for some reason are removed from the tree. It is completely homogeneous, without a core, white and dense. It cuts perfectly with any tool and in any direction, sharpens and drills very well. Therefore, it is used only for some kind of applied parts, especially round (also chiseled) or with a figured tip, decorations (Fig. 25, a, c). True, it is necessary to take measures against cracking of the wood that then dries out in the finished part.
Let us give one example where young, raw apple wood has undoubted advantages over other tree species. We are talking about making chains from round rings, where the rings from raw apple wood are easily sharpened and do not crack when dried (they only decrease slightly in diameter). A ring of raw wood can be torn and, using the springy properties of wood, two other whole rings can be inserted into it, and then the gap can be glued back together - this is how the chain is assembled. Of course, such rings from the end cuts of an apple tree, turned or made by hand using a circle cutter, can be used for decorating house carvings and for interior carvings.
As for the use of the dark ocher core of the apple tree for making artistic crafts from multi-colored natural wood (see “Oak”), here: the apple tree will take its rightful place.
Here are the species characteristics of a wild apple tree: the bark is light brown, peeling off in scales; the leaf is elliptical, toothed, with four to five pairs of veins; petiole shorter than blade.

Cherry

The wood from the old cherry tree that is cut down should be saved for use in wood carving. It is hardly suitable for home carvings, but it is quite suitable for interior crafts.
Cherry wood is dense (heavy) and sticky, but cuts well in all directions. The texture of an adult tree is surprisingly elegant. Its core is wide and dark in the form of darker and lighter rings, the sapwood is narrow, light, sometimes completely white, especially in knots and young cherries. The wood patterns of different trees are sometimes very different, but each time they are original and beautiful. Young shoots are often completely white and monochromatic, and perennial cherry in longitudinal, oblique and transverse sections has a clear striped texture in the form of large, wide dark (burgundy and brown) and light stripes. In the dark stripes of mature cherry wood, layers of overgrown bark and other anomalies are sometimes found. From a decorative point of view, this is even interesting, but often leads to defects: in places where the bark is overgrown, cracks, delamination, and chipping may form, which will require gluing and puttying. However, such corrections are not at all difficult to make, especially since they will be invisible on dark wood.

As a decorative wood in wood carvings for interior crafts, cherry is perhaps superior to pine whorl and juniper. From it, especially using oblique cuts of young trunks and branches, it is good to make miniature crafts in the form of keychains, brooches, bracelets, i.e. crafts that should have a smooth polished surface (see Fig. 211). Cherry wood is not very suitable for relief carving due to its striped texture; in this it is similar to larch and pine.
In house carvings, the use of cherry is limited, in particular, by the small size of the workpieces. But it is perhaps tempting to use the decorative texture of cherry in small panels or rosettes on a flat (maybe even convex) smooth and polished surface (Fig. 26),
Distinctive species characteristics of bird cherry: the bark is reddish-brown, peeling across in thin films; the leaves are ovate, serrated at the edges, there are two reddish glands on the leaf petiole, just like bird cherry.

Oak

Oak wood can be classified as the most suitable wood for house carvings: it is hard to crush, quite strong to split, it can be planed well, it can be drilled and processed well on a lathe, it can be polished perfectly, and even bends in a steamed state (at home, barrels are made from oak). But the most valuable quality of oak in house carvings is that it is long-lived, not afraid of moisture, and does not warp.
The main volume in oak wood is occupied by a yellowish-brown, sometimes dark-brown, core, sharply turning into narrow light yellow sapwood. The annual layers are clearly defined. A distinctive feature of oak texture: wide flame-shaped core rays, clearly visible in transverse and especially in radial sections. This is where the beauty of oak comes into its own. In the interior, oak is used for small and large crafts. It is curious that the wall carved panels made by Peter I were made of oak.
Oak wood cuts as well as any other hard wood. True, sometimes there are also types of oak (there are about 450 of them in total) that are difficult to cut and greatly dull the tool. The disadvantages of oak wood include, firstly, porosity, therefore, before covering with transparent varnish or paint, sometimes it is necessary to use a filler porosity, and secondly, the danger of cracking during drying and very long natural drying (7-8 years).
In house carving, you can make any products and details from oak: from complex high-relief (solid-carved and prefabricated) panels to small overhead and attached parts. And carved massive oak doors, coated with weather-resistant transparent varnishes, often decorate buildings, especially administrative ones. In practice, the reader can use (and then, obviously, on occasion) only small blanks of oak wood, from which it will be possible to design some kind of isolated ornament or applied carving. Of course, it is not advisable to paint oak; for this purpose it is necessary to use more affordable wood.
When working with oak, it should be taken into account that it is very sensitive to vegetable oil (sunflower, linseed, natural drying oil, etc.) - stains often appear on its surface from the oil. Oak wood must be coated with quick-drying, weather-resistant transparent varnishes.
It is possible to make a carved composition from oak parts in combination with parts from wood of other species related in color (walnut, pear, apple tree, alder, beech), and perhaps contrasting in color (ash, aspen, linden, young wood apple and bird cherry trees). Let's imagine a column with twisted garlands, flowers and fruits, which can serve as a support for the entrance arch, gate (Fig. 27), or the same semi-columns instead of pilasters on the facade of the building, at its corners. But, of course, we are not here considering the reality of performing such crafts from the point of view of composition and possibilities. This is just an example of the use of oak wood. However, the author also pursues another goal - to push the reader to an interesting, original idea. In this case, the most difficult thing will be to make the central column of a twisted column or the core of a half-column from pine or larch (spruce and aspen are also suitable) so that it does not crack. For this purpose, the core of the semi-column should be made hollow, and for this you will have to make a special tool - an adze. The round column must also be hollow and will require a special tool. Find oak blanks for garland leaves (at least old parquet) or small blanks for making fruits, flowers, acorns, etc. from apple, pear, alder, walnut, resinous pine knots is not at all difficult. Even beech in the form of small balls (pistils of flowers) or birch in small volumes can be used here, although provided that they are protected from getting wet.
For small relief interior crafts, it is better not to recommend oak wood to a novice carver, since due to its hardness, porosity and oil tolerance, it can be a lot of hassle.
Boiled oak is very good for intarsia and marquetry, just like “natural” ebony. But you can only find it by chance. In our central Russia, rivers often change their course, washing away either the right or the left bank. In such cases, it is possible that trees that once sank during rafting may be washed out from the shore, including oak, which has become stained over time. Moraine can be oak structures and parts of sunken ships, once driven oak piles that protected the shore of a lake or river from erosion, even boards from old beer or wine barrels.
However, oak can also be stained artificially. It has been noticed that the area of ​​the wood where the bullet hit during the war becomes very dark. By analogy, if you put oak veneer slices in a container for several weeks and sprinkle them with layers of wet iron filings, they will darken, and you will get an interesting color. Probably, the same principle is based on the reference that has come down to us from ancient times that in order to give an oak craft a dark color, it was placed in molten lead. We will tell you more about this in the section “Burning. Firing”.

Nut

Of the two types of nuts that grow in the CIS, the most common is walnut, or Caucasian. Its wood has all the properties necessary for carving. This valuable wood is used for the most exquisite small and delicate crafts (Fig. 28). Only if there is an excess of walnut wood and the intention of making highly artistic carvings of exceptional quality can it be used for the exterior decoration of the house.
The wood of freshly cut walnut is light, but in the product it darkens, becomes brownish with a reddish or yellowish tint, sometimes the tint is gray. Such color shifts are explained by the fact that the core wood is darker (brownish-gray in color), gradually turning into wide grayish-brown sapwood. The annual layers are wide, slightly sinuous, visible in all sections. Walnut wood is delicate and soft, it can be planed well, it is one of the best woods for drilling and turning, and in addition, it bends well when steamed. In terms of resistance to splitting, it is between pear and oak.
The finest patterns can be cut from walnut both along the grain of the wood and across them, so it is especially readily used by carvers for geometric carvings on boxes, vases, turned crafts, etc.
Let us draw the reader's attention to the fact that an alcohol solution of the distillation products of crushed burnt walnut shells is a good brown stain, similar to the natural one used for staining wood (see "Tinting"). And walnut burl with a reddish tint is considered the most valuable among all tree species (its weight reaches 1600 kg).
Another type of nut in our country - Manchurian - has a beautiful silvery glow on the cut. The valuable black walnut grows in North America and is named for its dark brown bark. The wood of some types of imported walnut in some places can be completely dark, almost black. This type of walnut is used in the form of veneer for finishing furniture. In marquetry, walnut veneer is valued not only for the darkest color of natural wood (among veneers), but also for its extraordinary softness, which makes it easy to cut (especially wet) in all directions with a knife, and even with scissors, to make any small figured cuts from it, crooked branches and not be afraid that they will split. Walnut wood also behaves in carvings.
Characteristic species characteristics of the walnut: like other types of walnut, the core in the branches is discontinuous; leaves are unpaired-pinnate, composed of five to nine leaflets, the terminal leaflet (unpaired) is the largest.

Maple

This tree has many varieties. All breeds are mostly light in color, hard, heavy, coreless. The texture of the wood is uniform, with small sparkles or with a characteristic pockmarkedness and silky shine. Its color is white with a yellowish or pinkish tint. Sometimes there is a defect - a false kernel of a greenish-gray color.

Maple is cut with effort, but the carving turns out clean and its surface is well processed. In this sense, light maple wood serves as a successful replacement for linden wood as a softer and more wrinkle-resistant material or birch wood as a material that is more scratchy and not resistant to weathering.
The most widely used in carving is sycamore maple (or false sycamore maple, white), which has light, slightly yellowish wood. Particularly valuable are its burls, called “peacock wood” or “bird’s eye” for their beautiful spotted pattern with sparkles, interesting patterns in the texture with a strong interweaving of fibers and for the magnificent play of light and shadow. Just like Karelian birch, sycamore maple burrs are used in the form of thin plywood to decorate even, smooth surfaces.
In Canada, the sycamore maple is called sugar maple and is cultivated for the corresponding purpose, but in Europe it is bred only for decorative purposes. Its natural habitat is southern Europe (up to Western Ukraine), cool and humid mountainous areas.
Maple, as a hard and tough wood, is used to make blocks for planes and jointers, for soles of these and other tools, and shoe stocks. In terms of resistance to indentation and chipping, maple, along with hornbeam and ash, is second only to acacia. From large-leaf maple wood, as well as black plum and walnut, 100% of the parts are of excellent quality when drilled. It is resistant to fungi and insects.
Characteristic species characteristics of Norway maple (or sycamore), field maple (or tow), also American (or ash-leaved): clawed leaf shape, double-laminated fruits.

Ash

Ash wood is very dense, hard (heavy), sound. The core is light brown, gradually turning into wide yellowish-white sapwood. In the cross section, light continuous wavy lines running along the rings are noticeable. Ash wood is resistant to splitting, but cracks when dried. However, successfully dried ash in crafts is resistant to cracking. Taking into account its strength and ability to bend, ash is used to make skis, oars, tennis rackets, arches, stair railings, tool handles, and is widely used in furniture production and carpentry.
Ash wood is quite suitable for complex non-relief carving in both large and small crafts (Fig. 29), although it is cut with effort.
The bark of a growing ash tree is dark gray, with longitudinal cracks.
Characteristic species characteristics of ash: seeds with tongue-shaped wings hang in bunches among the branches, which is especially noticeable with the onset of winter; leaves are imparipinnate with 9-13 oblong leaflets (see Fig. 4 inset); black buds in winter.

Rowan

Rowan wood has a pronounced dark core of reddish-brown color, which in the product, when coated with oil, becomes yellowish-brown or grayish-brown. The sapwood of rowan is wide, reddish-white, and the annual layers are clearly visible. The wood is dense (heavy), hard and very viscous, it has the ability to resist impacts well, therefore it is used for the manufacture of handles for impact instruments and in turning products. In general, in terms of mechanical properties, rowan stands next to beech, slightly inferior to it. Rowan wood has a characteristic shine, rather a glow, which is sometimes used in decoration. This wood has not found use as an ornamental material, and the reason for this is obviously its viscosity, which sometimes turns into the ability to bend, so blanks or parts can be deformed.
A woodcarver may be interested in rowan because of the unusual color of its core part for wood (in general), which after treatment with oil becomes more like a stone with spots and dark stripes from growth rings, with a changing grayish glow-glow when turning the craft. This means that in house carving, rowan can be useful in combination with other multi-colored wood species, such as apple, alder, pear, beech, walnut, resinous pine knots (see "Oak"). Rowan can be successfully used for interior decoration. It is interesting to use the core part of rowan for making women's breast jewelry.

Hornbeam

Its wood is heavy and hard, similar in physical and mechanical properties to ash, but without kernels, grayish-white with a greenish tint. The annual layers are wavy, of uneven width, visible only at the end. It cracks and warps a lot when it dries. The extraordinary hardness of hornbeam, resistance to abrasion and splitting from impact (in this it is only surpassed by white acacia) allow the hornbeam to be used for the manufacture of gears, screws, axles, shoe nails and tool handles. The density of hornbeam is 2.1 times higher than that of, for example, fir, and its resistance to splitting is 3 times greater than that of fir.
The hornbeam is suitable for carving, but it is difficult to cut. Imitates ebony well.
Characteristic species characteristics of the common hornbeam: the trunk is grooved (i.e., not round, but ribbed), the bark is smooth green-gray; the fruit is a slightly flattened ribbed nut, sitting at the base of an overgrown three-lobed leaf plus (see Fig. 4 inset). In the CIS (Belarus, Ukraine, Russia - Far East) five types of hornbeam grow.

Elm

Elm wood is heartwood with a gradual transition from a light brown core to a wide yellowish-white sapwood. The properties of elm are similar to those of ash. It also has the ability to bend well, so it is used to make wheel rims, sleigh runners, clamping screws in workbenches, clamps and other carpentry crafts. The ability of elm to bend (and taking into account its light tone) should also be taken into account by the woodcarver, for example, for making curved contours and framing in decorative panels, house carving ornaments (see Fig. 253). Let us note, by the way, that young shoots of bird cherry are also well suited for this purpose.
Characteristic species characteristics of smooth (or common) elm: leaves are ovate, asymmetrical at the base, smooth on top, roughly double-toothed at the edges; the flowers hang in a bunch on long stalks (see Fig. 4 inset).

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus wood is one of the best for carving, but it can be used mainly by residents of the south of our country. Different types of eucalyptus (about 30) grow mainly on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and Crimea, as well as in Azerbaijan. The wood is dense (heavy), often twisted, superior in strength to oak and black walnut wood, but cuts well in all directions. Thanks to its hardness and presence essential oils Dry wood is not touched by wood-boring beetles and it hardly rots. The large thickness of the wood allows you to design almost any craft (Fig. 30-32), which is especially valuable for house carvings. Thick trunks are a common occurrence in eucalyptus thickets, as this tree grows quickly, draws moisture strongly and is even used for draining swampy areas.
The wood varies from very light or light ocher to dark red in different trunks and subspecies. Sometimes even in one trunk there are strong deviations in color from light on the outside (sapwood) to dark in the core. There is also a color difference due to the curliness of the tree. After oil treatment and exposure to the sun, the tone of the wood is comparable, but the desired play of color transitions remains.
Eucalyptus wood is so fine-grained and dense that it allows even cutting a sculpture of a head or mask from the end of the trunk (see Fig. 7 inset). The texture of the wood at the end is the most uniform, and its tone is rich and deep, and it is much easier to seal cracks at the end with invisible inserts.

The rich tone of eucalyptus wood from the end is especially beautiful in dark red species.
As a generalization of the above characteristics, we draw the reader’s attention once again to the fact that in terms of all its properties, red eucalyptus can be placed in first place among the “elite” species for carving: in appearance it looks like mahogany with a deep red-brown tone; allows you to choose an interesting texture with large streaks for smooth polished surfaces, use a homogeneous surface of a large area at the end for sculpting a mask; cut out a large-sized craft from a whole piece of wood (see Fig. 31 insert); use dark wood for decorative contrasting finishes in combination with light wood, etc. And the main thing is that eucalyptus cuts well, although tightly, in all directions, does not chip and is not too susceptible to injury when the tool comes off (Fig. 33 and 34).
The home craftsman will take these comments into account and, on occasion, will not miss the opportunity to stock up on such wood.
Eucalyptus is also grown at home as a remedy for flies and mosquitoes, as well as to maintain air sterility.
Characteristic species characteristics of eucalyptus: shape of leaves and fruits.

lemon tree

Lemon tree wood is a very fertile material, it is completely uniform in color and texture, like birch or linden wood, but after aging, lemon tree crafts acquire a noble ocher-yellow tone and, when well processed, become similar to amber.
One can only wonder why lemon tree is so rarely found in carvings. Obviously, this is due not only to ignorance about its favorable properties for carving, but also to a lack of understanding that wood crafts with a natural color are superior to stained or tinted wood in all aesthetic indicators. But in tinted crafts, the quality and type of wood do not play a role: the wood would be without knots and cracks, and the color can be made to any color (for insertion, of course). Only in fiction can one sometimes find descriptions of exquisite furniture of former times with lemon wood trim.
It is clear that when talking about lemon wood, one has to keep in mind a small amount of it for intarsia or inlay. But perhaps the carver will have the opportunity to purchase this wood in places where it grows, where this tree is periodically cut down. This means providing yourself with the most valuable material for exquisite carved crafts (see Fig. 25, b, Fig. 35-38).
The diameter of the lemon tree trunk does not exceed 20 cm, and with such a thickness it is not uncommon to see the introduction of a mass of gray wood unsuitable for carving. Branches from the trunk and young trees most often have a yellow, brightly saturated tone. Therefore, when designing a craft using lemon tree wood, you can only rely on small parts from it or on installation from individual parts (see Fig. 22 insert).
The tree is very dense and viscous, although it splits easily along the grain. The color of freshly sawn wood is light with a yellowish tint. Easy to cut crosswise and diagonally. After finishing with oil or varnish it turns yellow, and the end cuts (across the grain) become more saturated yellow, which can be used to vary the color in the installation of carved products and in intarsia. Thus, in the mentioned oval frame, the grape clusters are made of lemon wood, with the end facing the viewer, and the leaves are made along the grain. This gives the frame an interesting combination of yellow tones. In the grape clusters themselves, different colors of individual sections of wood (taken from the same and from different trunks) are used - from yellow to almost orange at the ends of the clusters. Although over time the orange shades have partially changed and become a deep golden ocher, the play of color is still interesting.
It should be noted that the color of olive wood is very close to the deepest tones of lemon wood and they can be used in pairs: this will significantly enrich color scheme crafts.
Among marketers, veneer made of layered brittle wood with bright yellow stripes is widely used. It has the brightest yellow color of any known type of wood, which is why it received the name in the practice of lemon marquetry or “limon marquetry.” Sometimes even in literature it is simply called a lemon tree. Please note that there is nothing in common between the specified veneer and real lemon tree.
A lemon tree with gray wood in carvings looks ineffective, has a dirty, moldy appearance, and introduces dissonance into the overall ensemble.
Judging by the appearance of the growing tree and the wood, a lemon tree can be confused with an orange tree. They are similar in properties and in carving.

Juniper

Juniper wood is used for small crafts, it has a beautiful, reddish, sometimes striped and wavy texture, somewhat darker than spruce and pine, with high density (1.5 times greater than the density of cedar wood), homogeneous, flexible, not hard, convenient for carving, not swells when wet and almost does not decrease in volume when dry. These properties, combined with a pleasant smell, put it in an advantageous position compared to other types of wood when making beads, brooches, bracelets, combs and hairpins, teapot stands (when heated from the teapot, the wood begins to smell pleasant). By the way, the smell of juniper is very persistent; products made from it, which have lain for thousands of years underground, retain their characteristic smell.
The texture of juniper is especially beautiful in cross section. Therefore, some craftsmen glue wooden products with steamed (in hot water for 4-5 hours) cross-section plates or simply use such plates to make, for example, boxes.
Juniper as a plant has many other beneficial properties and is protected. Only dry branches and roots can be cut down for crafts. Pencils are made from juniper, as well as from cedar.

Karelian birch

Karelian birch is similar in cut texture to birch burl, and in some places even resembles marble. It is also warmer (ocher) in overall tone than ordinary birch. When examining individual sheets of Karelian birch veneer, you are struck by the extraordinary variety of colors and patterns. In some places, the wood fibers are directed along the trunk, but there are always specks of sparkles scattered throughout the field with at least small bends. Gradually, the overall tone thickens, the layers of wood and fibers twist, intertwine, more light sparkles appear and contrasting dark yellow spots and inclusions, which are surrounded by a brown border - you get elongated leaves of irregular shape, brackets, ticks, specks, sometimes you come across dots, too brown, and in some places almost black.
Sometimes the texture resembles a stormy sea with waves and some objects swinging on them, or suddenly a mountain landscape with rockfalls (dark inclusions) emerges. If a marketer or carver wants to veneer a tabletop or even a box with Karelian birch veneer, he will have to select many pieces to achieve uniformity of the field, the joining of the pattern and the texture of the fibers, but still such a smooth transition as in nature will not work. This means that it is better to mount the tabletop field in pieces separated by some kind of ornament or lines (see Fig. 32 inset), or very skillfully join pieces of veneer along curved lines.
This precious wood cannot be cut, converted into shavings or sawdust. It is cut only by planing into veneer in a steamed state.
Karelian birch is a state value; it is not only protected, but also under careful observation and study. At the beginning of this century, up to a hundred more carloads of selected wood per year were exported from the last surviving place where Karelian birch grows - from Belarus. Before the war there were only two artificial plantations; during the war they died. And now every Karelian birch tree is registered.
We present this data so that the carver does not raise his hand to cut down a Karelian birch tree, but taking measures to reproduce it is both a patriotic and spiritual duty. Therefore, we will give other information. It is still not clear to science what the Karelian birch is: is it a tree with a wood disease such as burl, or is it a type of birch. It grows (more likely grew) everywhere where birch grows in general, and not only here, but also in other European countries. The name "Karelian" is purely conditional. When self-pollinating, not all birches in the offspring grow into Karelian birches; a quarter of them become ordinary birches. When crossed with other types of ordinary birches, Karelian birch reproduces from 20 to 60% of its own kind. The most reliable way of propagation is to graft cuttings from young Karelian birch (with pronounced features) onto young birch trees of ordinary species.
Externally, it is difficult to distinguish Karelian birch from ordinary birch. Approximate signs will be as follows. It grows scatteredly, sometimes in groups, but interspersed with other birches, curly, low. The ornamental part of the trunk in blanks ranges from 90 cm to 3 m. The diameter of the trunk is rarely more than 30 cm. The trunk has a noticeable thickening at the bottom, irregularities, tubercles, and nodes on the bark. For precise definition type of tree, but only as a last resort, you should cut out a piece of bark the size of a tourist badge, remove it and hold it so that light, especially sunlight, does not fall on its inner surface. Quickly examine the surface of the exposed trunk: in the Karelian birch it is not smooth, but in tubercles, wrinkles, grooves, often directed along the trunk. Then insert a piece of bark back, press it well and seal it with a band-aid, or even better, tie it. In two to three weeks it will take root.
This means that when we talk about Karelian birch as a material for a carver or marketer, we mean the veneer of this wood. Having wetted or steamed it, it can be used to cover not only flat, but also cylindrical and conical surfaces with slight curvature. In combination with a birch burl, the carver can, for example, veneer a vase if he can figure out how to close the joints - using decorative inserts or applied carvings from other wood. It is clear that the burl should be used in those places of the vase where it is difficult to veneer with a flat sheet of veneer (on the so-called non-reamable surfaces). Let us not lose sight of the combination of Karelian birch veneer with the butt, which is sometimes similar in wood pattern - the root knot of birch.
In conclusion, we note that in the future, with the acquisition of experience, the carver can use Karelian birch veneer for cladding non-reamable surfaces (see Fig. 38 inset).

Mahogany

It has dozens of varieties. It got its name from the acaju tree, or mahogany tree. In our country it is also called “Svitenevo wood”, it is imported from tropical countries. "Mahogany" (or "mahogany") includes a wide range of wood species. Akazhu, as the most valuable variety of mahogany species, is used for artistic and decorative crafts (Fig. 6 inset). Its wood has light gray, sometimes greenish sapwood and red heartwood. On the treated surface of the acaju, sparks (small parallel strokes) are visible, grouped into dark and light stripes. But if you look from the opposite side, the light stripe turns into a dark one and vice versa. This is how the shine of wood manifests itself: the tree sparkles, lives. The same thing happens if you change the direction of the lighting.

This acaju effect should be taken into account, since in a small mask or figurine it can be negative (stripes will give spots on the face and body), and in a larger mask it can be positive: when the viewer moves, the mask seems to come to life due to the play of shades of tone.
Acajou wood is quite complex for carving - it is not viscous, sometimes porous and fragile.
After finishing, a product made from any mahogany will definitely darken over time (however, the lower grades of pale red acajou do not darken and sometimes even lighten). No varnish will protect him from this process. This property should be especially taken into account by those who work in marquetry or intarsia.
Therefore, when finishing a finished carved product made of mahogany, it is better to cover it with vegetable oil (linseed, sunflower, safya) and expose it to the sun for one or two days. Under the influence of air oxygen and light, the wood will intensively darken and acquire a deep dark red tone. Only after this can it be finished completely, which will be discussed further.

Rosewood

There are various types of rosewood with wood of various shades, but they are all very beautiful and decorative; Particularly popular is dark brown wood with a purple tint and unexpected transitions from red and dark red tones to completely black. When cut flat and polished, rosewood reveals a striped pattern associated with the direction of the layers and grains of the wood. But when carving, there is no point in taking into account the direction of the fibers: in appearance when chipped and in structure, the wood resembles anthracite coal - it also crumbles with chips into small pieces and crumbs in any direction. It has to be cut with a metal saw in both the transverse and longitudinal directions.
Rosewood is beneficial for contrasting with other types of wood (intarsia, marquetry), as well as for small crafts with smooth, polished surfaces (see Fig. 214). It is well polished from the end to form an almost uniform dark wood pattern.
There have been cases when rosewood caused allergies when working with it (irritation and itching of the skin, swelling of the face).
Rosewood is a tree of South America and East India. It is also called violet tree or jacaranda.

Mouth guards

A burl is not a tree, it is a painful growth on it. It appears on many trees and weighs more than 1 ton. In cross-section, it resembles marble. The pattern of twisted fibers, curls and knots (a consequence of the accumulation of dormant buds) is always very beautiful on the smooth polished surface of the cut; it is individual for each burl. The burls of those trees that have a striped wood texture or contrasting color combinations, such as pine (rare), are especially beautiful.
Burl is of no interest as a material for carving: the carved (cut) surface and the spotted, striped texture will interfere with each other. On the one hand, the relief of the carving will not look good, on the other hand, the pattern of streaks, weaves and the burl itself will disappear. The author of the book made an attempt to carve a sculptural craft (see Fig. 12 inset) from birch burl. Even for the face of an old man, the cap turned out to be too spotty a material; dark spots and dimples had to be tinted with mastic.
Burl is very good for crafts with a smooth and low-relief surface, but, like Karelian birch, it is mainly used for making peeled veneer for finishing wooden products. Its wood is very valuable and it is impractical to convert it into shavings and sawdust. Only small pieces of burl, which cannot be used on veneer, are used to make small crafts - bracelets, beads, brooches, chess pieces, cups, desk stationery.
A woodcarver may be interested in a burl for making such a craft, where its smooth surface is combined with the relief surface of a carving made of other wood and, obviously, contrasting in color: for example, birch burl with mahogany or dark walnut (imported), walnut burl with birch, linden. Probably, a table or wall plate made of burl with slotted carvings along the edges would also look good, and even better with a dark-toned set of marquetry on the bottom of the plate (see a similar craft, lined with Karelian birch, in Fig. 38 inset).
It is unacceptable to cut down a tree because of a burl. It is also impractical to cut a burl from a tree if it goes around the trunk, since in this case the best part of the burl for carving will be damaged, and the burl itself will be cut. Only in cases where the entire burl can be cut off, does it make sense to carefully separate it as a painful growth. Such actions will not harm the mature tree.
The burl can be purchased at a logging or wood sawing plant, where it can end up in waste. During logging, sometimes you come across the so-called caporoot, i.e. growth on the root-butt node (almost on the stump of a cut tree).
Note that a cut of poplar or birch at the point where the trunk meets the roots, even without being affected by the burl, often has a very interesting twist. The wood of the interweaving of branching fibers of the roots is combined here with the straight and calm wood of the trunk, which can sometimes lead to an unexpected solution: texture stains and curliness are used for a smooth surface, and straight-grained wood is used for carving (carved, high-relief, sculpted). The use of such wood for the manufacture of bowls and vases with an iridescent, as if mother-of-pearl, surface has become a tradition of many wood carvers. Of course, it is even more interesting to use capo root for this purpose.
It is better to store the mouthguard in a dark place, as it can crack in the open air from rain and sun. It is better for the home woodworker to cut the burls into plates or small blanks for intended crafts. In order to speed up subsequent drying, as well as to impart higher qualities (viscosity, golden color, non-cracking), burl blanks should be boiled for 5-6 hours. In addition, craftsmen of past years, after evaporating the burl blanks, kept them in a hot heated ovens placed in cast iron mixed with layers of wet birch sawdust for 24 hours. This operation was repeated three to four times until the burl was golden brown. In this regard, we note that we have already mentioned the use of tree sap to tint other wood and to enhance its own color (see “Pine and Spruce”, “Alder”, “Walnut”).

Boxwood

This is an evergreen shrub-type plant of the southern countries. Two types of boxwood (out of 40 known) grow in Transcaucasia. Boxwood is famous for its hardness and durability. As an ornamental wood, it is primarily used in wood carving (Fig. 39). It is difficult to cut equally in all directions, and not every tool is able to “take” it. Therefore, some craftsmen use dental burs and special cutters on a flexible hose rotating from a motor (a cable in a flexible tube) to process it. But due to the valuable properties of boxwood, it is inappropriate to process it in this way - the surface turns out unclean, with potholes and depressions, which significantly spoils the product made from such an excellent material.
The color of boxwood is light yellow-ocher. According to the author, this is the best wood for sculpting the mask (face) of a child and a woman, where a subtle transfer of form is required and where inclusions foreign in color or texture are contraindicated, especially since the color of boxwood is closest to flesh-colored.
Boxwood polishes very well, sharpens just as well, and is therefore widely used for small, exquisite turned crafts.
Due to its strength and uniformity of wood in all directions, some musical instruments (for example, flutes), weaving shuttles, engraving boards, and buttons are made from it.

Quince(English quince tree, genus Cydonia oblonga) belongs to the Rosaceae family. In the Caucasus, common quince is found in forests and on river banks. The Caucasus is also considered the birthplace of cultivated quince varieties.
In the mountains it grows on slopes at an altitude of up to 1400 m above sea level. It is grown on state fruit farms in the region; there are old orchards in the Tuapse region. Common quince is a deciduous tree up to 8 m high with a trunk diameter of up to 40 cm. The tree lives up to 70 years.

Quince is a diffusely vascular, coreless sapwood species with poorly distinguishable annual layers, the color of the wood is from light yellow to pinkish yellow. It is well polished and processed with cutting tools. Quince wood is hard and heavy. It has a high uniform density and belongs to medium-drying rocks. Suitable for turning and carved products, adheres well. The density of wood at a humidity of 12% is 800 kg/m 3 ; for cultivated varieties it is slightly lower - 750-770 kg/m3. It is highly susceptible to rotting, but is well impregnated with protective compounds.

The process of drying quince wood is not very complicated. During drying, the wood does not crack. Steaming gives good results - the wood acquires a rich yellow color. Drying is carried out under moderate conditions. After steaming at the first stage, which lasts 5-7 days, the temperature in the chamber must be maintained at 60 °C, the speed of the drying agent is 1 m/s. In the second stage (duration 8-10 days), the temperature can be increased to 75 ° C, the relative humidity should be at 85%. The speed of the drying agent should be left the same as in the first stage. At the third stage of drying, a short-term moisture-heat treatment is carried out, the temperature is reduced to 40 ° C, and the air dampers are opened. At the next stage, cooling occurs with fans turned on with constant reverse and an air speed of 0.75 m/s. The entire process of drying quince wood can take up to 20 days.

Knife handles, figurines are made from quince wood, and expensive furniture is inlaid with it.

Peach(English peach, genus Prunus persica) is another representative of the Rosaceae. The homeland of the peach is China; in the Caucasus it grows only in the cultivated gardens of state fruit farms, in the Tuapse region and south of the city of Tuapse, towards Sochi. Peach is a tree up to 6 m high with a trunk diameter of up to 30 cm. Life expectancy is up to 60 years, in gardens usually up to 30.

Peach is a core semi-circular-vascular breed. The kernel is light brown, the sapwood is light yellow, the boundary between the kernel and sapwood is clear. The annual layers are sinuous and clearly visible in all sections. Wood has a high uniform density. The cutting tool handles well. The density of peach wood at a humidity of 12% is 760 kg/m 3; peach is a medium-drying species. There are no data on shrinkage rates. In terms of biological resistance, it belongs to medium breeds, it is better to use indoors.

Drying peach wood requires gentle conditions, as it is prone to cracking and warping. Already at the first stage, the workpieces must be treated with an end protection agent; good results are achieved by using a film-forming end protection, for example Induline SW-910 from Remmers. It is necessary to carry out preliminary atmospheric drying to a humidity of 25-30%, the duration of which in the summer is 20-25 days. At the first stage (duration 15-20 days), the temperature in the drying chamber is not raised above 40 ° C, the speed of the drying agent should be 1 m/s, and the relative humidity in the chamber should be 80%. At the second stage, the temperature must be increased to 55 ° C and moisture and heat treatment must be carried out. At the third stage, open the air dampers and gradually reduce the temperature until the chamber cools completely. During the entire kiln drying process, it is necessary to monitor the humidity with a hand-held moisture meter. Drying wood 30 mm thick can take up to two months.

Peach wood is used for finishing car interiors, exclusive furniture, and making souvenirs. Sliced ​​veneer is used for veneering regular wood.

Mountain ash(eng. mountain ash, genus Sorbus aucuparia) - a tree 15-20 m high with a trunk diameter of up to 50 cm. Distributed throughout Russia. In the Caucasus it is found in the mountains at an altitude of up to 1200 m, in spruce and pine forests and in clearings. Lives up to 100 years. In the Gelendzhik area there are small tracts of rowan trees.

Rowan is a sound breed, with wide red-white sapwood and a red-brown core. The annual layers are clearly visible in all sections, the medullary rays are faintly visible. The wood has high uniform density and a characteristic shine.

Rowan wood is heavy and durable. Rowan belongs to the medium-drying species. Shrinkage coefficient: radial - 0.19; tangential - 0.26; volumetric - 0.47. Density - from 570 to 900 kg/m3. The average density of rowan wood growing in the Caucasus at a humidity of 12% is 600 kg/m3. It is well processed with cutting tools, ground, polished, glued and impregnated.

The technology for drying wood is similar to the technology for drying most hardwoods. Good results are obtained by preliminary steaming for three days, after which the rowan acquires an even red color. After steaming at the first stage (lasts 5-7 days), the temperature in the chamber can be set at 40 ° C, and the speed of the drying agent - 1.5 m/s. At the second stage (8-10 days), the temperature is gradually increased to 70 °C, and the speed of the drying agent is reduced to 1.2 m/s with constant reverse. Humidity is maintained at 80%. At the third stage, a short moisture-heat treatment is carried out to relieve internal stresses in the wood. At the last stage, the air dampers are opened, the temperature is reduced, and the speed of the drying agent is set at 0.75 m/s. The entire process of drying rowan lumber takes 22-25 days.

Rowan wood is a valuable ornamental material. Used in furniture production and interior design. Furniture panels, tool handles, and dishes are made from it.

Bird cherry(English bird cherry tree, genus Padus avium) - a representative of the Rosaceae family, a tree up to 18 m high with a trunk diameter of up to 40 cm. Lives up to 80 years. IN Krasnodar region distributed in shelterbelts, in the mountains it is found at an altitude of up to 1000 m in the second tier of oak and beech forests. Bird cherry is a sound species with light yellow wide sapwood and a red-brown core. The annual layers are faintly visible in all sections. The medullary rays are small and clearly visible to the naked eye. Belongs to low-drying breeds. Bird cherry wood is heavy and durable. Density at humidity 12% - 720 kg/m3. The wood is flexible, polishes well, cuts well, and is painted evenly. It cracks poorly and has excellent biostability.

Drying bird cherry wood requires caution; the species is prone to cracking. Before loading the lumber into the chamber, it is necessary to impregnate the ends with a means for treating the ends, for example, “SENEZH-TOR”. At the first stage, the chamber should be humidified and warmed up to 30 ° C, the air flow speed should be 0.75 m/s. At the second stage (12-14 days), the chamber is heated to 50 °C, the speed of the drying agent can be increased to 1 m/s, the relative humidity in the chamber must be maintained at 90%. At the third stage, moisture-heat treatment is carried out to relieve internal stresses in the wood with mandatory ventilation of the chamber. At the next stage, the lumber is dried for 10 days at a temperature of 45 °C. At the last stage, the temperature is reduced to 20 °C, the air speed is 1 m/s. The chamber is unloaded after complete cooling. The drying process can take 35-40 days. After proper drying, it stably retains its shape and size.

Bird cherry wood is used to make furniture parts and household items. The twigs are used to make baskets.

Mulberry(English mulberry, genus Morus) has been cultivated for more than 4 thousand years. White mulberry (Morus alba) and black mulberry (Morus nigra) grow in the Caucasus and Krasnodar region. This tree is up to 35 m high, trunk diameter is up to 1 m; lives up to 300 years. It is found in old gardens in the Sochi region, in the Tuapse region, in the Adygea mountains south of the city of Maykop, in the Otradnensky region, as well as in shelterbelts and cultural plantings.

Mulberry is a ring-vascular species with narrow yellowish sapwood and a red-brown core. Under the influence sunlight the wood takes on a dark brown color. The annual layers are clearly visible. The medullary rays are narrow, but also clearly distinguishable. It is well processed with cutting tools, ground and polished, painted and varnished. Due to low water absorption, it is poorly impregnated with protective compounds, biostability is average, so mulberry products are best used indoors.

Mulberry wood is durable - almost as good as beech, viscous and heavy. Density at a humidity of 12% is 600-700 kg/m 3, depending on the growing conditions. Mulberries are classified as low-drying species.

The process of drying mulberry lumber is quite lengthy, but is carried out under normal conditions. During drying, lumber warps little and almost does not crack. At the first stage (duration 8-10 days), the temperature is 40 ° C, relative humidity is not lower than 85%, the circulation speed of the drying agent is 1.5 m/s. At the next stages, it is necessary to reduce the air humidity, as well as the speed to 1.2 m/s, and raise the temperature to 60-70 °C. At the next stage, moisture and heat treatment should be carried out for 6 hours, then quickly heat the chamber to 85-90 ° C and turn off the heating. The wood should be left to cool for 7-10 days. The speed of the drying agent must be reduced to 0.75 m/s. The drying time for lumber with a thickness of 30-32 mm can be 30-35 days.

Beautiful texture, nice color and high quality wood - these characteristics allow it to be used for interior decoration, furniture production, parquet production, musical instruments and artistic crafts.

Caucasian persimmon, or Persimmon(English persimmon, genus Diospyros lotus) in the Caucasus and Krasnodar Territory is found in the mountains, grows together with other deciduous trees in areas located at an altitude of up to 600 m above sea level, rarely forms pure stands. Oriental persimmon is widespread, which is similar in wood quality to common persimmon. Grows in gardens. Persimmon is a tree up to 30 m high, the trunk diameter can reach 75 cm.

Caucasian persimmon is a sapwood species; mature wood and sapwood do not differ in color. The color of the wood is yellowish-black, there are also trees with black wood (depending on the place of growth), the annual layers are poorly distinguishable. Persimmon wood is heavy, sinks in water, and at a humidity of 12% it can reach a density of 1050 kg/m3. Hardness is twice as high as oak. It has good water drainage, is resistant to insect damage, and is not susceptible to rotting. It is difficult to process, but it can be sharpened, polished, polished to a mirror finish, and bent.

Persimmon wood is difficult to dry - it is a low-drying species, but is highly susceptible to cracking and warping. Immediately after harvesting and sawing, lumber must be treated with a special protective compound against cracking, and the stacks must be protected from exposure to sunlight. During drying, the temperature in the drying chamber should not be raised above 50 °C.

The air flow speed must be maintained in the range of 0.75-1 m/s, with a constant, often changing reverse. During chamber drying, moisture-heat treatment should be carried out at the first stage and always after the moisture equalization phase - to relieve internal stresses in the wood. The process of drying lumber from persimmon wood with a thickness of 25-30 mm can take up to 50 days.

Persimmon wood is used to make weaving looms, turning products, expensive exclusive furniture, sports accessories, and it is even used in construction. Sliced ​​veneer is used to inlay furniture and decorate interiors.

Walnut(English: Circassian walnut, genus Juglans regia), one of the popular names for “royal walnut”. In the North Caucasus it grows along gorges, river valleys, hillsides and mountains, at an altitude of up to 1000 m above sea level, in mixed forests it grows separately or in small groups, sometimes forming small groves. Grown in gardens.

Found in field protective plantings. Walnut is a tree up to 35 m high, the trunk is straight, massive, up to 1.5 m in diameter. Lives up to 300 years.

Walnut is a scattered-vascular heartwood species. The vessels are large and clearly visible in a cross section. The kernel is dark, brownish-gray, uneven in color. The transition from the core to the grayish-brown sapwood is gradual. The medullary rays are almost invisible. Density at humidity 12% - 640 kg/m3. Walnut is a highly drying species. Works well with tools, paints and polishes. Under the influence of steam it bends well.

The wood is wear-resistant, tough, and bending-resistant. Protective treatment is moderately amenable. In terms of resistance to decay, it is classified as a moderately resistant species.

Drying of walnut lumber should be carried out under soft conditions. When dried, lumber warps greatly and has a slight tendency to crack, but when dried it retains its shape well. The temperature at the first stage is gradually raised to 40 ° C, the air flow speed can be set at 1.2 m/s. The pores of walnut wood are large and it gives off moisture quite easily, so the drying process should not be accelerated. At the second stage, the temperature must be increased to 60 °C.

The speed of the drying agent may not be changed throughout the drying process. Moisture-heat treatment should be carried out for no more than four hours so that the wood does not absorb excess moisture. After moisture-heat treatment, the temperature should be set within 40-45 ° C, and the lumber should be dried for 7-10 days. Then the temperature is reduced and the air dampers are opened. Drying lumber walnut takes 30-40 days depending on the initial humidity.

Walnut wood has been used by furniture makers for a long time; high-quality and expensive furniture is made from it. Walnut is used for finishing premises and making molded products. The best gun stocks are made from solid walnut.

Sliced ​​veneer is obtained from burls, which is used for cladding furniture and producing high-quality plywood. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was the largest supplier of burl walnut wood. Currently, France and Italy are the leaders in the supply of walnut wood in Europe.