Ancient Norwegians considered a mythological ash tree to be the center of the world. Among the palest colored veneers, ash has a lustrous surface, beautiful straight grain, a light stripe effect, and subtle contrast between its light tan heartwood and creamy sapwood. It produces a wide range of beautiful, shimmering figures and delicate burls. Extremely strong, ash is the lumber of choice for parallel bars, baseball bats and tool handles. In veneer, it’s prized for high quality furniture and for use in light, open interiors.
White
Grey Elm has a subtle yet lively interlocked grain with a somewhat coarse and uneven texture. The hue of sapwood is nearly white making it highly distinguishable from the heartwood, which ranges from grey to light brown with occasional tinges of reddish brown. It is most commonly found in the Eastern to Midwestern parts of the United States.
The wood is yellowish-white to cream in color and becomes yellowish-grey when steamed. Sliced veneers are used for door skins and inner surface veneers. Rotary veneer is used for plywood panels and bleaching + dying.
From the same tree that produces maple syrup, comes this beautiful veneer that ranges in color from snow white to warm yellow; has a close, fine luminous texture; and a lovely straight grain that may be interspersed with natural character marks. A wide range of gorgeous figures and wild grain distortions—from curly to bird’s eye to maple burl—are sought after for distinctive paneling and furniture. Flat cut maple displays the distinctive heart or cathedral pattern.
Actually a maple by genus, sycamore is among the most valuable native broad-leafed trees in Europe. Nearly white in color with a fine, close texture, notable uniform structure, and straight grain that may be figured, this light color wood evokes a minimalist elegance. Flat cut veneer shows the characteristic cathedral pattern. It readily accepts stains and can be dyed to many colors, most popularly a silver gray.