All about ash wood panels

The demand for natural building and finishing materials is steadily growing, because the modern consumer is becoming more environmentally friendly and begins to think about the safety of the things around him. Ash boards are considered one of the most popular materials for creating furniture and interior decoration.

Furniture board is a semi-finished product obtained in production through several technological operations using wood raw materials of coniferous or hardwood species. The edged board is placed in drying chambers, then the machine is used to dissolve into lamellas of a given width. The next step is to cut out defective spots and the lamellas are trimmed along the length. Serrated spikes are formed at the ends of the blanks, biodegradable glue is applied to them and spliced. Then, a monolithic shield sheet is collected from the lamellas, gluing them together with the edges, and the workpiece is sent under a hot press. And finally, a furniture board is cut out of the defect-free parts of the canvas, which is calibrated and polished to a perfect surface.

Additional operations can be carried out with the shield to increase the decorative effect: toning, coating with wax, varnish or oil, brushing ("Combing out" the fibers with a special metal brush). To give the edge of the shield a certain profile, rolling is used (chamfering).

The operational characteristics of the furniture board surpass the properties of other sheet lumber in a number of indicators. Glued board, in contrast to solid wood, is cheaper, does not deform, because there is no internal stress, does not form cracks, and has low shrinkage. The gluing and processing of lamellas only enhances the strength parameters of the wood.

The popularity of ash shields is due to the remarkable properties of this hardwood. Its wood is very resilient and durable. Modern technologies and equipment make it possible to preserve the natural texture, which is clearly expressed in ash by beautiful fibrous lines with curls. Ash furniture panel has a number of qualities that distinguish it from others, here are the main ones:

• environmental friendliness;
• high strength (according to the Brinell method, the indicator for ash is 4, for oak - 3.7);
• the density of ash is 680-750 g / m3, comparable to this parameter for oak (about 700 g / m3);
• plasticity, elasticity;
• high viscosity value provides good flexibility;
• ease of processing;
• wear resistance;
• aesthetics and a variety of shades - from white-gray to golden-brown;
• susceptibility to rotting is low, but it is recommended to treat it with special means, especially if operation is envisaged in unfavorable conditions with temperature extremes and high humidity.

To increase the resistance to decay, the action of the external environment and loads, the ash board is heat treated at temperatures from 150 to 250 degrees, getting a versatile material - thermo ash. This process modifies the wood fiber, increasing the strength characteristics. Such a furniture board practically does not require additional protective coating against the penetration of pests and moisture.Thermal vacuum treatment with hot steam even changes the appearance of the wood: the color becomes darker and richer, the expressive pattern appears brighter.

Ash has about 70 varieties, but only 4 of them are widespread in Russia. Of particular value is the Manchu (or Far Eastern) ash, with a grayish wood that resists rotting better in comparison with the raw material of ordinary ash.

There are two ways to assemble a glued sheet from prepared lamellas, depending on which panels are divided into two categories:

• spliced - from short planed boards (lamellas), which are glued together from all sides (along the width with smooth parts and along the length on a mini-spike) into a common canvas, such a shield has a high bending strength;

• whole lamellas - they are made up of long lamellas glued in width, have a more uniform natural appearance of a massive wood board.

It depends on the structural features of wood and the number of defects in the texture to which class the product will belong.

• Extra - a homogeneous surface has no cracks, and there are no knots, tar spots, wormholes in the drawing.
• Grade A - the appearance of small knots with a diameter of up to 3 mm, rare curls, short cracks is permissible. The lamellas may have a slightly different shade.
• Grade B - there are light knots up to 25 mm in diameter (except for falling out), curls, blind cracks.
• Grade C - allows for chips, dents, light and dark knots, variegated shades.

Shields can be classified according to the degree of uniformity of the pattern:

• radial - radial sawing of wood gives an equidirectional close pattern of fibers with a uniform shade and texture;
• natural - the canvas does not have sharp changes in shades, there are light eyes and multidirectional fibers;
• classic - the neighborhood of lamellas of different shades with tangential sawing and free direction of fibers is allowed;
• rustic - variegated fabric: lamellas with different types of fibers, with a noticeable color difference are collected.

The most common dimensions of ash furniture boards are: 2000 x 950 x 18 mm; 2400 x 800 x 20 mm; 3300 x 620 x 40 mm; 3300 x 620 x 20 mm; 3300 x 620 x 40 mm. In the production of furniture, products with a thickness of 20 and 40 mm are most often used. The maximum length of the board is 5500 mm.

Along with oak products, ash shields are considered the most durable. The scope of their application is wide enough:

• details of stairs;
• door blocks;
• window sills;
• partitions;
• countertops, shelves;
• foundations of cabinet and upholstered furniture;
• furniture facades of kitchen sets, wardrobes;
• floor covering for podiums and platforms;
• interior cladding of walls of houses, offices.

When buying a furniture board, you must take into account the way it is used and correctly calculate the load. For wall cladding, it is worth using thin sheets, for furniture facades, door leaves, countertops, window sills - thicker ones. For stair steps, a solid-plate shield of sufficient thickness (from 40 mm) is suitable. Spliced ​​versions are often used for the manufacture of structural furniture elements.

For rooms with high humidity, thermal ash shields or material carefully treated with impregnations are needed.

The choice of the appearance of the sheet, the shade and decorativeness of its texture depends on personal preferences and on the overall solution of the interior.

The following video talks about the ash countertop.