Antique Oak
Wood with a history
Our antique oak is absolutely free of worms – we promise!
Whether white oak or red oak, climate change is having a noticeable impact on our oak populations. And this doesn’t refer to the rise in temperature and increasing dryness, but a beetle that benefits from these climatic changes and leaves tiny traces in more and more oaks: The oak pinhole borer (Patypus cylindrus) is a native pest that was relatively rare in the past but is now spreading more widely in our forests. Fine borings into the heartwood are characteristic. Visible in the cut boards and planks, they appear as small round holes with a diameter of approximately 1.8 mm. To prevent the spread of the beetle, the infected trees must be cut down and removed from the forest.
In cross-section, the feeding tunnels of the oak pinhole borer are clearly visible into the heartwood.
The images were kindly provided by the Northwest German Forest Research Institute
(Nordwestdeutschen Forstlichen Versuchsanstalt (NW-FVA)).
In the longitudinal section, the small round holes in the planks and boards are visible, giving the wood an antique note.
Dried oak wood is and remains permanently worm-free.
Ambrosia fungi settle in the galleries of the oak pinhole borer, serving as food for the beetle and its larvae. Since fungi need a humid climate, the oak pinhole borer only infests damp or living wood. When a tree is cut down, air drying alone ensures that the ambrosia fungi can no longer form anew, which means the fungal mycelium is no longer a food source for the oak pinhole borer and its larvae. The subsequent drying in special drying chambers over several days with temperatures of over 60°C ensures that all beetles and larvae in the lumber die.
Our thoroughly dried oak wood is ready to be processed into your new favorite piece of furniture or construction project.
Antique oak – a contribution to sustainable German forestry
It is our quality standard to always deliver the best goods to our customers according to the price segment. Wormholes used to be a defect, even if the wood was otherwise knot-free and belonged to the best AA category. Often this valuable wood was chipped and thus a very good material was put to suboptimal use. As the proportion of worm-infested wood increases, more wood would be destroyed than necessary and more trees would have to be felled to meet the needs of carpenters, joiners, furniture makers, and home craftsmen.
That’s why we decided to offer the antique oak grade.
Choose high-quality, domestic Oak with character and history and benefit from a very good price-performance ratio.
“Those who love wood with history will find the best wood for their projects with antique oak.”
Jan Stoll
Antique look “without worm inside”
Antique Oak is one of six wood grades in our offer. The parallel-edged boards are as versatile as all our woods, so your ideas from a representative dining table or cozy wood paneling to an exclusive garden gate, both indoors and outdoors, have no limits.
The Oak Antique grade combines lumber of qualities AA to Rustikal 2. Small wormholes from the oak pinhole borer (Patypus cylindrus) give the wood its distinctive, historically appealing appearance.
