MATERIAL : the WOOD VENEERS
used in MARQUETRY



Extract of Gavarnie's Circus Head of horse extract


The choice between the different tree species varies according to :


1 - MANUFACTURING PROCESS : Cutting-off, unrolling, or saving.

Cutting-off is made whith the help of a knife and of a pressure bar while the wood ball is moving in a linear way;

Unrolling is obtained by the rotation of the ball, verging on the "pencil sharpener" system . This technique is above all used in industry (plywood, lathed,...)

Burr of Chestnut on foot Burr of Elm before unrolling

<---- Example of burr of Chestnut on foot, Lozere source.
Burr of Elm before unrolling, Pyrenees source. ---->

Marc DAVY Documents.


In these two methods, the balls are previously plunged into a hot steam room . The veneers thus obtained may vary between 4 and 9 thenths of millimetre . In some cases, you get very decorative patterns.

Exemple of unrolled mapletree Exemple of enrolled spotted mapletree

Alain de Saint-Exupéry before rising wood saw, near Brive (24) Sawing, which is the only old way, is not very used nowadays ; this is regrettable for us, since the tree species keep their warm original colour.
The veneers exceed 10 tenths of millimetre ; When you saw, you lose however some material ; and there is less drawing continuity from a sheet to another. Sawed box tree Sawed wild cherry Exemple of sawn veneers



2 - CUTTINGWAYS

Ash tree on stitch Palissandre of Rio on stitch If you go from the heart, to the outside of the ball, patterns are regular and lines are parallel : it's the "on stitch" or "on quarter" cutting-off.



Ash tree on dosse Palissandre of Rio on dosse If you go in the opposite direction, firstly in a tangential way, but still parallel to the diameter, you get much more drawings . This is the "on dosse" cutting-off.



3 - FLAWS IN WOOD

Sipo's bramble Magnifying glass of Elm At the intersections of the tree branches or foot,
or when there are "cancers" (kind of balls) that prout on the trees, you may get nice burrs.

Ako Tried box tree Veneers can also have some flaws : or example, if they have been affected by damp.


4 - THE OTHER MATERIALS USED IN MARQUETRY

Slices of bone

The bone is widely used to replace the ivory, very regulated by CITES in France: the bone of ox is beforehand boiled and cleared by chemical processes; then, he can be sawed in thicknesses close to the millimeter. It is also possible to color the bone (see example below).


Fragments of mother-of-pearl Mother-of-pearl in a work of E. Sanson

Mother-of-pearl exit of oysters and mussels gives incomparable reflects. It is however a material difficult to cut by its hardness.



Details(rooms) of horn to the raw, sawed state

Details(rooms) of horn tinged by transparency Details(rooms) of horn tinged by transparency Details(rooms) of horn tinged by transparency Details(rooms) of horn tinged by transparency

The horn obtained by sawing also gives interesting effects.
If one places a paper colored behind with the horn, this one being translucent by places, one obtains magnificent colours.



Skins of galuchat to the raw state Example of use of the galuchat and the bone colored in Eric Sanson's work

The galuchat, the skin of line or shark scratched and dried, can be used to give fleckeds variants. This material gives excellent effects.

Contrary to the wood of veneer, all these materials can not be cut simultaneously superimposing.



See details concerning techniques and motives for the wood on:   marquetry.org
 

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