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 lives, one of which it lives on land, and the second under water.

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

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

For 100 years, many enterprising people in all corners of Russia have been harvesting bog oak. Bog oak, as part of other firewood, was mainly used as fuel.

One day, 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 man asked himself the question: what unknown force turned the familiar oak into a mysterious one, covered on the surface with torn pieces of coal, and inside hiding a strong, smoky, living, unique texture of the material? And he began to look for answers to his questions, working with bog oak and giving it a third life...

In Rus', furniture sets and souvenirs were created from bog oak, which now occupy pride of place in museums fine arts and antique showrooms all over the world.

Not a single foreign one furniture company cannot offer for public viewing products adequately made from natural bog oak. This is the prerogative of only Russian masters. Since from the beginning of the millennium to the present day, relict oak forests throughout the world have been completely destroyed, reserves of bog oak remain only in Russia.

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

Often, as if in passing, in the works of venerable writers or in historical documents, we receive information about exquisite, valuable and unique products or objects made of bog oak. Either we learn that Tsar Peter gives his wife Catherine a marvelously crafted box made of the unusual beauty of bog oak, or we learn that souvenirs made of bog oak, along with family jewelry, were passed down from generation to generation. And paying more attention to such information close attention, we learn that products made from bog oak were decorations and a source of pride for the most exquisite European palaces. For example, in 1713, the English master Clausen made the Imperial Throne for Peter I from bog oak and gilded silver, which today stands in the small Throne Hall of the Winter Palace. Mary Stuart's son James I expressed a desire to possess a throne made of bog oak, "...so that he healing properties contributed 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, giving ebony gifts on special occasions has become a tradition. Cabinets, armchairs, and bureaus were given as gifts for anniversaries and official appointments. For weddings and angel's day, ladies were presented with boxes, caskets and small carved angels made of bog oak. These souvenirs, along with family jewelry, were passed down from generation to generation. The generals bequeathed cabinets made of bog oak to their grandchildren, and the elderly countess could give her great-granddaughter a little angel, which she had once inherited from her grandmother, for good luck. Currently, products made from bog oak are stored either in museums (for example, in National Museum in Dublin, etc.), 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 lumber obtained from oak, black in color with a violet tint (popularly nicknamed “blue wing” or “anthracite”) and barely noticeable silver veins. It was in a humid environment without access to oxygen, according to radiocarbon dating data from 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 the direction of their movement. As a result, the water, changing direction, washed away the banks, and mighty centuries-old oak trees gradually found themselves in the river. As time passed, the sand washed away 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. Oak bark and wood contain a large amount of tannins - tannins, which are amorphous polymeric substances, the exact composition and structure of most of which have not yet been clarified. The tannin content is very significant. The oak core contains 6% - 11%, and the bark contains from 5% to 16%. Tannins are highly soluble in water and easily oxidize. 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 oak located in the river over the years acquires a black color with a dark blue tint and noble gray veins. In general, bog oak amazes the imagination with the history of its creation. Seeing a dried, centuries-old stained tree, you admire the path it had to go through. Particularly striking is the outer layer, consisting of rough plates of natural black coal. You can’t help but think about how much energy was boiling in this tree deep in the water or earth during its second life? How could the outer layer of wood turn into coal without being on fire? And why, already processed, even in the form of a simple polished part, does it radiate soft, gentle energy when touched? After all, it has long been noted that those who come into contact with bog oak are forever captivated by its deep power, beauty and uniqueness.

A flooded tree is greatly influenced by the flow of water and sand. The oak bark leaves the tree, and the cleaned trunk is covered with a unique pattern created by water and sand. With a subsequent change in the river bed, the trees covered with 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 washes away the sand, and the oak appears 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 excavations of peat bogs in Ireland (1960), oak trees were discovered, the age of which, according to radiocarbon dating, ranges from 4000 to 7000 years.

In 1973, S.I. Ivachenko, under a 6-meter layer of river sediment near the village of Shchuchye on the banks of the Don, discovered an oak boat that had lain for 4,000 years and was perfectly preserved. Currently, the canoe is on display at the Historical Museum in Moscow. Since ancient times, bog oak has been mined from great depths in rivers. Then they dried it for many years, and the methods for drying bog oak were a closely guarded secret. And since the quantity of bog oak was very limited, the manufacture of products from it was trusted only to recognized experienced craftsmen, the so-called blacksmiths. From the second half of the 12th century to the 15th-16th centuries best houses In England, Germany, Bohemia (Czech Republic) furniture and interiors made of bog oak and decorated with beautiful, masterly flat-relief and openwork carvings were very common. Later, with the appearance in Europe large quantity mahogany from America and Africa (1720) and due to the lack of bog oak in sufficient quantities, cabinetmakers began to be called cabinetmakers. The reserves of bog oak in Europe, and subsequently in America, were exhausted by the beginning of the last century. Currently, the discovery of bog oak in European countries is 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 was crossed out for a long time from the list of materials that could be widely mined and used. On the one hand, it was considered a valuable material, the extraction of which was officially prohibited, and on the other hand, until recently, bog oak was quite difficult for technical extraction and processing.

As a result, in the USSR - a huge, rich country Over the past 70 years, bog oak has been equally used both as unique lumber and as basic firewood. There are known cases of delivery of bog oak for the production of a special order by helicopter. But, for example, when carrying out dredging work, 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, bog oak reserves will be in demand very soon. However, the supply of bog oak in the Republic of Belarus is limited and you can be sure that it will be exhausted in a matter of years.

Like gold and platinum from metals, diamond from minerals, bog oak is the most valuable and hardest to obtain of all. wood material created by nature over many centuries and millennia. Its reserves are limited and irreplaceable. Each bog oak has gone through its own individual, centuries-old path. Therefore, each copy is unique and unrepeatable. Taking into account the irreplaceability of bog oak reserves, 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 associated with a number of difficulties. You should immediately take into account that bog oak, from the moment it gets into the water and until it rises, withstands a multi-thousand-year cycle of alternating physical and climatic loads. Imagine a mighty oak tree that has fallen into a river and has been firmly holding onto the high bank with its roots for many years. 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 what kind of soil the tree is subsequently immersed in. Either it will be washed away with clay or sand, which in turn also affects the properties of wood differently. The thickness of the layer under which the tree is located also matters, and the magnitude of which determines the pressure exerted on the tree.

The type of oak also matters, since 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. Currently, only pedunculate oak is widespread in our Republic, and in the territory of the former Soviet Union there were only 19 species, and it is possible that in the times of thousands of years ago the species composition of oak was more extensive. It should be noted that for bog oak it is quite difficult to determine its botanical name. The age of the oak also affects the condition of the wood. Of great importance is the health of the tree, the presence or absence of diseases, wormholes and other damage. Constantly being 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 wood 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 unequal ability to swell. At the same time, the humidity of the wood being lifted depends on the length of time the wood remains in the water, which ranges from 110% to 200%. Moreover, it has been established 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, compacted and filled with moisture. Accordingly, drying the extracted material at a humidity of 110%, while the humidity of freshly cut oak varies within 65%, is not an easy task.

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, has not brought positive results and led to huge unforeseen financial costs and irretrievable loss of excellent raw materials.

There are three ways to extract bog oak. The first method is very labor-intensive and painstaking - this is the extraction of bog oak when performing dredging work by water transport enterprises. An equally labor-intensive method of extraction is during the development of peat bogs.

In the first and second cases, serious equipment and maintenance personnel are involved, which has a very significant impact on the cost of extracted bog oak, since according to the estimate for the extraction of bog oak by the BELVODPUT enterprise, the cost of extracting 1 m 3 of bog wood 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 the basis for the industrial production of bog oak.

The third extraction method is much more efficient and less expensive. It consists of 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 all work to be carried out efficiently and in the shortest possible time. Scientific and technological progress makes it possible to use the latest achievements in carrying out lifting operations, prospecting work and drying lumber. Moreover, when operating a specialized enterprise, you will have to use means 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 effectively and fully use the navigation period, which allows it to avoid the more costly extraction of bog oak in winter period. A specialized enterprise is able, which is especially valued in the business world, to fulfill an order of any complexity and guarantee the supply of this valuable, quality material in the required quantities at any time and in the most short terms. And, of course, such an enterprise has the opportunity to create a stock of bog oak and lead 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 have the opportunity to constantly monitor the situation on 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 location fixation, and to ensure prompt lifting and processing of bog oak. And modern advanced drying methods make it possible to minimize the loss of lumber. As a result, guaranteed industrial supplies of high-quality, most expensive lumber that meet the most stringent global 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 production of highly artistic, three-dimensional compositions) all year round. It should be noted that a specialized enterprise for the extraction of bog oak can successfully operate in the CIS countries, Poland, and the Baltic countries, where, along with its main activities, it can effectively carry out work on the environmental cleanup of rivers and reservoirs. And what is important, such an enterprise is 70% equipped with mechanisms and equipment made in Belarus. Those who have encountered the problem of extracting bog oak know that extracting bog oak is not the main thing, the main thing is

carry out high-quality drying of the extracted material. When saturated with water, bog oak wood retains its plasticity, but after drying it becomes much harder and more brittle compared to its natural state. The shrinkage of bog oak is 1.5 times greater than usual, which is explained by the wrinkling (collapse) of cells with reduced wall thickness, which is why bog oak wood cracks when dried more than usual. And, of course, this task becomes more complicated than before when the issue of industrial (from 1000 m 3) extraction and processing of bog oak is resolved. But in order to carry out high-quality drying of round bog oak wood at the initial stage, in contrast to simple 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 humidity 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 expenses, it is possible to bring the external and internal humidity in the logs to the range of 30−60%.

Currently, in the territory of the former USSR, only one enterprise can offer bog oak in any form, from round timber to lumber, all year round - GODO "TRANS-CENTER", Republic of Belarus, Gomel.

To accomplish this task, the company has developed and tested a technology for storing bog oak. Specially equipped underground warehouses(5600 m2) with constant temperature and humidity conditions.

It is possible to saw bog oak directly at the lifting site (the weight of 1 m 3 of raised bog oak is from 1.5 tons), which can significantly reduce transport and storage costs. Lifted oak immediately after lifting is not difficult to clean from sand, and due to the increased moisture content it is much easier to saw. Bog oak, oversaturated with moisture, loses significant weight in the first days after sawing under appropriate conditions. This creates the possibility of rejecting substandard, damaged material. Quality material is sorted and preliminary preparation to drying.

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

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

Currently, the main activity of the TRANS-CENTER GODO is to finalize the technology for industrial extraction and processing of bog oak. The cycle from exploration, production and processing to manufacturing has been fully developed finished product− lumber, parquet, furniture. A technology has been developed for an effective, 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 from the State Educational Organization "TRANS-CENTER" analyze the distribution of floodplain oak forests in the proposed area of ​​work (from 1000 or more years ago) based on data from the Belarusian Scientific Research Institute of Forestry. And after this, 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 conduct preparatory work by lifting the discovered wood. As a result of the use of technology developed by the TRANS-CENTER GODO, one search group is able to thoroughly explore 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 to a maximum of two months.

Having reliable, verified data on the accumulation of bog oak, you can effectively use the capabilities of water transport enterprises of our Republic, which, due to various circumstances, are currently not fully used. At the same time, using 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 implement a program for cleaning the rivers of our Republic, based on a fundamentally new approach that involves the development of eco-business, which will have a positive impact on the ecological condition of rivers. The driftwood accumulated in the rivers made them unsuitable for recreation. It also affects the process of changing river beds. According to the latest data from scientists, wood in water is a source of phenols. As you know, this chemical is a strong poison for humans, and especially for children. The process of decreasing biological and landscape diversity in 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, local district budgets do not have enough funds for this. The current complex environmental situation can only be resolved 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 governing bodies and business circles, they are doomed to failure.

Specialists of GODO "TRANS-CENTER" carried out marketing research on the demand and possibility of selling bog oak both in the CIS countries and abroad. An analysis was made of the capabilities of enterprises, to one degree or another involved 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. Important factors influencing the demand, supply and price parameters of bog oak have been identified. A thorough analysis of the legislative requirements in the field of extraction, processing and sale of bog oak was carried out both in our Republic and in countries near and far abroad.

Artificially stained oak

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

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

1. Bog oak is a fossil material; it is fundamentally different from freshly cut oak, since during a long period of time in a humid, airless environment, completely different processes take place 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 produce environmentally friendly products from it, which are in great demand and attention at the present time.
3. 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 are known for staining wood of oak, birch (including Karelian), etc. Basically, chemical substances and elements are used for staining wood, the use of which in the future can have negative impact per consumer. The quality of processing of such wood is also questionable. And definitely - a specialist, based on external and internal characteristics, will always distinguish natural stained oak from artificial stained oak.
6. Currently, mainly 50-100 year old oak wood is processed, that is, wood that has been fully exposed to technogenic factors at the cellular level.

A special line should be noted on the absolute absurdity of the production and use of veneer from 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, including stained oak.

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

With the advent of new market relations in the countries of the former USSR, attempts were made everywhere to extract bog oak. Everything seemed very simple. There are a lot of logs in all rivers, 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 so-called bog oak to the West. In those days, it was necessary to observe the loading of logs for shipment abroad, several days ago raised from the water onto railway platforms, which were wet from the water flowing from them. Or sawing logs at a collective farm sawmill, when, despite the fact that water oozes from the boards, they are stacked in the open air. But things didn’t go any further, since the question of raising and processing bog oak into industrial scale turned out to be many orders of magnitude more difficult than expected. The driftwood, whose humidity ranges from 110%, was lifted from the river and unloaded onto the shore. Under the influence of sunlight and summer heat, the wood became completely unusable after a few weeks. The wood that was sent by unprepared transport also became unusable. Due to the lack of technology for industrial extraction and, most importantly, processing of bog oak, and the presence of only superficial knowledge of the properties of bog wood, including bog oak, absolutely all enterprising people engaged in this type of activity suffered significant financial losses, which set them back for a long time want to run this business. At the same time, the Western partners, instead of the promised high-quality material of the vaunted bog oak, received substandard, destroyed material, which also discouraged them from working in bog oak for a long time. Thus, over the course of 3-5 years, large-scale anti-advertising work was carried out on the vast territory of the former Soviet Union with the involvement of Western potential investors and a huge number of responsible employees of water transport enterprises and enterprising people.

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

After 10 years, the situation has changed radically. In 1996−1997, MarSTU scientists, based on the standard methodology of TsNIILesosplav, MLTI and BTI, developed a program and methodology for studying the composition of sunken wood in water bodies of the Republic of Mari El. Planned studies of the volumes of sunken timber in the Republic have begun with the aim of organizing industrial production. In September 2002, at a session of the Regional Coordination Council for Wood Science, held at the Bryansk State Academy of Engineering and Technology, which was attended by about 90 representatives of educational, research, expert and other organizations, for the first time since 1947, the terms “flashwood” were discussed in detail " and "bog oak", agreed upon editions of their definitions have been developed. Professor E.M. Runova (Bratsk State Technical University) reported on the properties of drift wood. New advanced technologies and equipment for wood processing have appeared, and the range of effective search tools has expanded. In the countries of the former USSR, a real market has emerged, which lives and develops according to well-known market laws. More and more free financial resources and fewer unoccupied economic spheres are being discovered. And accordingly, such a resource as bog oak will soon be in demand.

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

A. A. DUPANOV

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

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

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

The material is extracted in three ways:

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

The weight of wet oak wood is 1500 kg/1 cubic meter. Therefore, immediately after extraction from water, the material is cleared of silt and sand and cut into small pieces. Otherwise, transportation becomes more difficult.

The tree is afraid of sharp contacts with hot air and direct sunlight, so drying is carried out in a gentle mode. A proven old-fashioned way of drying bog oak is to place small blocks of wood in the grain in the fall and leave until spring. Natural drying is also allowed, but it must be carried out in a room with good ventilation and constant humidity and temperature. It became 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, moraine material discolors and becomes less dark. Therefore, many criticize unnatural drying methods. But as it dries naturally, the areas exposed to the sun also become lighter. 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 chamber drying to different humidity levels, minor changes in geometric shapes are allowed. But if you pre-treat the product with a chemical composition, the changes will decrease. Details are shown in the table below:

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

As chemical treatment a penetrating antiseptic solution is used. The product is soaked in it for 2–3 hours. The temperature in the chamber and air humidity also affect drying. The maximum permissible temperature is 50 degrees - maximum shrinkage. Smaller changes are acceptable when temperature conditions 25 degrees.

Main processing steps

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

Vacuum effect

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 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, under the influence of a vacuum, it is treated a second time with an antiseptic solution.
4. Dries at a temperature of 35 degrees and humidity not higher than 25% for 10 days.

The method has advantages:

• Oak wood dries to a predetermined temperature.
• Only 2-7% color change.
• Fully ready within 4-5 weeks.

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

Pulse method

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

Performed in the following steps:

1. TO wooden blank Conductors are connected on both sides.
2. The second 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 to the required humidity.

If you have the skills and knowledge, then you can assemble such a device with your own hands and use it for work.

Adsorption method

The adsorption method resembles the old one and is available to everyone at home. To dry, 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 performed in the following steps:

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

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

Infrared plates

Infrared light heats the wood evenly and drys it gently. The workpiece does not heat up and no internal deformation is observed. The method is available in 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. Place on a flat surface under infrared heaters.
3. Once an hour, the workpieces should be turned over so that the heat is distributed evenly.

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

The advantages of drying under infrared plates include:

• 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 details one of the available methods for drying hardwood:

How to properly dry bog oak is the secret of woodcarving masters. It was passed from father to son and 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 technology and adhere to our instructions.

Bog oak is wonderful building material. Its unusual color is very popular. Therefore, it is widely applicable, especially for the production of finishing building materials and furniture fittings. It is also used to make various design and household items. For example, from a block of bog oak you can make a knife handle, a box, a photo frame and much more.

IN home conditions excellent stained oak can be obtained, for example, from a block of ordinary oak.

To do this, we need a simple glass jar: liter or three liter - it all depends on the size of the piece of wood. You will also need simple shoe nails. And also a plastic lid for a jar, a hammer, a pharmaceutical solution of ammonia 10%, thin fishing line, and stationery tape. And, of course, our oak material.

This procedure is best carried out in a well-ventilated area or outdoors.

To begin with, you need to hammer a nail in any place on the block that is not important for aesthetic use in the future. A short length of fishing line should be tied to it.

Pour the ammonia solution into the jar as quickly as possible. Then you should lower the oak block into the jar, but so that it does not touch the ammonia solution itself. The ends of the fishing line, which is tied to the nail, must be brought out beyond the edges of the can opening. Then, very quickly put the plastic lid on the jar. In this case, the lid will press the fishing line, and the block of wood will hang in the jar without touching the ammonia solution, as required by the technology.

Using stationery tape, glue the fishing line from the outside to the surface of the jar. Also, tape the lid and jar where they meet to prevent even the slightest ammonia evaporation.

In this position, the jar with the oak block should be left for one or three days. It all depends on how light or dark the color of the wood we want to get.

When opening the can, you should be extremely careful and try not to inhale ammonia fumes, as this can be hazardous to health.

If you keep a block of oak in a jar for more than three days, you will get a fairly dark color of stained oak. Because ammonia vapors reacted with tannins for quite a long time. And the longer this happens, the more saturated the color. In this case, the depth of wood impregnation will be up to 1 cm or more.

If it is possible to use fairly large glass containers at home, then in this way you can get a fairly decent amount of bog oak. Subsequently, bog oak can be used for construction purposes in summer cottage. It will look especially beautiful after opening it with furniture varnish.

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

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

A chair for the price of a car

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

Bog oak is a unique material, the creation of which nature spent thousands of years. In those days when mammoths walked around the planet, a mighty tree grew on the bank of the river. The water washed away the shore, the oak tree fell to the bottom. It was covered with silt. For thousands of years, it “starved” in exceptional conditions, with virtually no access to oxygen. As a result, its structure changed - it became much stronger, acquired a noble dark color with silver 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 the antiques?

The fishery is covered with silt

On a unique and, to put it professional language In our narrow market, only a few companies operate legally. One of them is headed by Alexander Dupanov. Back in the 1990s, he became interested in this topic by pure chance. Foreign friends were visiting him, and they casually inquired about the opportunity to buy several cubic meters of bog oak. Ultimately, nothing came of the idea - too many intermediaries needed to be involved. But Alexander realized that this business, with a competent approach, has more than real prospects. Since then, for 20 years, the enterprise has been developing technologies for searching, extracting and processing driftwood. And along the way, like every businessman, the director of the enterprise and his team carefully monitor the activities of competitors.

Right now we can drive along the banks of the Sozh, and I will show you a dozen places where the stained wood- there were 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 miners operated. It used to be that I spent days traveling along a section of the river allocated for exploration and production. And I invariably met people who wanted to make money. They tore the wood with tractors, sawed it off piece by piece, loaded it into trucks, carts, horse-drawn carts and tried to take it out.

There are no digestible statistics on the global production of valuable raw materials today. Some figures “pop up” only from Soviet times. At that time, the turnover of bog 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 wood reserves and methods of extraction. Such studies were carried out on the Sozh, Dnieper and Iput rivers, from where about 2 thousand “cubes” were even lifted over the course of 3 years - a fantastic volume for this type of material!

Alexander Alexandrovich shows a log whose age is 7150 years. He says that these are still old stocks. The company has no right to engage in its main activities - exploration and direct production - since 2015. The new edition of the Water Code has banned work on extracting valuable wood:

Bog wood is a non-renewable resource. What we extract from the water will never be replenished. Its reserves around the world are more than modest. The count goes into hundreds of thousands of “cubes”

Previously, we prepared the entire package of permits and legally carried out our activities. The new law does not seem to prohibit the extraction of oak; in any case, there is no direct ban and the term “flywood wood” does not appear there in any way, but the very procedure for legalizing such an activity has become impossible to go through.

Perhaps we could put an end to this: it is prohibited to take stained wood out of the water and there is nothing more to talk about. However, for “black” miners, as in other profitable areas, there are no prohibitions.

Sellers with a tarnished reputation

On the Internet I find the following offers: “I’m selling bog oak, about 2 cubic meters”, “Bog oak round timber, 4 trunks, diameter at the butt from 55 to 88 cm”, “For sale bog oak (bog oak), almost black when cut, 2 dry logs. Pickup."

I'm calling under the guise of a buyer. I'm interested in a number of questions. Firstly, is there a guarantee that it is oak and not aspen? Secondly, will there be evidence that this is bog oak and not one soaked in a nearby puddle? And thirdly (and most importantly), when and where was the wood obtained? After all, it has been impossible to conduct this fishery legally for the past 4 years.

Dialogues are standard. A seller from the Zhlobin region wants to earn no less than $150 for each cubic meter of his production. For reference, a “cube” of high-quality lumber made from ordinary pine costs approximately the same:

Good afternoon, is the wood available? Where is it stored? Is this really oak?

In the yard under a canopy. It's been lying around since June and is already dry. Why can’t I tell the oak apart? Just look at it for yourself.

Where was it obtained?

The boys were swimming in the Dnieper and found it near the shore. They pulled me out of there. The guys over there will confirm if you don’t believe me.

Is it really possible to pull out oak trees just like that? Or are there documents?

What documents do I need? Consider that I prepared firewood for myself and at the same time did a good deed - I cleaned the beach.

A Mozyrian fished out oak trunks from Pripyat in the spring:

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

He also does not have documents for production, nor does he have any other evidence of the purity of the transaction.

Image - in the firebox?

Sellers are trying to gently 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 clean water sabotage.

It’s not enough to find and lift a tree from the bottom, says Alexander Dupanov. - After all, under the influence of oxygen, the processes of its destruction immediately begin. For example, natural humidity ordinary wood - about 70 percent. For driftwood it can be 150-200 percent. During improper drying, the over-moistened wood tears and crumbles into splinters.

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

Bog wood is a non-renewable resource. What we extract from the water will never be replenished. Its reserves around the world are more than modest. The count goes into hundreds of thousands of “cubes”. According to Alexander Dupanov, only over the last 20 years, our country alone has lost tens of thousands of “cubes” of oak. Most of it, no matter how blasphemous it may sound, was used for firewood. In particular, not a single coastal resident will pass by a huge oak tree, which can be sawn beautifully when wet, and burns well when dried. A lot of raw materials are spoiled by miners and processors. How much? Every week Alexander receives 2-3 calls allegedly from oak buyers. They are interested in the cost. And they disappear. In the vast majority of cases, these are sellers who monitor real prices for relic wood. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of them, Alexander estimates. And, therefore, it is possible to imagine the real volumes of trade turnover. At the same time, not so much raw material is physically “thrown” onto the market. Most likely, everything else disappears:

The extraction of bog oak can often be compared to the harvesting of non-ferrous metals: if it lies poorly, it means they will definitely “whistle”. I wouldn’t be surprised if every second sawmill owner stores driftwood in the vicinity of large rivers,” says Alexander Dupanov. - There are many customers among cottage owners. And what cabinetmaker would refuse to work with a unique material? And if there is demand, there will be supply. Which, in fact, is what we observe. It is enough to contact the guys from any coastal village, and they will cut the required amount of wood to order.

Legally

As a rule, the “black” market develops in special conditions. On the one hand, it must be recognized that the circulation of bog oak today is not regulated in any way. On the other hand, under the new Water Code, even official producers 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 bog oak reserves in Belarus had not been officially calculated: “But this resource exists. This is evidenced by research from private individuals; we have this information. This is a fairly expensive material with specific processing.” The result is that at the moment the department’s specialists have prepared a draft document “On some issues of the extraction and circulation of amber and driftwood.” 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, individuals and commercial structures contacted us. We understood that sooner or later the issue would be raised head on, and therefore we carefully prepared for changes to the legislation. In particular, the notorious Water Code, which actually banned the fishing of driftwood, can be regarded as a pause. We needed time to collect data about this resource.

There are several leitmotifs of the draft new decree. For example, the Ministry of Natural Resources proposes to completely ban the export of round oak abroad - driftwood, as a particularly valuable raw material, needs to be processed within the country, creating goods with high added value. When fishing, you will also need to be guided by project documentation, which must have undergone an environmental assessment, and coordinate actions with local authorities. In the case of extracting driftwood without excavation or dredging, the fisher will also need to acquire a technological map.

The “leaning” of the project is obvious - towards protecting nature. This is understandable - any intervention in the river regime, especially such a crude one, inevitably entails negative consequences. In addition, says Vasily Kolb, after removing the wood to the surface, in many cases the troubles of the watercourse and surrounding areas do not end:

Underwater, it is impossible to distinguish bog oak from the same birch or fir tree. Appropriate analyzes can only be carried out after the tree has been lifted ashore. But fishermen only need oak. Question: Where does the rest of the wood go? I can assume: it is either dumped 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 must no longer be used. Moreover, stained wood is recognized as a particularly valuable resource on a par with, say, amber. This can be judged at least by the environmental tax rates on the extraction of driftwood. For comparison: the removal from the bowels of the earth of each ton of construction 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 assessed the forecast reserves of bog wood in the country. It was about 500 thousand cubic meters of resource. It's easy to calculate what the benefits 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 wood were actually identified for industrial production. And it was raised - again, according to some data - only 123.8 “cubes”. If there is 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 driftwood fishing. There are facts. When starting to study this issue, we made appropriate requests to the tax authorities. In 2014, taxes were paid by one taxpayer for the extraction and removal of bog oak. In 2015 there were two of them. There is no information about exports at all.

Precious, but not metals

Despite the colossal cost of bog oak, there are more on the planet valuable species trees. And it's not just their technical specifications, but also distribution.

Grenadil - African ebony, native to Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, is endangered due to poaching. Its matte black wood is very beautiful. Today, according to some reports, the cost of a cubic meter of this material (if, of course, it becomes available for sale) can easily exceed 100 thousand dollars.

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

Backout (iron wood). It grows in Haiti, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala and Cuba. Price cubic meter in some years it reached 80 thousand dollars.

Rosewood, originally from Brazil, has long been in demand among 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 most exquisite incense is made from wood and resin in India, Japan and Arab countries. Of course, agar is not sold in cubes, and a kilogram of it costs on average about 5-7 thousand dollars.

On topic

Maxim Ermokhin, Candidate of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the National Academy of Sciences:

Bog oak actually has an increased value, but not so much that there is a stir around it. Judge for yourself. From the point of view physical and chemical properties it is not much different from ordinary oak wood. Thanks to the tannins contained in the structure, it is simply preserved, decomposition processes are slowed down, in fact, the wood only changes color. This material mainly attracts people precisely because appearance. In the ordinary nature of our country, a similar color of wood - from dark brown to almost black - is not found. And the same furniture made from exotic natural materials is always highly valued. Once upon a time, oak trees were even artificially stained - immersed in water for 20-30 years, so that children and grandchildren could use them in due time.

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 conservation. If some private structures are engaged in the extraction of bog wood, the role of the state in this process is to control the careful use of natural resources.