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BIRCH

Betula spp.
Betula spp. of the family Betulaceae

Some of the more common varieties are are:

B. pubescens (common)
B. Alleghaniensis (yellow)
B. pendula (European, silver, white)
B. papyrifera also seen as B.papynfera (Paper)
B. nigra (river)

there are dozens of species of birch with a wide growing range world-wide and having a wide range of uses, especially high quality veneer. I will break out some of this in more detail at some point.

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my samples --- colors are accurate throughout (minor exceptions noted)


3 pics of the same 12-foot long plank


closeups from the same plank as directly above


both sides and end grain of a piece cut from the larger plank above, and sanded --- color has a little too much red and yellow --- actual wood is not white, but is closer to white than these pics suggest



end grain closeup of the piece directly above, with the same comment on color


plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- color is a little too dark


plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- color is a little too dark


plank and end grain, marked "sweet birch" --- the squiggly marks are boring insect tracks.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above



both sides and both ends of a sample piece of spalted sweet birch


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a river birch sample plank


end grain and end grain closeup of the sample plank directly above


a red birch plank, two closeups, and the end grain


yellow birch sample plank and end grain --- the color shown here has a little orange in it which is not present in the wood which is a light tan with a hint of yellow


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


yellow birch plank and end grain --- plank generously contributed by Chris Arvidson, whom I thank for this and other contributions. The plank is rough sanded and still has a lot of scratch marks but the grain is quite clear.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


same plank as directly above, but moistened with water


western birch sample plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


white birch sample plank and end grain --- the fairly poor quality of the sample plank was common among the sample planks that I got from the IWCS. The dark line in the lower left corner of the end grain shot is spalting


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


a freshly cut plank of birch from Europe, submitted by Gert Breugelmans, whom I thank for the contribution. He says it is "brown birch".


birch veneer --- this is what I think of as the "classic" birch grain


a couple of sheets of figured birch veneer


veneer from different flitches --- the slight color variations are accurately captured


veneer with more color than you usually find in birch


flat cut red birch veneer --- significantly different colors are both accurate


red birch veneer --- very smooth stuff, this batch


quartersawn red birch veneer with a slight curl and tiny ray flakes. To show the ray flakes better, I've taken a couple of angled shots shown directly below.


angled closeups of the sheet above, to show the ray flakes better --- the 2nd pic shows them best.


quartersawn red birch veneer --- this is from the same flitch as the sheet directly above, but this one has no ray flakes.


quartersawn red birch veneer --- yet another flitch and again with no ray flakes

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flat cut red birch veneer, all from the same lot --- the first pic is taken from farther away from the wood and has the most accurate color of these 4 shots, but I can't quite get the color of the rest to match up with it. The others are just slightly too red.


flat cut red birch veneer sheet and closeup --- the somewhat washed out color of this sheet is accurate.

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the first sheet was sold to me as quilted red birch veneer and the other two were sold to me as curly yellow birch veneer --- in any case, it's a mild curl/quilt. The two-sheet pic should have just a bit more red in the pic.


spalted white birch veneer --- spalted veneer is almost never offered commercially. I got this in a mixed cutoff lot from a jewlery box maker who makes his own veneer (about 1/16th inch thick) from odd pieces such as spalted woods. I have seen similar spalted birch lumber offered on occasion.


yellow birch burl veneer


karelian burl veneer --- an unusual form of burl (common to birch, but not to other species) that gives the appearance of spalted "eyes" instead of the grainy swirls that are more common in other burls.


masur birch veneer --- masur and karelian seem to be two differnt names for the same type of birch "burl"

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web pics


planks


quartersawn plank


flat cut veneer


figured veneer


veneer --- the pics that are very pale pink are incorrect color, I'm sure


quartersawn figured veneer


veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement


rotary cut veneer


burl veneer


red birch planks


flat cut red birch veneer


red birch veneer


red birch figured veneer


red birch flat cut quilted veneer


white birch planks


white birch veneer


yellow birch plank


curly yellow birch plank


sweet birch plank


paper birch planks


curly yellow birch plank and yellow birch veneer


advertised as "ice" veneer --- looks to me the same as "curly yellow" directly above


"blistered" birch veneer


European birch


"European" birch veneer


"masur" birch


log end grain of masur birch


masur birch bookmatched pair and scales


masur birch pair and closeup


masur birch pair and closeup


masur birch veneer


European masur burl veneer


European burl veneer


spalted birch on the left (top and bottom) and the right (top and bottom). I don't remember what the middle two pieces were but they are not birch


marbled Alaskan birch


listed as "golden" birch veneer, and with a green tint that I am confident is NOT the correct color --- I've purchased this veneer from this vendor and the wood is a light golden tan color, as in my own sample above that I mention as a "classic" birch grain pattern


quilted veneer


curly veneer


listed as "flame" birch, which would appear to be just another name for what, in most other woods, would be called either curly or quilted


"yellow curly" aka "flame" birch


karilian burl plank that appears to be spalted, although it was not so listed


karelian birch burl veneer


just listed as karelian birch


just listed as birch burl veneer and seems to be just a very weak form of masur burl


spalted birch pen blanks


a white birch bowl blank.


turning blanks and bowls made from similar blanks


yellow birch bowls


a bowl made from curly Swedish birch, which to me definitely appears to be a karelian burl


spalted birch rolling pin


a desk extension made of birch plywood (most likely Baltic birch plywood). A note on the color correction: the wood color is perfect but to get it that way, I had to do color correction that ended up making the mouse a much brighter blue than it really is. The wood has a polyurethane finish which makes the color considerably more yellow than the natural wood which is a whitish tan.