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Exotic Wood
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A distinguishing characteristic of Silver Fir, is its timeless, exotic and modern appearance. It is free of resin and is suited for interior fittings. Right now, about 25,000 solid cubic meters of Silver Fir timber is being produced. Special techniques are used for processing the wood.
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One of the advantages of the Silver Fir is that, counter to other conifer woods, it is free of resin. For this reason it is especially suited for interior fittings like floors, ceilings, walls, furniture, windows and doors. Another thing that makes it stand out is its noble and modern appearance. The silky light colour in combination with the unique structure of the wood, creates its own incomparable ambience. When this noble wood is used on the exterior of houses, it develops a silver grey patina, similar to the underside of the Silver Fir‘s needle. This is why we call it the Silver Fir. In Vorarlberg, about 200,000 solid cubic meters of wood is felled every year. About half of this is usable timber. More and more of the crowns and branches are ending up in the wood chip heating plants in Vorarlberg as renewable energy. At present, it is estimated that about 25,000 solid cubic meters of Silver Fir timber is being produced. From an ecological stand point, it would be possible to double this number, which means that the Silver Fir offers a large potential to forestry operations. The Silver Fir is felled in the way of single tree cultivation, which means no clear cuttings are made. If they were, it would mean death to the Queen of the Trees. The saplings need the shade from the mother tree at first, and only at a specific point in time, do they need sunlight. Thus, the Silver Fir requires single tree cultivation in the varied forest. The varied forest is a forest where trees of different ages and thickness are found on the smallest of areas. Tall, small, thick and thin trees provide multifaceted structures. The tress are only utilized in small areas and singly. This places high demands on the forest industry. The Silver Fir is also different when cut into with a saw. The quality of the wood is usually determined by the first cut and therefore needs more care and knowledge from the sawyer. If that wasn‘t enough, the Silver Fir with its special wood, needs a different drying method. Special drying facilities and a unique drying programme is needed to prepare this noble wood for use. The higher specific weight of the Silver Fir and the lower operating life of the saws was a thorn in the side of the processors. In order to make life easier, they often just delivered Spruce timber to their customers. Because of modern techniques and chain hoists, those excuses are no longer valid. Today, the problem is lack of knowledge. Many architects and processors don‘t know the special requirements of the wood any more. Initiatives have now been started to propagate knowledge about processing. You can find a lot of good examples for processing the Silver Fir in Fir Tree Country. |
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