Stained wood, stained oak - unique wood, rare and fabulously expensive. Elite furniture, parquet floors and even jewelry are made from it, which are unusually strong, unique and durable. It is appreciated all over the world and the fashion for it is timeless, like the fashion for gold and diamonds.

But rarely does anyone think about its origin. Rather, there is official information:

For many hundreds of years, oak trunks, sunken during floods or rafting, lie at the bottom of rivers and oxbows. They are partially or completely covered by sand and silt, which means that the wood is largely isolated from oxygen. In such conditions, the tree becomes as strong as stone. It changes its chemical composition, and at the same time it turns out to be treated with such a natural preservative as tannins. Further. Tannins, of which there are plenty in oak wood, enter into a chemical reaction with iron salts dissolved in water. After such a complex and long process, the sunken tree is qualitatively transformed. Its wood acquires unique physical properties: it becomes not only durable and strong, but also amazing in color.

But are floods in the past capable of "cutting" so many trees in almost all rivers of the European part of Russia, Ukraine?

My LJ friend tar_s shared his pictures:

Oaks under clay. Central Russia. The tree is stained, it was pulled out in large quantities from the river for construction purposes.
Filmed on the phone. And in order to take a good picture, you need to shoot from the river, from the boat. It can be seen that the oak is as flat as a string and a meter in girth. Above the place where it goes into the cliff, four meters of soil - clay with sand. The black earth layer on top is about 15 cm.
Usually they have roots something like this:

So I look at them - no more than 300 years maximum. Rather, less. Pulling them out is, in fact, very difficult. Locals told how the trucks were buried when they were pulling a log from the water, one end of which was in the bottom.
Apparently, the river changed its channel (and there are several oxbows around), and simply washed out the place where the oak grove used to be. I was especially impressed by the thickness and evenness of the oak trunk. It takes a lot of years for him to grow up like that; all the oaks in the area are at most 20 cm in girth. And there are no straight lines, all knotty, curved. This suggests that the conditions for the trees were more suitable. For comparison - in that photo, a phone case is 12 cm long.
actually there was a ship forest. I do not observe natural dams, trunks evenly stick out along the river, here and there. Rather, as I said, the river washed out the previously covered trees.

The usual version - The river in the forest washes away the trees, they fall and are carried away by the stream. Further in the whirlpool they are covered with sand and clay and ... we wait a couple of hundred years. But judging by the amount of it in the rivers, the rivers washed away all the forests, clean. Leaving nothing to posterity. The depth and condition say that it is several hundred years, if more than 500 - then the tree will already be petrified. I read that in the 19th century there was so much stained wood that it was mined to heat stoves. And this despite the fact that pulling it out is easier to cut down several trees in the forest. But if they didn't cut it, then there were no trees. All photos of the 19th century in Russia say that there was practically no forest. The current forests are about the same - trees, no more than 200 years old. By the way, in the 20th century there was a whole industry of building houses from stained wood - OAK, LARCH, BIRCH AND PINE! How many rivers have washed away the forests? And it was like this - The forests washed away by the wave were washed into the rivers, and carried down the stream. There were a lot of trees, they made of themselves natural dams, because of which the level of rivers rose locally, sand and clay from the stream were filled up and "cemented". This is confirmed by rocks homogeneous in thickness and content in the layer of covered trees. Tell me, there is something to be seen on this issue in your case.

Such a trunk can only grow in a forest, the thickness is 300 years, we add 200 (say), totaling at least 500 years from birth. There are also oak trees over 500 years old. In the European part of Russia, oak trees over 500 years old are practically not found. Single copies maximum. Conclusion - 200-300 years ago, some kind of cataclysm washed a huge number of trees into the water. The question is - what could have done this, then by flushing the uprooted trees into the rivers. I think those trees that did not end up under clay, water and sand without oxygen, bacteria processed in a maximum of ten or two years, completely into dust, so there are no traces in the upper layers of the land from the trunks. Only in clay layers.

I supplement with photographs that I found on the Internet:

If you follow this link, you will see that the following souvenirs are made from this wood:

Extraction of stained wood in Ukraine

Why are they not growing now? We didn’t have time to grow up yet. It takes hundreds of years for oaks to become such giants.

Note that the trunk is broken off at the root. Those. This fact cannot be explained by washing away the tree with flood water. This tree was broken off by a stream of catastrophic power.

Washed wood is a tree that has been in the water for many years, gaining incredible beauty and durability.

Everyone knows that there are valuable tree species, and there are more affordable ones, such as pine or spruce. But there is a very special category of wood - stained. This is a tree that, having lain in water for tens, hundreds, thousands of years, acquires incredible beauty and strength. Let's talk about stained wood.

Stained wood - incredible beauty and durability

The trunks and fragments of trees lying under the water are usually called driftwood. A logical name, given that the tree really turns out to be drowned, has been at the bottom of the sea, lake, river, swamp for decades. It is noteworthy that some of the trunks turn into dust, rot and, of course, cannot be used. But other trees, on the contrary, acquire a truly stone strength.

The most valuable stained wood is oak. This royal tree is already prized for its durability and beautiful texture. After lying under water for at least 300 years, the oak acquires delicate fawn shades. If the tree is black, then it has lain in the reservoir for about 1000 years!

In the pre-industrial era, "black gold" was not called oil at all, but bog oak. Products made from it are practically eternal, they are not susceptible to decay, fungus, or mold. They do not need a protective coating, and stained wood looks extraordinarily beautiful.

In addition to oak, larch is considered the most valuable stained wood. No wonder. It is these tree species that, due to their high density, sink, sink to the bottom, where a transformation process takes place under a layer of silt or sand. Even fresh water contains salts that interact with the tannins of wood and help it acquire special hardness and strength.

According to experts, for a tree to really become stained, it must lie under water for at least 40 years. In general, the longer the better, experts say. The ideal places for obtaining stained wood are stagnant waters of swamps or lakes. But a tree that has lain in sea water, soaked in salt, will also be no less durable.

You can make literally anything from stained wood: furniture, parquet, various crafts, figurines and figurines, boxes, billiard cues, pipes, other interior items and even jewelry. This material has no drawbacks, but it is not available to everyone. Stained wood, especially oak and larch, is very expensive! There are several good reasons for this:

• First, it is a rare material. Although, as calculated in the Central Research Institute of Timber Rafting, in the process of transporting tree trunks, about 1% of the total volume of rafting drowns, and about 9 million m3 of firewood has accumulated in the Volga basin. That's a lot, you might say. But finding sunken tree trunks is not easy. In addition, only 50% of all sunken wood can be attributed to business, that is, suitable for further use. And there is no more than 5% of oak among the snags. In Europe, they have been looking for and raising flooded trees for a long time and purposefully, so it is already very difficult to find driftwood in European countries. Russia still has reserves of this material;
• Secondly, it is technically difficult to lift a tree to the surface. You need special equipment, usually you need the help of scuba divers. The wood becomes heavy, you cannot reach a solid trunk by hand;
• Thirdly, it is not enough to get a snag. It also needs to be dried before use. This takes about a year, and in no case can you accelerate the process, drying should occur naturally;
• Fourthly, it is difficult to process wood that has become very durable, special skills and tools are needed. Not all carpenters take on bog oak.

Therefore, for three kilograms of bogged black oak on the Internet, they often ask for about 2 thousand rubles! Or 200 rubles for one small piece, literally a cube, suitable only for cutting, for example, a knife handle. A ready-made bog oak comb, such as shown in the photo above, will cost more than 12 thousand rubles.

You can imagine how much a parquet made of such material or a kitchen set will cost. Experts compare the cost of a good bogged oak log to the price of a car. Smoked birch, pine, aspen are cheaper - they ask for from 1.5 to 20 thousand rubles per cubic meter, depending on the condition and quality of the wood.

With such prices for stained wood, it is not surprising that manufacturers of furniture and interior items achieve similarity with the help of stains, special impregnations. Yes, this is already an imitation, in terms of strength and hardness such a tree does not differ from an ordinary one, but the color becomes darker, nobler, the structure is emphasized.

Stained wood is an elite material. Only for expensive interiors, yacht finishes, luxury car interiors, furniture that stands in the offices of presidents and managers of large companies.published

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Long-term natural processes contribute to the transformation of the tree species. This concept can mean not only negative influencing qualities, but also positive ones. As a result of being under water for tens, hundreds of years, or even millennia, oak trunks acquire invaluable qualities, becoming extremely hard and obtaining a unique color of a burnt or even blackish hue.

Under water, the integrity of oak is preserved due to a unique characteristic - the presence of a special tannin.

Bog oak is a part of an exquisite and expensive interior.

Features of the passage of the reaction

Changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of wood associated with the passage of complex chemical reactions: leaching of water-soluble substances contained in the cell walls. The process has been proven by the results of numerous studies carried out by N. T. Kuznetsov back in the 30s of the last century.

As a result, it was possible to establish that stained wood species contains 75% less water-soluble substances than natural wood. This is evidenced by an increase in cell porosity and a decrease in their density, which, as a result, leads to an increase in the saturation limit moisture content, balancing shrinkage, and maximum moisture content. It is this factor that explains the absolute shrinkage of the boards or workpieces during the drying of the sawn material.

The analysis data contributed to the development of thought and the formation of a new technology for drying wood and billets made from it with a thickness of up to 22-32 mm in a convective or convective-microwave drying installation.

The use of advanced technologies has resolved the issue with the temperature treatment of wood. There is practically no internal or external cracking. Collapse in such cases is unacceptable.

Interesting concepts put forward by researchers and scientists do not end there. The study of properties is at the stage of processing geoanalysis data and continues its evolution in the world.

Features of the extraction and processing of oak

The process is complex and laborious, and not every specialist can handle wood. Despite this, the products deserve the highest praise for their qualities.

Important! If you intend to process or decorate the surface with stained wood, then try to prepare the material in advance. It takes more than one year to process a tree.

To obtain such a valuable material, water areas of significant volumes are examined, especially the bottom of water bodies. Moreover, the work is carried out in very difficult conditions.

How is a tree raised to the surface?

Having found the trunk, the bog oak is raised ashore. In this case, one cannot do without the use of technology, since one tree weighs in the region of 10-20 tons. Before proceeding with sawing the material, the wood pulled out of the water is evaluated for quality at the first stage. Sometimes a tree that was taken out of the water and prepared for processing is completely unsuitable for further work. As soon as the material is sawn, immediately proceed to the manufacture of parquet, furniture, doors or window frames. Untreated stained wood, aged under water for many years, quickly deteriorates on the surface. Therefore, it is subject to immediate processing. As you probably already noticed, the extraction of bog oak is a laborious process.

Scope of the material

Even if you have never heard of such a material, you can imagine that this type of wood is used not in one, but in at least five areas of application.

Due to the fact that bog oak is a rather rare and even more valuable material, it requires fine manual processing.

Most often, pieces of furniture, souvenirs are made of wood, which are doomed to turn into antiques. It should be noted that the floor or other types of coatings used in interior decoration are distinguished by a long service life.

Can bog oak be produced under artificial conditions?

Thanks to the development of innovations and the movement of technological progress, it is possible to change the natural characteristics, properties and indicators of natural wood. Today, scientists succeed in successfully imitating the stained wood color, while maintaining aesthetic and resistant characteristics, achieving maximum moisture resistance.

Alternatively, oak staining at home. This opportunity is simple and affordable and is ideal for those who want an unusual oak material with silvery veins inside.

To do this, a stain is useful - a special mixture that imitates the color of a natural moraine of a wood species.

The product is applied in two stages: the first time on the surface of the tree under a slight slope, drawing strokes across the fibers, the second - along. During work, they use a flat wide brush - a flute, intended for applying stain and imitating inconspicuous natural transitions of tones. This is the best tool, characterized by softness and elasticity of the pile at the same time. Stains are often used to simulate the shade of "bog oak" for laminate flooring.

What is included in wood stain?

The impregnation is made on the basis of three components:

1. Water. Water-based formulations are better absorbed and more readily absorbed by the woody species. In the process of processing, the wood needs to be dried, which takes more time. The result is a uniform shade that can be easily corrected with a sponge. After waiting for the material to dry completely, it is covered with paintwork materials.
2. Ethyl alcohol. It lends itself to instant evaporation, therefore it requires high-quality and fast application and caution in action. They work with such impregnation only in special gloves and a mask. Otherwise, it will not be possible to achieve uniform toning of the material. Therefore, craftsmen prefer to work not by hand, but using special equipment - a spray gun.
3. Alcides. In addition to obtaining wood in the desired shade, alkyd stain allows increasing the resistance of the material to external negative factors acting on the material. Therefore, coating the product with varnish can be missed, except for shine.

Remember that home-dyed raw materials are easy to distinguish from natural bog oak. Therefore, artificial material is often used in baths, saunas, swimming pools, and other rooms with high humidity.

Why is stained wood popular?

Even at the time when people just started to explore the Earth, the tree took a reliable allied position, as the first available material. No matter how the conditions and development of scientific and technological progress develop, natural wood has always been in demand, and this trend will remain leading for more than one century. Environmentally friendly wood is not only safe, but also gives the room a special charm and comfort.

Considering that ordinary wood in recent years has become not so interesting compared to other progressive materials, it is high time to collect laurels for the stained forest. In terms of strength characteristics, the material resembles a stone due to the properties obtained during the period of being under water.

The color of bog oak is not the main advantage that makes the material the preferred choice. The resting wood is not afraid of cold, moisture, or pests that destroy hectares of forest. The stained material does not require specific maintenance or additional processing. At the same time, it remains the standard of naturalness, environmental friendliness, cleanliness.

How does it happen that the result is stained wood?

The whole secret lies in tannins, which, as a result of the formation of compounds with iron salts, are transformed into super-strong and durable. Stained oak planks can be called a newly reborn material with unique characteristics.

Interesting! The timber has been floated naturally along large rivers all over the world. The river banks were strengthened and when the trunks fell into the water, they remained there for natural treatment by the elements of nature. 90% of the percentage has already been processed, but some of the trees were washed away with silt, and have remained under water to this day, acquiring even greater value.

The use of stained wood in construction

Guess why such a house will not be afraid of snow, rain, windy or frosty weather. All thanks to the "school of survival", traversed by wood at the bottom of a bay, polynya, lake, pond or other body of water where it was located.

The main advantage of a stained wood building is environmental friendliness. It is difficult to imagine an even more natural material for the construction of a residential building. The bog oak siding looks interesting.

A unique material of its kind, ideal for construction, is also made by the absence of shrinkage during the drying process. Newly built housing is completely ready for use without risks to human life and health.

Stained wood in the interior

To create a unique style, they often use:

• larch;
• birch;

The only requirements for the material used in interior decoration are environmental friendliness and aesthetics, and bog oak products fully meet these needs. Often in mansions you can find bog oak parquetry, which looks unbeatable.

No fungi or insects are afraid of this type of wooden buildings. Therefore, such a coating does not imply additional processing with protective agents, and this is another plus to the environmental friendliness of the house.

The price for wood starts at 12,500 rubles per 1m 3. It doesn't matter how much bog oak costs, the main thing is that the material is of high quality.

Manufacture of stained wood furniture

For such purposes, the following are best suited:

• larch;
• Birch.

Describing furniture made of bog oak, the simple name "exclusive material" is appropriate. The tone and texture of natural wood is unique. The depth of color varies from light gray to black and blue tones, from pale pink to amber.

Interesting! The craftsmen compare the pattern of cuts of bog oak with a map of the starry sky - the same incredibly beautiful picture.

Unmistakably, such furniture is an unobtrusive but pronounced sign of taste and a specific level of well-being of the owner of the house.

Manufacturing of products from stained wood

Products from natural wood species that have undergone centuries of natural processing are widespread on the market. From stained forest produce:

• stairs of any shape;
• stained oak windows (shade);
• window sills;
• furniture boards;
• flooring;
• Wall panels;
• stained doors "stained oak";
• siding and other materials for outdoor construction work and home improvement.

Stained wood is an interesting solution for creating a Scandinavian-style room.

It's nice to look at the interior when there is something unusual about it. Stained wood is the element that fully meets the needs of the designer, creating new and new things to improve human comfort.

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 streaks remember, which has absorbed the history of centuries, millennia? 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 marvelous work made of the unusual beauty of bog oak, then we learn that bog oak souvenirs, 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 around a round table made of bog oak to make serious decisions.

In Russia, giving 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, were 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 have often had 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 ended up in the river. As time went on, the sand washed over 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 acquires a black color with a dark blue tint and noble gray veins over the years. 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 from all 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 at the time of many thousands of years ago, the species component of 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, 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 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 use the navigation period, which allows not to carry out 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 its 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 provide 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% equipped 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. Shrinkage of bog oak is 1.5 times greater 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 for working 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 an industrial scale. 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 are involved.

It is possible to saw 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 saw. Bog oak, oversaturated with moisture, significantly loses weight in the first days after sawing under appropriate conditions. The possibility of rejection of substandard, damaged material is created. Sorting of quality material and preliminary preparation for drying.

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.

At present, 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, the 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 investigated 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 the river bed. 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 the 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 quality material has been determined both at the moment and the estimated 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 has been carried out both in our Republic and in the countries of near and far abroad.

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 remotely 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 for 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 associated with the transformation of internal energy take place in it.
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 in great demand and attention at the present time.
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. Currently, dozens of methods of staining oak, birch (including Karelian) wood, etc. are known. Generally, chemical substances and elements are 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 year old oak wood is being processed, that is, the wood that was fully exposed to technogenic factors at the cellular level.

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 out of the planks, 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 expected. 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 technology for industrial extraction and, most importantly, processing of bog oak, the presence of only superficial knowledge of the properties of fuelwood, 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 volumes 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 EM Runova (Bratsk State Technical University) reported on the properties of firewood. 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.

There are two ways to obtain bog oak wood - in natural conditions and artificially. In the first case, nature itself acts as the creator. By eroding the banks of rivers, flooding the roots of oaks, this "master" makes sure that the trees are completely submerged in the water. Further, the tannins contained in oak wood come into play. It is they who prevent wood from rotting. Metal salts dissolved in water, when combined with tannins and resinous substances, change the properties of wood.

So an oak that has lain in water for hundreds of years, covered with a layer of silt, not only does not lose its characteristics, but also becomes a precious material. After being removed from the water, a person is taken to the bog oak. Its main task is to properly dry the tree. This will take several years and special technology. After that, bog oak can be processed, making elite wood products from it.

There is a scanty amount of bog oaks left in the world. Each new copy is worth its weight in gold. The complexity of the extraction, processing and processing of wood affects the cost of the final products. So natural bog oak wood is an elite material, rare and expensive.

Cheaper analogs are obtained by artificial staining, using stains and dyes. Oak wood is placed in a bath with a solution of the necessary inorganic salts and compounds, and the material is deeply processed. To increase the density and increased resistance to external influences, the craftsmen resort to heat treatment, steaming. Impregnation with natural oils is also used to protect wood. Bog oak of artificial origin is close to natural in color and characteristics. This allows the use of analogs in the manufacture of furniture, stairs and finishing materials. However, artificial wood is not so valuable and cannot be the pride of a true connoisseur.

Unique characteristics of bog oak

Bog oak wood is distinguished by its unique color range and richness of patterns. Its main difference is a dark noble shade. Depending on the age of the tree, the chemical composition of the water, the level of precipitation and other factors, a black with silvery veins, a charcoal with a purple tint, an ashy, silvery tone may appear.

In terms of strength, bog oak wood is compared to iron. Products made from this wood are durable and wear-resistant. The undoubted advantage of wood is its naturalness. Created without dyes or other chemicals, this material is 100% environmentally friendly. In addition, the tree from which it is obtained grew in a more favorable ecological environment, long before the appearance of exhaust gases, radioactive waste, pesticides and other pollutants.

Cultural potential is another characteristic for which bog oak is appreciated by antiquaries and fans of things with a history. Any product made of bog oak carries a part of the unique energy of a tree that grew centuries before our era and lived an amazing life under water.

A valuable gift from bog oak

Any item made of bog oak has a high artistic and aesthetic value. Furniture, figurines, paintings and other decorative items become collectible and luxury items. By placing a bog oak table or chair in the office, it will be possible to emphasize the high status of the owner.

Products made of bog oak are a winning gift for both a business partner and a loved one. They can become family heirlooms, serve as a reminder of eternal values ​​and beauty.