WOOD through the ages.

It is well known that wood has a wide range of applications.

In these lines we will try to unveil the curious and the materials used during history in what we all know.

There are several theories about what wood the Vera Cruz was made of, from that it was made in 4 different species (boxwood, cypress, cedar and pine), another theory is in cypress wood although the most consistent is that it was made in Cedar wood from Lebanon as it was a species native to the area, used in many uses.

Normally, local wood has always been used for the construction of whatever it was and this can be seen in the construction of Viking ships whose main wood was oak ( https://carlosvairo.com/barcos-vikingos-oseberg-gokstad-tune/ ). Here in Spain Oak, Chestnut and Walnut were used basically for the construction of the galleys and pine and fir for the decks and other elements.

Woods such as Mahogany, American Cedar and Basswood have been widely used for carving, although actually the oldest carving in the world with more than 10,000 years old was found in Shigir (Siberia) in a peat bog and was made of Larch wood ( https://www.muyinteresante.es/curiosidades/11848.html ).

El ídolo de Shigir, la escultura que dobla en edad a las Pirámides de Egipto

We all remember the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, which by the way was built with oak pillars.

Today, construction has changed a lot, but wood is still there, from the humble use of scaffolding made from Bambu reeds in Southeast Asia to the construction of modern, state-of-the-art buildings such as the 85.4 meter tall Mjostarnet Tower (the world’s tallest timber building) located in Norway and built mostly with glulam and CLT panels.

But not only wood is used in buildings with high visibility, but in our daily life we can find it in our homes as you can see in many kitchen utensils made of boxwood or in the typical kitchen tables made of very hard woods such as oak or olive.

The market is changing and so is our social conscience and therefore the use of wood from plantations is more demanded. In this case, woods such as poplar and Paulownia are the stars of this change of trend. Who has not bought a box of fruit in our supermarket? Most of them are made with poplar wood and in the case of the Paulownia the utilities are multiple from the typical surfboards, through furniture, saunas, etc … its low density, its very good behavior and that the annual growth exceeds 1.5 meters per year, makes more and more investors are considering investing in this species.

From Maderas y Chapas Blanquer we invite you to know all the utilities that you can develop with wood. In our facilities you will be able to see more than 100 different species in wood and more than 200 species in veneer.

Forget plastics and substitutes, look for the beauty of imperfection!!!!