Bog oak is a unique material, for the creation of which nature has sometimes spent many thousands of years. What does this black material with silver-gray veins, which has absorbed the history of centuries, millennia, remember? You cannot find a more beautiful and elegant, austere wood texture than bog oak. Unfortunately, at present, for a number of reasons, there is an acute lack of cognitive and special information on the appearance in nature, use and application of bog oak.

Often, as if in passing, in the works of eminent writers or in historical documents, we receive information about exquisite, valuable and unique products or objects made of bog oak. We learn that Tsar Peter gives his wife Catherine a box of wondrous work from the unusual beauty of bog oak, then we learn that souvenirs from bog oak, along with family jewels, were passed down from generation to generation. And having paid more attention to such information, we learn that bog oak products were an ornament, a source of pride for the most exquisite European palaces. For example, in 1713, the English master Clausen made from bog oak and gilded silver the Imperial Throne for Peter I, which today stands in the Small Throne Room of the Winter Palace. The son of Mary Stuart James I expressed a desire to have a bog oak throne, "... so that its healing properties contribute to righteous rule ...", and after the official coronation he received this valuable gift from the English parliament. The knights of King Arthur gathered at a round table made of bog oak to make serious decisions.

In Russia, presenting gifts from ebony on especially solemn occasions has become a tradition. Offices, armchairs, bureaus were presented for anniversaries and official appointments. For the wedding and the day of the angel, the ladies were presented with caskets, caskets and small carved angels made of bog oak. These souvenirs, along with family jewels, have been passed down from generation to generation. The generals bequeathed the bog oak cabinets to their grandchildren, and the elderly countess could give her great-granddaughter a little angel, which she once inherited from her grandmother, for good luck. Currently, bog oak products are stored either in museums (for example, in the National Museum in Dublin, etc.), in palaces, or in private collections.

What is bog oak? Why is there currently so little information about him? What is its price? And how can you get it? Bog oak is a lumber obtained from oak, black in color with a purple tint (popularly nicknamed "blued wing" or "anthracite") and barely noticeable silvery veins. According to radiocarbon analysis, it has been in a humid environment without access to oxygen for 800 years.

In ancient times, oak forests grew on the banks of rivers and lakes. Over the course of many centuries, rivers often have to change their direction of movement. As a result, the water, changing the direction of movement, washed away the banks, and the mighty centuries-old oaks gradually found themselves in the river. As time went on, the sand washed out both the trunks and branches in a multi-meter layer. Any tree in such conditions is doomed to complete destruction, but the oak is just beginning its second life. The bark and wood of oak contains a large amount of tannins - tannides, which are amorphous polymeric substances, the exact composition and structure of most of which have not yet been clarified. The tannid content is very significant. The oak core contains 6% - 11%, in the bark from 5% to 16%. Tannins are perfectly soluble in water, easily oxidized. It should be especially noted that when combined with iron salts contained in water, tannins give a dark blue color, as a result of which the wood of the oak in the river over the years acquires a black color with a dark blue tint and noble gray veins. In general, bog oak strikes the imagination with the history of its creation. Seeing a dried, centuries-old stained tree, you admire the way it had to go. Particularly striking is the outer layer, which consists of rough plates of natural black coal. You involuntarily wonder how much energy was boiling in this tree deep in water or earth during its second life? How could the outer layer of a tree turn into charcoal without being on fire? And why is it already reworked, even in the form of a simple polished part, does it radiate soft, delicate energy when touched? After all, it has long been noticed that those who come into contact with a bog oak are forever subdued by its deep power, beauty and uniqueness.

A submerged tree is greatly influenced by the flow of water and sand. The bark of the oak leaves the tree, and the peeled trunk is covered with a unique pattern created by water and sand. With a subsequent change in the river channel, the trees covered by sand and silt find themselves at a considerable distance from the flowering oak forests. After many years, as a result of another change in the movement of the river, the water erodes the sand, and the oak is again on the surface. And so from year to year, from century to century, from millennium to millennium. Lakes also go their way from birth to old age, turning into swamps and then into peat bogs, hiding fallen trees for many years. This process is also very long.

For example, during the excavation of peat bogs in Ireland (1960), oak trees were discovered, the age of which, according to the data of radiocarbon analysis, ranges from 4,000 to 7,000 years.

SI Ivachenko in 1973, under a 6-meter layer of river sediment near the village of Shchuchye on the banks of the Don, discovered an oak canal, which had lain for 4000 years and is perfectly preserved. Currently, the canoe is on display at the Historical Museum in Moscow. From ancient times, bog oak was mined in rivers from great depths. Then they were dried for many years, and the methods of drying bog oak were a strict secret. And since the amount of bog oak was very limited, the manufacture of products from it was trusted only by recognized, experienced craftsmen, the so-called black woodworkers. From the second half of the 12th century to the 15th-16th centuries, furniture and interiors made of bog oak and decorated with beautiful, virtuoso flat-relief and openwork carvings were very common in the best houses in England, Germany, Bohemia (Czech Republic). Later, with the appearance in Europe of a large amount of mahogany from America and Africa (1720) and due to the lack of bog oak in sufficient quantities, blackwoods were called cabinetmakers. The stocks of bog oak in Europe, and later in America, were exhausted by the beginning of the last century. The discovery of bog oak in European countries is currently an event. And those few specialists who know the true value of bog oak treat it very carefully.

In our country, for a number of reasons, bog oak has been deleted from the list of materials that could be widely mined and used for a long time. On the one hand, it was considered a valuable material, the extraction of which was officially prohibited, and on the other hand, bog oak, until recently, was quite difficult for technical extraction and processing.

As a result, in the USSR, a huge, rich country, bog oak has been used equally both as a unique lumber and as elementary firewood over the past 70 years. There are known cases of delivery of bog oak for the manufacture of a special order by helicopter technology. But, for example, when performing bottom-dredging works, the extracted bog oak, due to its small volumes and difficulties in processing, was easier to burn than to officially register and give it a new life. Currently, due to new economic relations, the stocks of bog oak will be in demand very soon. However, the stock of bog oak in the Republic of Belarus is limited and one can be sure that in a few years it will be exhausted.

Like gold and platinum from metals, diamond from minerals, and bog oak are the most prized and difficult to obtain of all wood materials created by nature over many centuries and millennia. Its reserves are limited and irreplaceable. Each bog oak has passed its own individual, centuries-old path. Therefore, each copy is unique and unique. Taking into account the irreplaceable reserves of bog oak, the true cost of bog oak lumber should be an order of magnitude higher than any of the most expensive lumber created by nature.

The extraction and processing of bog oak is fraught with a number of difficulties. It should be noted right away that bog oak, from the moment it enters the water and until it rises, withstands a cycle of thousands of alternating physical and climatic loads. Imagine a mighty oak fallen into the river, which for many years has been firmly held by its roots to a high bank. Meter by meter, for many years the crown of the tree and the trunk itself are immersed in water. For a long time, before it is completely immersed in water, it is helpless against the effects of water, wind, frost and heat, which in itself is already detrimental to wood. In addition, it is of no small importance in which soil the tree is subsequently immersed. Either it will be washed out with clay or sand, which in turn also affects the properties of wood in different ways. The thickness of the layer under which the tree is located is also important, and on the value of which the pressure exerted on the tree depends.

The type of oak is also important, as it is known that there are 600 types of oak in the world, each of which has its own individual differences, ranging from density to texture features. At present, only the pedunculate oak is widespread in our Republic, and on the territory of the former Soviet Union there were only 19 species, and it is possible that in the times of many thousands of years ago the species component of the oak was more extensive. It should be noted that for bog oak it is rather difficult to determine its botanical name. The age of the oak also affects the condition of the wood. Of great importance is the health factor of the tree, the presence or absence of diseases, wormholes and other damage. Being constantly in a humid environment, bog oak, like no other wood, is susceptible to swelling. The swelling of bog oak is due to the colloidal nature of the woody substance, which belongs to the class of limited swelling gels. It depends on many factors, among which the most important are the amount of absorbed bound water and the density of wood, its anatomical structure and morphology of cell walls, temperature, moisture stress, and others. Swelling is complicated by the fact that individual chemical components of wood are localized in different morphological elements of the cell wall and have a different ability to swell. At the same time, the moisture content of the lifted wood depends on the duration of the stay of wood in water, which ranges from 110% to 200%. Moreover, it was found that with an increased moisture content (over 115%), the physical and mechanical properties of bog oak wood change for the worse and correspond to the properties of such types of wood as alder and aspen. This is due to the fact that with a very long stay in a humid environment, wood is destroyed at the cellular level, compaction and filling of the formed voids with moisture. Accordingly, it is not an easy task to dry the extracted material at a moisture content of 110%, while the moisture content of freshly cut oak varies within 65%.

Due to the lack of technology for industrial extraction and processing of bog oak, poor technical equipment of enterprises, the extraction of bog oak until now, with very, very rare exceptions, did not bring positive results and led to huge unforeseen financial costs and irrecoverable loss of excellent raw materials.

There are three ways to get bog oak. The first method is very time consuming and painstaking - it is the extraction of bog oak when carrying out bottom-dredging works by water transport enterprises. An equally time-consuming method of extraction is during the development of peat bogs.

In the first and second cases, serious equipment and service personnel are involved, which has a very significant effect on the cost of the bog oak, since according to the estimate for the production of bog oak by the BELVODPUT enterprise, the cost of extracting 1 m 3 of fuelwood is 220 US dollars. However, it should be noted that the volumes of bog oak production in these cases are difficult to predict and cannot serve as a basis for industrial production of bog oak.

The third mining method is much more efficient and less costly. It consists in the work of a specialized enterprise, consisting of a number of divisions, equipped with modern equipment and environmentally friendly technology.

The main condition for the effective extraction of bog oak is the creation of a specialized enterprise for the extraction and processing of bog oak, equipped with special equipment that allows you to perform all work efficiently and in the shortest possible time. Scientific and technological progress makes it possible to use the latest achievements in lifting, prospecting and drying lumber. Moreover, during the work of a specialized enterprise, you will have to use tools and equipment unusual for logging, for example, such as floating. means, electronic search equipment, scuba divers. A specialized enterprise, equipped with modern equipment, is able to efficiently and fully utilize the navigation period, which makes it possible not to produce more costly extraction of bog oak in winter. A specialized company is in a position, which is especially appreciated in the business world, to fulfill an order of any complexity and guarantee the supply of this valuable, high-quality material in the required volumes at any time and in the shortest possible time. And, of course, such an enterprise has the opportunity to create a stock of bog oak and lead in the market for its trade. At the same time, it should be noted that all bog oak, when creating a specialized enterprise and carrying out planned work in all special areas, receives the status of a valuable raw material, with a predicted volume of production. The created enterprise will be able to constantly monitor the position in the bog oak market and conduct a wide advertising campaign in order to conduct effective trading activities.

The specialized technical equipment of the enterprise allows, in the shortest possible time, to carry out seasonal exploration of bog oak reserves with fixing the location, to ensure prompt recovery and processing of bog oak. And modern advanced drying methods allow you to minimize the loss of lumber. As a result, guaranteed industrial supplies of high-quality, most expensive sawn timber that meet the most stringent world requirements are possible. Moreover, it is especially important that a specialized enterprise is able to ensure the supply of bog oak both in the form of lumber and in the form of round timber (which is especially important for the manufacture of highly artistic, voluminous compositions) all year round. It should be noted that a specialized enterprise for the extraction of bog oak can successfully carry out its activities in the CIS countries, Poland, in the Baltic countries, where, along with its main activity, it can effectively carry out work on the environmental cleaning of rivers and reservoirs. And what is important, such an enterprise is 70% completed with mechanisms and equipment made in Belarus. Those who have faced the problem of bog oak mining know that getting bog oak is not the main thing, the main thing is

produce high-quality drying of the extracted material. In a state saturated with water, bog oak wood retains its plasticity, but after drying it becomes much harder and more fragile than its natural state. The shrinkage of bog oak is 1.5 times more than usual, which is explained by shrinking (collapse) of cells with reduced wall thickness, therefore, bog oak wood cracks more than usual during drying. And, of course, this task is more complicated by more than one order of magnitude when the issue of industrial (from 1000 m 3) extraction and processing of bog oak is being solved. But in order to produce high-quality drying of bog oak round wood at the initial stage, in contrast to plain wood, appropriate conditions are also required, and first of all, a specially equipped warehouse, adapted to work with large, heavy objects, in which the necessary moisture and temperature parameters. Storing raised bog oak in the open air, even under a well-equipped shed, does not guarantee its high-quality drying, since it requires constant, labor-intensive maintenance of each specimen, and this is a difficult task on the scale of industrial production. When storing bog oak in specially equipped warehouses, the amount of work is significantly reduced. Without special costs, it is possible to bring the external and internal humidity in the logs to the interval of 30-60%.

At present, on the territory of the former USSR, bog oak in any form, from round timber to sawn timber, can only be offered by one enterprise all year round - TRANS-CENTER YEAR, Republic of Belarus, Gomel.

To accomplish this task, the enterprise has worked out and tested the technology of storing bog oak. Specially equipped underground storage facilities (5600 m 2) with constant temperature and humidity conditions were used.

It is possible to cut bog oak directly at the place of lifting (the weight of 1 m 3 of bog oak raised is from 1.5 tons), which can significantly reduce transport and storage costs. The raised oak immediately after lifting is not difficult to clean of sand, and due to the high moisture content, it is much easier to cut. Bog oak, oversaturated with moisture, in the first days after sawing in appropriate conditions, significantly loses in weight. Possibility of rejection of substandard, damaged material is created. Sorting of quality material and preliminary preparation for drying are performed.

At the same time, contracts were concluded with woodworking enterprises for the processing of bog oak from sawing and drying to the manufacture of lumber, furniture, parquet. The results of practical cooperation with enterprises at all stages of the technological process have been obtained.

The processing was carried out both at state enterprises and at private ones, equipped with advanced equipment.

Currently, the main activity of the TRANS-CENTER YEAR is the finalization of the technology of industrial extraction and processing of bog oak. The cycle from exploration, mining and processing to the manufacture of finished products - lumber, parquet, furniture, has been fully worked out. A technology has been developed for an efficient, relatively inexpensive search for bog oak reserves. For example, the Russian enterprise "RUSEXPORT", to carry out exploration work at the first stage, uses aircraft to conduct aerial photography of about 300 km of the river and obtain photographs, with the help of which the most probable deposits of bog oak are analyzed, and then the results of underwater exploration are used. At the first stage, specialists of the YEAR TRANS-CENTER analyze the distribution of floodplain oak forests in the proposed area of ​​work (from 1000 and more years ago) on the basis of data from the Belarusian Scientific Research Institute of Forestry. And after that, with the help of special equipment, exploration of bog oak reserves is carried out in a short time. Submariners are used only to ascertain the presence of bog oak and to carry out preparatory work to lift the discovered wood. As a result of the application of the technology developed by the TRANS-CENTER YEAR, one search group is able to investigate in detail 2,170 kilometers of rivers within one month. In other words, all navigable rivers of the Republic of Belarus, the length of which is 2,700 km, can actually be examined for the presence of bog oak in one - maximum two months.

Having reliable, verified data on the accumulation of bog oak, it is possible to effectively use the capabilities of the water transport enterprises of our Republic, which, due to various circumstances, are currently not fully used. At the same time, using the equipment produced in our Republic, it is possible to effectively extract bog oak in non-navigable rivers, the length of which is 39,000 km.

It should be noted that in parallel, it is possible to use a program for cleaning the rivers of our Republic, based on a fundamentally new approach, involving the development of eco-business, which will have a positive effect on the ecological state of the rivers. The driftwood accumulated in the rivers made them hardly suitable for recreation. It also affects the process of changing river channels. According to the latest data from scientists, wood in the water is a source of phenols. As you know, this chemical is the strongest poison for humans, and especially for children. The process of decreasing biological and landscape diversity in river floodplains is increasing every year. This problem can be solved by a local environmental program, which should be implemented by local authorities. But in the current situation in the local district budgets there are not enough funds for this. The modern difficult ecological situation can be solved only by a program that combines business and ecology. Attempts to solve environmental problems in conditions of economic instability of society, in the absence of a self-financing mechanism and mutual interests of government bodies and business circles are doomed to failure.

Specialists of the YEAR TRANS-CENTER carried out marketing research on the subject of demand and the possibility of selling bog oak both in the CIS countries and abroad. An analysis was made of the capabilities of enterprises, in one way or another, engaged in the extraction of bog oak, to ensure uninterrupted supplies of high-quality bog oak lumber. The real price of its high-quality material has been determined both at the moment and the approximate price for bog oak in the coming decades. The important factors influencing the demand, supply and price parameters of bog oak have been identified. A thorough analysis of the legal requirements in the field of extraction, processing and sale of bog oak both in our Republic and in the countries of near and far abroad has been made.

Artificial stained bog oak

Nowadays, you can often find offers for the supply of artificial stained bog oak, which surpasses natural bog oak in its physical and mechanical properties. Sellers guarantee flawless color parameters of lumber. The price of such an oak is slightly more expensive than processed natural oak. It is assumed that such a material completely replaces natural bog oak, which is very expensive to extract and process and which requires a serious, qualified attitude. In fact, artificially stained bog oak only vaguely resembles natural oak (as artificial honey resembles natural) and has a number of disadvantages. There are cases when sellers, passing off wood of an indeterminate color as artificial stained oak, cannot accurately, intelligibly answer the question of what color natural bog oak is.

There are major differences between artificial stained oak and natural bog oak.

1. Bog oak is a fossil material, it is fundamentally different from freshly sawn oak, since for a long time in a humid, airless environment, completely different processes occur in it, associated with the transformation of internal energy.
2. Natural bog oak grew at one time in ecologically absolutely healthy, pre-industrial conditions, which makes it possible to make environmentally friendly products from it, which are now in great demand and attention.
3. The reserves of natural bog oak are limited and irreplaceable.
4. The vast majority of famous bog oak products are of cultural and historical value.
5. At present, dozens of methods of staining oak, birch (including Karelian) wood, etc. are known. Chemical substances and elements are mainly used for staining wood, the use of which may have a negative impact on the consumer in the future. The quality of processing of such wood is also in doubt. And definitely - a specialist in external and internal characteristics will always distinguish natural bog oak from artificial stained oak.
6. Currently, mainly 50-100 years old oak wood is being processed, that is, the wood that at the cellular level was fully exposed to technogenic factors.

A special line should be noted the absolute absurdity of the production and use of veneer made of natural bog oak, since one of the main advantages of bog oak, as we noted earlier, is its irreplaceability in nature, and for covering lumber made with the use of synthetic resins, as well as plastics, it is quite You can successfully use veneer from any lumber treated with paints and varnishes and under bog oak as well.

Current situation with the extraction, processing and sale of bog oak

With the emergence of new market relations in the countries of the former USSR, attempts were made to extract bog oak everywhere. Everything seemed very simple. There are a lot of logs in all the rivers, the labor is cheap - take a tractor, a truck, take the first log you find in the river to the sawmill, or you can bypass the sawmill and immediately send it to the West. And in the first years, there were indeed frequent cases of lifting and storing large volumes of wood on the shore, which by the end of summer lost all its unique properties. There were cases of sending large volumes of the so-called bog oak to the West. In those days, it was necessary to observe the loading for sending abroad of logs that a few days ago were raised from the water onto railway platforms, which were wet from the water flowing from them. Or sawing logs on a collective farm sawmill, when, despite the fact that water is oozing from the boards, they are stacked in the open air. But the matter did not go further, since the issue of raising, processing bog oak on an industrial scale turned out to be many orders of magnitude more complicated than it was supposed. Fuelwood, with a moisture content of 110%, rose from the river and was unloaded onto the shore. Under the influence of sunlight, summer heat, the wood completely fell into disrepair after a few weeks. The wood that was sent by unprepared transport also fell into disrepair. Due to the lack of industrial mining technology and, which is especially important, processing of bog oak, the presence of only superficial knowledge of the properties of firewood, including bog oak, absolutely all enterprising people engaged in this type of activity suffered significant financial losses, which for a long time discouraged them hunt to run this business. At the same time, instead of the promised quality material of vaunted bog oak, Western partners received substandard, destroyed material, which also discouraged them from working on bog oak for a long time. Thus, within 3-5 years on the vast territory of the former Soviet Union, a large-scale anti-advertising work was carried out with the attraction of Western potential investors and a huge number of responsible workers of water transport enterprises and enterprising people.

The result of this company was a complete discrediting of bog oak as a unique, most expensive in price range, environmentally friendly, irreplaceable lumber.

After 10 years, the situation is changing radically. In 1996-1997, scientists of MarSTU, on the basis of the standard methodology of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Lesosplav, MLTI and BTI, developed a program and methodology for studying the composition of sunken wood in water bodies of the Republic of Mari El. Scheduled studies of the volume of sunken timber in the Republic have begun with the aim of organizing industrial production. In September 2002, at the session of the Regional Coordinating Council for Wood Science, held on the basis of the Bryansk State Engineering and Technological Academy, which was attended by about 90 representatives of educational, research, expert and other organizations, for the first time since 1947, the terms “firewood "And" bog oak ", agreed editions of their definitions have been developed. Professor E.M. Runova (Bratsk State Technical University) reported on the properties of fuelwood. New progressive technologies and equipment for wood processing have appeared, and the range of effective search tools has expanded. A real market has appeared in the countries of the former USSR, which lives and develops according to well-known market laws. More and more free funds are found and fewer unoccupied economic spheres. And accordingly, such a resource as bog oak will soon be in demand.

Bog oak stocks are limited and irreplaceable. The use of valuable bog oak in the age of scientific and technological progress as firewood is an impermissible, criminal luxury, bordering on an anti-state attitude towards the country's natural resources.

A. A. DUPANOV

YEAR TRANS-CENTER,
247001, st. Rechnaya 8a, Chyonki village,
Gomel, Republic of Belarus.
t / f (375 232) 96 13 89, 55 90 82, 55 93 77.

Once again, the book came across the expression "bog oak" and I realized that from the context I understand that this is something expensive, a sign of prosperity, but I have absolutely no idea who this oak has killed :)
So, I'll start my story.
On the banks of one of the many rivers there was an oak grove. Over time, the river washed away the bank with its current and the trees fell into the water. In the absence of oxygen, the wood was not subject to decay, and under the influence of iron salts and other elements of the periodic table, contained in dissolved form in river water, the color of bog oak acquired various shades, from light gray to coal-black with a purple tint, depending on from the time spent in the river and from the composition of the water in it. According to radiocarbon analysis, some samples of bog oak are from 400 to 8000 years old or more!

In the Middle Ages in Russia and in a number of European states, bog oak was highly valued and was very popular among the noble class. Various interior elements, furniture and even royal thrones were made from it.

Currently, there are no industrial deposits of bog oak left in Europe. And in Russia, the reserves of bog oak are not unlimited; every year, due to the growing popularity of this unique material, the production of bog oak is actively growing. Bog oak is used not only in “handicraft” woodcarving workshops, for the manufacture of various souvenirs, but also in large industrial plants for the manufacture of parquet and furniture.

For comparison.
Regular oak wood

Bog oak

Extraction and processing of natural bog oak

If the harvesting of ordinary wood, whether it be pine, birch or bakout, rosewood is a common operating process, polished by people for thousands of years, supported by proven technologies and a variety of mechanisms and equipment, then purposefully harvesting natural bog oak, both in ancient times and now, has been and is engaged in a very rarely and mostly exclusively when performing important tasks. Harvesting natural bog oak is a complex, time-consuming process and qualifies as the extraction of a natural resource. Indeed, in order to cut down a tree, you can simply approach it at any time, determine its condition, quality and cut it down. Moreover, this can be done by one person without undue effort. And in order to obtain a bog oak, it must first be found at the bottom of a water body, for which it is necessary to examine significant underwater areas, sometimes in difficult conditions.
Having found a bog oak, you need to prepare it for the ascent. Then, using serious equipment or mechanisms, you need to raise multi-ton production to the surface, and the weight of bog oak can reach 10 and 20 tons.
Having raised it to the surface, it must be moved to the crosscutting place and only after that you can begin to evaluate it as a material and to the subsequent mandatory processing. After all, it often happens that the bog oak, which looked quite impressive under water and which required significant efforts and costs to raise, was completely disappointing on the shore.
The bog oak raised to the surface needs to be urgently put into circulation, since it is practically deactivated after many years of being in an airless environment and can become unusable in a short period of time.
The approach to the extracted bog oak to the landfall location is also very often a serious volume of work. Since, when loading and transporting ordinary timber, due to its significant volumes, work on the construction of reliable access roads is economically justified, then when, for example, a timber truck approaches the loading point of bog oak, sometimes it is an almost insoluble problem. It is not possible to bulldoze the passage to the place where each bog oak ascends to land and does not bog down the swampy places. Not to mention the fact that employees of environmental authorities, down to a centimeter and one by one, calculate the damage caused to the environment in the coastal zone. And then the transportation of the extracted bog oak has to be carried out according to an individual decision in accordance with the parameters of the wood. Moreover, the logs of bog oak themselves are saturated with water to the limit and are almost twice as heavy as the same logs of ordinary oak, which, of course, complicates the work. But there is still a long way to go before getting high-quality bog oak. The most difficult question lies ahead - storage and high-quality drying of bog oak. The storage and drying of ordinary wood has been thoroughly studied, scientific works and treatises on drying ordinary wood make up huge technical libraries around the world. National and international norms and standards have been introduced for ordinary wood. But the study of storage and drying of natural bog oak to obtain the maximum yield of quality products is at an early stage. This situation significantly affects the cost, supply and demand of quality bog oak. You can listen to many opinions on this, but the fact remains that today there is no stable demand for natural bog oak. And this is due to the fact that due to the very high cost of high-quality bog oak, there is no stable supply of high-quality bog oak on the market of valuable timber. Many of those who decided to try themselves in the extraction and processing of bog oak as a result of the lack of demand for their already obtained, mostly not of the best quality material, close the topic and for a penny sell to buyers what it is possible to take from it, and let the rest of the material into the furnace. Unfortunately, this is a reality. Over the past 20 years, thousands of enterprising people in the post-Soviet space have tried to establish a business in the extraction and processing of bog oak. It seems that there may be difficulties. I drove a tractor to the river, pulled out an oak tree, took it to a collective farm, and recently to a private sawmill, sawed it, sold it. But this simplicity is very deceiving. There is a known case when in the 90s about 700m3 of natural bog oak was raised and stored ashore during the navigation season. Several cars were sent to the buyer, some were thrown back into the river in late autumn, and a significant part went for firewood. And, unfortunately, there were many such cases. Wagons with wet bog oak went abroad, which at the final destination also lost all its consumer properties. Thousands of cubic meters of bog oak went into stoves or are still submerged in oxbows and lakes, after summer storage under the scorching sun. It will be very difficult to obtain quality material with repeated lifting and processing.

Fumed oak

Nowadays, you can often find offers for the supply of artificially stained bog oak (Fumed oak) in terms of their physical and mechanical properties, surpassing natural bog oak (Bog Oak). Sellers guarantee impeccable color parameters of lumber, veneer. The price of such fumed oak is comparable to the price of modified wood MHMD, TMD, PMD. It is assumed that such a material completely replaces natural bog oak (Bog Oak), which is very expensive to extract and process. In fact, the bog oak of artificial staining (Fumed Oak) only vaguely resembles natural bog oak, and this despite the fact that artificial staining technologies involve the use of drugs that are sometimes very harmful to humans. in the European Union, a ban was introduced on the use of chemically treated wood. Similar restrictions apply in the United States.

The rarest wood in the world, which is a kind of precious material, is bog oak. A cubic meter of this wood costs an average of $ 2,000. The bog oak has two whole lives, one of which he lives on the ground, and the second under water.

This second life began many centuries ago, when, subject to intergalactic laws, the rivers changed their course. Time washed away the banks, and the trees from the coastal oak forests ended up under water, where they were until an inquisitive person discovered them.

Only in the post-Soviet space have such huge reserves of bog oak survived. For example, in European countries, the discovery of a single specimen of bog oak has been an event for 100 years. And such finds are reported in the media.

For 100 years, many enterprising people in all parts of Russia have been harvesting bog oak. Mostly bog oak was used as a fuel in the composition of other driftwood.

Once, having pulled the trunk to the surface and tried to process it, he was amazed at the beauty and strength of the resulting wood. Admiring, the person asked himself the question: what unknown force turned the familiar oak into a mysterious one, covered on the surface with torn coal pieces, and inside a material that hides the strongest, smoky, lively, unique texture? And he began to look for answers to his questions, working with bog oak and giving him a third life ...

In Russia, furniture sets and souvenirs were created from bog oak, which now take pride of place in museums of fine arts and antique salons all over the world.

Not a single foreign furniture company can offer for everyone to see products that are adequately made of natural bog oak. This is the prerogative of only Russian masters. Since from the beginning of the millennium to the present day, relict oak forests have been completely destroyed all over the world, the stocks of bog oak remained only in Russia.

Bog oak wood is considered the most expensive in the world. A simple frame for a small photo made from this natural material can cost hundreds of rubles. Furniture made of material preserved by nature itself is affordable only for the richest people on the planet. Our country has impressive reserves of this wood, there are technologies for its extraction and processing. But the extraction of a valuable resource is often illegal and goes beyond the budget. Why it happens?

Raising an oak tree from the bottom of a river is not an easy task. The trunk can weigh up to 4-6 tons

Chair for the price of a car

There are dozens of advertisements on the Internet for the sale of bog oak products. For example, a slab made from this wood (a trunk cut or, simply, an unedged board) trades at $ 440 per linear meter. The simplest coffee table is offered for 1,700, and the more powerful TV console for $ 6,300. A decorative book rack will cost an immodest $ 3,400. For a square meter of floorboard or wall panel, you will have to pay about $ 700. A 20x5x5 cm bar can be purchased for $ 10-15. There are more radical offers on our market. For each cubic meter of round timber, they ask for 2-4 thousand euros. And buyers are.

Bog oak is a unique material, the creation of which nature has spent thousands of years. In those days, when mammoths walked the planet, a mighty tree grew on the banks of the river. The water washed away the shore, the oak fell to the bottom. He was covered in silt. Over the course of thousands of years, it has been “stained” in exceptional conditions, with practically no oxygen available. As a result, its structure changed - it became much stronger, acquired a noble dark color with silvery veins. And the main thing that attracts people is the age of such material. Agree, few people will refuse to touch the table, knowing that it is thousands of years old. Where are there antiques!

The fishery is covered with silt

In a unique and, in professional language, a narrow market, only a few companies legally work for us. One of them is headed by Alexander Dupanov. Back in the 1990s, he became interested in this topic by pure chance. He was visited by foreign friends who, in passing, inquired about the possibility of buying a few cubic meters of bog oak. In the end, nothing came of the idea - too many intermediaries had to be involved. But Alexander realized that this business, with a competent approach, has more than real prospects. Since then, for 20 years, the company has been developing technologies for the search, extraction and processing of fuelwood. And along the way, like every businessman, the director of the enterprise with his team carefully monitors the activities of competitors.

Right now we can drive along the banks of the Sozh, and I will show you about a dozen places where stained wood was recently developed - traces of heavy equipment, fragments of oak, sawdust and so on, - Alexander met me at his base in Gomel. - The question is how legally the earners were operating. It used to be, I traveled for days on a section of the river allocated for exploration and production. And I always met those who like to profit. They tore wood with tractors, sawed off piece by piece, loaded it into trucks, carts, horse carts and tried to take it out.

There are no digestible statistics on world production of valuable raw materials today. Some figures have been "emerging" only from Soviet times. Then the turnover of stained (fuelwood) wood and, in particular, oak, was regulated by the Department of Precious Metals under the Ministry of Finance. In 1937, the Council of People's Commissars even gave instructions to study the issues of reserves and methods of timber extraction. Such studies were carried out on the rivers Sozh, Dnieper and Iput, from where, over 3 years, about 2 thousand "cubes" were even raised - a fantastic volume for this type of material!

Alexander Alexandrovich shows a log, which is 7150 years old. He says that these are still old stocks. The company has no right to engage in its main activity - exploration and production itself - since 2015. The new edition of the Water Code banned the extraction of valuable timber:

Stained wood is a non-renewable resource. What we extract from the water will no longer be replenished. Its reserves all over the world are more than modest. The account goes to hundreds of thousands of "cubes"

Previously, we executed the entire package of permits and legally engaged in our activities. The new law does not seem to prohibit the extraction of oak, in any case, there is no direct prohibition and the term "driftwood" does not appear there in any way, however, the very procedure of legalizing such activities has become impossible to go through.

Perhaps, this could put an end to it: it is forbidden to get stained wood out of the water and there is nothing more to talk about. However, for “black” earners, as in other lucrative areas, bans are a sideline.

Sellers with a tarnished reputation

On the Internet I find the following offers: “I will sell a bog oak, about 2 cubic meters”, “A bog oak, 4 trunks, the diameter at the butt is from 55 to 88 cm”, “A bog oak (fumed) oak for sale, almost black on the cut, 2 the logs are dry. Self-pickup ”.

I called under the guise of a buyer. Interested in a number of questions. First, is there any guarantee that this is an oak and not an aspen? Secondly, will there be evidence that this is a bog oak, and not soaked in a nearby puddle? And thirdly (and this is the most important thing), when and where was the wood obtained? After all, it is impossible to legally conduct this fishery for 4 years already.

Dialogues are standard. The seller from the Zhlobin region wants to earn as much as $ 150 for each cubic meter of his production. For reference, a “cube” of quality sawn timber from ordinary pine costs about the same:

Good afternoon, is there wood? Where is it stored? Is it really an oak tree?

In the courtyard under a canopy. Lies since June, has already dried up. What am I, an oak cannot be distinguished? Look for yourself.

And where is it mined?

The Maltsy swam in the Dnieper, groped near the shore. Pulled out of there. The lads over there will confirm if you don’t believe.

Is it possible to pull out oaks just like that? Or do you have the documents?

Why do I need documents? Consider that I was collecting firewood for myself and at the same time I did a good deed - I cleared the beach.

Mozyryanin fished oak trunks from Pripyat in the spring:

The water came down, and they appeared. Probably washed out from under the shore. What is the price? You understand that this is not some kind of birch, this is a bog oak! It is very expensive. I won’t give it up for less than a thousand dollars per “cube”.

He also has no documents for production, as well as other evidence of the purity of the transaction.

Image - into the furnace?

Sellers are trying to softly dictate terms, which means there is demand. But something else is curious: all their activities, it turns out, are illegal. Moreover, it can be regarded not only as theft, but also pure sabotage.

It is not enough to find and raise a tree from the bottom, - says Alexander Dupanov. - After all, under the influence of oxygen, the processes of its destruction immediately begin. For example, the natural moisture content of ordinary wood is about 70 percent. Fuelwood can have 150-200 percent. In the process of improper drying, waterlogged wood tears, it crumbles into chips.

Indeed, the process of "drying" bog oak is very long and painstaking. It lasts, as some sources say, almost a year, moreover, under certain conditions. Few home-grown businessmen will wait so long, and therefore the amount of initially high-quality, but hopelessly spoiled wood is simply catastrophic, says Alexander, based on his personal experience. As a result, more than 90 percent of raw materials are used for scrap. He tells the cases when the logs were sent to the customer by carriages, but on the way they managed to lose their characteristics and were sent to the ovens. In 2006, at one reputable wood-processing enterprise, they successfully sawed round timber into boards, but then about 100 “cubes” of finished products were burned. And from the next batch of 150 cubic meters, in the end, only 30 were saved. As a result, the cost of the remaining material was simply insane. But in these cases, experienced people worked, no match for the majority of small "predators". As a result, the country is rapidly losing one of the most valuable natural resources, although it could have made it its own brand and improve its image on the international market for precious materials.

Stained wood is a non-renewable resource. What we extract from the water will no longer be replenished. Its reserves all over the world are more than modest. The account goes to hundreds of thousands of "cubes". According to Alexander Dupanov, just over the past 20 years and only our country has lost tens of thousands of "cubes" of oak. Most of it, no matter how blasphemous it may sound, went to firewood. In particular, not a single coastal dweller will pass by a huge oak tree, which is excellently sawn in its raw state, and burns perfectly when dried up. A lot of raw materials are spoiled by miners and processors. How many? Every week Alexander receives 2-3 calls, allegedly from oak buyers. Interested in cost. And disappear. In the overwhelming majority of cases, these are sellers who monitor the real prices for relict wood. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of them, Alexander estimates. And, therefore, it is possible to represent the real volumes of trade. At the same time, not so many raw materials are physically “thrown out” on the market. Chances are, everything else disappears:

The extraction of bog oak can often be compared to the harvesting of non-ferrous metals: if it is not lying well, it means that they must “whistle”. I would not be surprised if every second owner of a sawmill has fuelwood stored in the vicinity of large rivers, - says Alexander Dupanov. - There are many customers among the owners of cottages. And what master cabinetmaker would refuse to work with a unique material? And since there is demand, there will be supply. What, in fact, we observe. It is enough to contact the guys from any coastal village, and they will haul the required amount of timber to order.

In a legal vein

As a rule, the “black” market develops in special conditions. On the one hand, it must be admitted that the circulation of bog oak today is not regulated in any way. On the other hand, under the new Water Code, even the official procurers were forced to curtail their activities. The demand remained the same.

Earlier, according to BelTA, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Andrei Khmel stated that the stocks of bog oak in Belarus were not officially counted: “But this resource exists. This is evidenced by the research of private individuals, we own this information. This is a rather expensive material, specific in processing ”. The result - at the moment, the department's specialists have prepared a draft document "On some issues of the extraction and circulation of amber and fuelwood." In turn, the head of the main department of natural resources of the Ministry of Natural Resources Vasily Kolb confirms that the decision to establish legal order in this area was not spontaneous:

From time to time we were contacted by individuals and commercial structures. We understood that sooner or later the question would be posed bluntly, and therefore we carefully prepared for changes in legislation. In particular, the notorious Water Code, which actually banned the fishing of fuelwood, can be regarded as a pause. We needed time to collect data about this resource.

There are several leitmotifs of the draft of the new decree. For example, the Ministry of Natural Resources proposes to completely prohibit the export of round oak abroad - fuelwood, as a particularly valuable raw material, must be processed domestically, creating goods with high added value. And when fishing, it will be necessary to be guided by the project documentation, which has passed the environmental expertise without fail, and to coordinate actions with the local authorities. In the case of extracting fuelwood without excavation or dredging, the fisherman will also need to acquire a technological map.

The "tilt" of the project is obvious - towards the protection of nature. This is understandable - any interference with the river regime, especially such a rude one, will inevitably entail negative consequences. In addition, says Vasily Kolb, after the extraction of wood to the surface, in many cases, the troubles of the watercourse and adjacent territories do not end there:

It is impossible to distinguish a bog oak from a similar birch or Christmas tree under water. Adequate analyzes can be carried out only after the tree has been lifted ashore. But the fishermen only need an oak tree. Question: where does the rest of the wood go? I can assume: either it is thrown back into the water, or litters the banks, or (and this is the best, but unlikely option) given to local residents for firewood.

These barbaric methods should no longer be applied. Moreover, stained wood is recognized as a particularly valuable resource on a par with, say, amber. This can be judged at least by the rates of the environmental tax on the extraction of snags. For comparison: the removal from the bowels of the earth for each ton of building sand for a business entity, according to the Tax Code, costs 5 kopecks, rock salt - 75 kopecks, facing stone - 1.65 rubles, brown coal - 1.7 rubles, grape snail - 30 rubles. And bog oak - 69 rubles. At the same time, in the 1990s, the state enterprise BelGeo carried out assessments of the forecast reserves of stained wood in the country. It was about 500 thousand cubic meters of resource. It is not difficult to calculate what the benefit might be.

In the meantime, there is nothing to boast about. According to available data, in the period from 2010 to 2014, only 1.5 thousand cubic meters of oak firewood was actually identified for industrial production. And raised - again, according to some information - only 123.8 "cubes". If there is any movement in this area, then it is deep in the “shadow”, sums up Vasily Kolb:

It doesn't matter how many organizations and for how long they have been working in the field of snorkeling. There are facts. Starting to study this issue, we made the appropriate inquiries to the tax authorities. In 2014, one payer paid taxes for the extraction and removal of bog oak. In 2015, there were two of them. There is no export information at all.

Precious, but not metals

Despite the colossal cost of bog oak, there are also more valuable tree species on the planet. And the point is not only in their technical characteristics, but also in their distribution.

Grenadil is an African ebony that grows in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and is endangered due to poaching. Its matte black wood is already very beautiful. Today, according to some reports, the cost of a cubic meter of this material (if, of course, it goes on sale) can easily exceed $ 100,000.

Ebony. There are in Africa, South India and Ceylon. The market value of a cubic meter is up to 100 thousand dollars.

Backout (iron tree). It grows in Haiti, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala and Cuba. The cost of a cubic meter in some years reached 80 thousand dollars.

Rosewood is native to Brazil and has long been sought after by cabinetmakers for its unusual pink or red wood grain. Hence the price - more than 50 thousand dollars per “cube”.

Agarwood from South Asia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam or Laos has exceptional aromatic properties. The finest incense is made from wood and resin in India, Japan and the Arab countries. Of course, agar is not sold in "cubes", and a kilogram of it costs on average about 5-7 thousand dollars.

To this topic

Maxim Ermokhin, PhD in Biology, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the National Academy of Sciences:

Bog oak actually has an increased value, but not enough to create a buzz around it. Judge for yourself. From the point of view of physical and chemical properties, it differs little from ordinary oak wood. Thanks to the tannins contained in the structure, it is simply preserved, the decomposition processes slow down, in fact, the wood only changes color. This material mainly attracts people precisely with its appearance. In the ordinary nature of our country, a similar color of wood - from dark brown to almost black - does not occur. And the same furniture made from exotic natural materials is always highly valued. Once upon a time, oaks were even artificially stained - immersed in water for 20-30 years, so that in due time they could be used by children and grandchildren.

Is bog oak worth the increased attention we are seeing at the moment? Definitely, but to a greater extent from the point of view of nature protection. If some private structures will be engaged in the extraction of stained wood, the role of the state in this process is to control the careful use of natural resources.

Bog oak is one of the most valuable types of wood. It is used for the manufacture of art and decorative items. But the extraction and processing of bog oak is a long and costly process. Therefore, the price of the material is high. Drying stained wood using traditional methods is problematic due to the peculiarities of its structure. We will tell you in more detail how to dry bog oak in compliance with all technologies.

Bog oak is obtained from river banks. Wood can lie in water for over a hundred years, and then it is taken out and processed. Products made of stained material have a pleasant dark color and are durable. In terms of density, the moraine material is compared to iron, so it is difficult even to saw it. The moisture content of the freshly mined product can reach 117%. Compared to natural humidity of 50–65%, the figure is impressive.

The material is obtained in three ways:

1. When bottom - deep work - the most costly and painstaking.
2. When developing peat bogs, it is less labor intensive.
3. Manufacturing in specialized workshops is the simplest, but multi-stage method.

Wet oak wood weight - 1500 kg / 1 cu. Therefore, immediately after extraction from water, the material is cleaned of silt and sand and cut into small pieces. Otherwise, transportation becomes more difficult.

The tree is afraid of harsh contact with hot air and direct sunlight, so drying is performed in a gentle mode. A proven old-fashioned way to dry bog oak is to put small blocks in the grain in the fall and leave until spring. Natural drying is also allowed, but it should be carried out in a room with good ventilation and constant humidity and temperature. It has become possible to dry the material in a short time only in the last 10 years, with the advent of new technical means.

The following methods are used to dry bog oak in a short time:

1. Vacuum chamber.
2. Pulse.
3. Adsorption.
4. Infrared.

But when dried in chambers, the moraine material becomes discolored and becomes not so dark. Therefore, many people criticize unnatural drying methods. But with natural drying, the areas where the sun has hit, also brighten. Chamber drying of bog oak saves time, and if it is carried out in compliance with the technology, then cracks will not appear and the product will not be subject to internal stress.

When drying in a chamber to a different moisture content, slight changes in geometric shapes are allowed. But if you pre-treat the product with a chemical composition, then the changes will decrease. More details are shown in the table below:

Moisture indicator	Changes in geometric shapes,%
	Chemically treated wood	Untreated
50%	3,5	7,2
25%	4,8	10,7
15%	6,3	12,6

A penetrating antiseptic solution is used as a chemical treatment. The product is soaked in it for 2-3 hours. And also the temperature regime in the chamber and air humidity affect the shrinkage. The maximum allowable temperature is 50 degrees - the shrinkage is maximum. Smaller changes are permissible at a temperature of 25 degrees.

The main stages of processing

We will tell you in more detail how oak is dried in various ways. The technology is followed step by step and it is unacceptable to skip one of the stages. Otherwise, the wood will crack and become brittle.

Vacuum impact

Vacuum drying of oak is carried out in special chambers, where excess moisture is drawn out of the wood under the influence of low atmospheric pressure. It takes place in several stages:

1. Bog oak is soaked in an antiseptic solution for 2-3 hours. Sanezh will do.
2. The product is placed in a drying chamber, where it is kept at a temperature of 25 degrees and a humidity of 50% for 5 to 10 days. Temperature and humidity must be constant.
3. The oak is placed in a sealed chamber, where it is treated with an antiseptic solution under the influence of vacuum.
4. It is dried at a temperature of 35 degrees and a humidity of no higher than 25% for 10 days.

The method has advantages:

• Oak wood dries to a predetermined temperature.
• The color change is only 2-7%.
• Complete readiness within 4-5 weeks.

The disadvantages are high energy costs and the complexity of the process. If you do not keep track of humidity or temperature, the wood will crack and become unusable.

Pulse method

The impulse method of drying bog oak is rarely used in Russia due to its high costs. But it is considered effective and the material dries evenly.

It is carried out in the following stages:

1. Conductors are connected to the wooden blank on both sides.
2. The other ends of the conductors are connected to a special electrical appliance that will supply current.
3. Under the influence of electrical impulses, the workpiece gradually dries up to the required moisture content.

If you have the skills and knowledge, then such a device can be assembled with your own hands and used for work.

Adsorption method

The adsorption method resembles the old grandfather's and is available to everyone at home. For drying, a small piece of oak is placed in a material that absorbs moisture as much as possible. Craftsmen use special mineral granules. But newsprint will do.

Drying is carried out in the following stages:

1. Small workpieces are soaked for 3-4 hours in a container with an antiseptic solution. But do not use solutions with whitening effects, otherwise the black color of the valuable breed will disappear.
2. The blank is wrapped in several layers of paper and placed in a well-ventilated and dry place.
3. Every day, the product is unfolded and folded into new newspaper sheets.

Drying is carried out for 1–2 months. The wood will not crack and will retain its noble shade.

Infrared plates

The infrared light heats the wood evenly and dries gently. The workpiece does not heat up and no internal deformation is observed. The method is available at enterprises and at home. It is enough to purchase several infrared heating elements and place them on a frame made of timber or metal.

Drying is carried out in the following stages:

1. The workpiece is soaked in an antiseptic solution for 3-4 hours.
2. Placed on a flat surface under infrared heaters.
3. The workpieces should be turned over once an hour to distribute the heat evenly.

Humidity is checked using a hand-held moisture meter. When the product dries up, it is allowed to rest for 3-4 days in a dark and cool place with a humidity of 15-25%. Then they are used for their intended purpose.

Among the advantages of drying under infrared plates stand out:

• The wood does not deform or crack.
• Does not lose its black color.
• Drying occurs evenly over the entire depth and length.
• Electricity costs are minimal.

The method has no disadvantages, but due to its novelty it is little trusted. The video below describes in detail one of the available methods for drying hard wood:

How to properly dry bog oak is the secret of wood carvers. It was passed from father to son and was carefully preserved. But with the advent of new technologies, it is not difficult to dry stained wood at home. The main thing is to follow the technology and adhere to our instructions.