WOOD TYPE

Common names: EUROPEAN BEECH, English, French, Greek, depending on the country of origin.

Botanical classification: Fagus sylvatica. Fam.: Fagaceae.

GENERAL

Main products: Sawn wood, veneer.

Natural attributes - structure - origins: Heavy wood (720 kg/m³). The heartwood is very pale pink - brown. Throughout Europe it is steamed and acquires a uniform reddish brown color. Some logs have dark red heartwood. Straight grained wood with fine and uniform texture. It grows in central Europe, UK, west Asia.

Natural durability in time: Non-durable. Attacked by the common furniture and the death watch beetle. The sapwood is attacked by the longhorn beetle.

Mechanical attributes: It has high compressive strength, moderate modulus of elasticity and average resistance to sudden loads.

Density: R (12-15%) = 0,72 gr/cm³

PROPERTIES AND PROCESSING OPERATIONS WOOD

Drying behavior and stability after drying: Dries fairly quickly, but prone to warping, end splitting, surface checking and shrinkage. Requires attention during artificial drying. After drying, highly variable in size during usage.

Impregnation behavior: Permeable.

Bending behavior: Extremely good flexural behavior during steaming.

Working properties - tool blunting: The treatment quality depends on the growing conditions of the tree and the drying quality. Wood with abnormal structure and poor drying, gets stuck in cutting discs, is burnt during cross cutting and is difficult to plane. Resistance to treatment by tools and machinery as well as tool blunting properties can be classed as average.

Νailing and screwing: Predrilling required for nailing.

Gluing behavior: Good.

Behavior in the dyeing and finishing: Good paint, excellent finish.

APPLICATIONS

Furniture, cabinets, high class joinery, work benches, shoeheels, toys, turnery, sportware, utensils, musical instruments, flooring, heavy construction work, work at marinas (after impregnation), plywood, timber cladding.