open main page here with limited thumbnails
open main page here with ALL thumbnails
BEECH
Fagus spp.
Fagus spp. of the family Fagaceae, including at least the following, with some of the associated common names
F. crenata (Japanese, siebold's)
F. engleriana (Chinese)
F. grandifolia (American, Carolina, red, stone, white, winter)
F. longipetiolata (Chinese)
F. moesiaca (Yugoslavian)
F. multinervis (Korean)
F. orientalis (Eastern, oriental)
F. purpurea (purple)
F. sieboldii (Japanese)
F. sylvatica (aisatic, carpathian, copper, English, European, Japanese, Turkish, and MANY other country names)
According to wikipedia, there are only 10 Fagus species of beech, so I may have them all.
There are another set of species that used to be lumped in with the Fagus species but have been broken out (due to genetic differences) into a genera called Nothofagus and given their own family name as well (Nothofagaceae). This set of species has many "beech" common names because of the former association. I am not familiar enough with the two genera to say whether or not there is any easy way for the casual observer to distinguish between them.
my samples --- many of my veneer pics have too much red & need to be fixed. The planks have accurate color except as noted
both sides and both ends of a sample piece of beech (no subspecies specified)
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
European beech plank and end grain
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
Europenan beech plank and end grain
several views of some beech that Gerry Fey salvaged from an old building. He worked the wood and sent me these excellent pics of the results. I have confidence that the colors are quite accurate, as they are identical to some of the beech veneer that I have.
both sides and both ends of a sample piece of spalted beech
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
sample plank and end grain of a piece labled "American beech" --- the color correction put too much red in the pic; the wood is closer to slightly reddish light tan, not the orange shown here
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
A very interesting set of beech planks. These pics were sent to me by Andrew Greenwald who thought they were maple and asked my help in identifying them. After some consideration, I concluded pretty definitely that they are beech. The heavy streaks on the flat cut surfaces and to a lessor extent the strong rays visible in the end grain are both unlike anything Andrew or I have otherwise experienced in beech, but the rest of the surface characteristics are clearly beech and I did find at least one sample of beech that has rays that are similar, although not nearly as thick.
I have since discovered that this pattern is sometimes called "bear claw", for fairly obvious reasons.
planks
a closeup
some end grain shots
face and side grain of a plank with "bear claw" pattern. Submitted to me by Marc Prévost, whom I thank. Marc, like Andrew for the plank direct above this one, sent this in the belief that it is maple, but I am sure that it is beech.
end grain of the piece directly above
flat cut veneer
flat cut veneer and closeup
veneer, rift cut
quartersawn flaky veneer, with too much red tint in the pics
quartersawn flaky veneer --- this one goes all the way up to a second enlargement so you can really see these heavy flakes up close
quartersawn flaky veneer with a knothole, showing some interesting curly figure
steamed european veneer
steamed european flakey beech veneer --- the wood isn't quite as shiny as this picture makes it look
European veneer with brown streaks
European beech cluster burl veneer
web pics --- it seems unlikely that all of the colors are accurate
plank with wet and dry sections
planks
quartersawn planks with ray flakes
European "lace" planks. "Lace" appears to be a designation meaning quartersawn flaky with stong ray flakes
AH ... WELL ... no, actually what it means is that I'm careless --- this is not beech at all. As correspondant Jean Turner pointed out, it is actually sycamore.
I've left it here as a reminder to myself be more careful.
flaky veneer --- the color on these is way off --- the wood is tan, not green. See my own sample of flaky veneer for a better representation of the color.
turning blocks
bowl turning blank
veneer
quartersawn veneer
steamed veneer
rotary cut veneer --- grain shows up better on enlargement
white beech
American beech --- color seems totally unlikely
"unsteamed" veneer
curly veneer
veneer pictures with hilarious color !!! Every now and then I just HAVE to include one of these silly shots to show what you sometimes find on the Internet.
steamed European planks
European beech
European rift cut veneer
curly European beech
European beech veneer
European flat cut curly veneer
European flat cut veneer
European curly beech veneer
European figured veneer
European quartersawn figured veneer
European quartersawn veneer
European quartersawn mottled veneer
European quartersawn veneer, not listed as mottled but clearly is
"European steamed quartersawn" beech
european steamed veneer and a closeup of the same sheet --- clearly one of the colors is wrong, possibly both.
steamed European beech veneer --- both levels of enlargement are available; I doubt the pinkish color --- the actual wood is probably more tan
European steamed veneer, all from the same vendor
European steamed veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement. These are from the same vendor as the set directly above.
steamed European veneer
unsteamed european veneer, all from the same vendor
unsteamed European veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement. These are from the same vendor as the set directly above.
"European white" beech
wormy beech veneer
beech bowl
spalted beech & products
spalted beech
spalted English beech
bowl made from spalted English beech
spalted beech bowls and an urn