Monday, October 17, 2022
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The image of veneer has changed considerably over the years. Whereas it used to be considered inferior to solid wood, the flooring industry is increasingly recognising the true value of this natural, resilient, yet affordable surface made of real wood – particularly in view of the current scarcity of resources and the ubiquity of plastic film.
Veneer generally refers to 0.5 to 8-millimeter thick sheets of wood that are cleaved off of a tree trunk using a number of different sawing and cutting methods. The word “veneer” was adopted in the 16th century from the French word “fournir”, which means to “stock” or “to supply”. It essentially referred to the process of covering everyday wood with more special, thin sheets of finer wood.
Veneers that make a difference
Perhaps visitors to the world’s leading trade fair for floor coverings next January will also meet Tim Mergelsmann, whose credo is: “The trees belong in the forest!” Because his approach to the subject of veneer is highly special, indeed remarkable. In 2005, this native of the German town of of Görlitz had the opportunity to learn the craft of bark processing directly on-site in Siberia, where this art has been practiced since time immemorial. As part of a project for people with disabilities, he helped set up a traditional birch-bark workshop there and promptly fell in love with the landscape, the people – and with the versatile natural material of birch bark. While still a student, Mergelsberg founded a company and began exporting vessels made of birch bark, and especially high-quality cane bark, to Germany. The products he sells through his company Nevi all bear the epithet “Betula Surfaces,” after the Latin term for birch.
“There is a growing desire and demand for materials that come from nature – healthy, living materials,” Mergelsmann says. “It is precisely this holistic need, the longing for nature, that we want to satisfy.” At this point, we recall his statement that the trees belong in the forest, because the bark harvesting of the widely available material is done in the most forest-friendly way possible, meaning by hand, by family businesses and without any heavy equipment that could compact the forest floor.
Tags: 2023, Solid Wood, Veneer, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking event, woodworking industry, woodworking UK
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