Platanus × acerifolia
London Plane
Quartersawn London Plane reveals lacewood: large medullary rays catch the light in dense, scaly flecks. The slab's signature, and its whole reason for being on this list.
- Cultivada y aprovechada en Europa.
- Grupo botánico. Las maderas blandas proceden de coníferas y las duras, de árboles frondosos.
- Familia botánica a la que pertenece la especie.
Avísame cuando llegueEspecie de referencia. Ahora mismo no hay piezas en stock.
¿Es adecuada para tu proyecto?
Ideal para
- Quartersawn tabletops where the lacewood figure is the feature
- Cabinet door panels and drawer fronts
- Wall panelling and feature joinery
- Turned bowls and hollow forms
- Serving boards and kitchen pieces (interior, finished)
- Veneer-look solid furniture
No hay London Plane en la selección actual
Especies similares en stock
Ahora mismo no hay London Plane. Estas especies sirven para los mismos proyectos y tienen piezas disponibles.
Recibe avisos sobre London Plane
Te enviamos un correo cuando lleguen a KORENA nuevas tablas de London Plane. Cada pieza es única, por lo que conviene enterarse pronto.
Aspecto de la madera
Qué aspecto tiene
Straight grain, fine-to-medium texture, pinkish-brown heartwood that warms with age. Flatsawn faces are quiet and clean. Quartersawn is where it earns its name in the trade, lacewood, with broad ray flecks that read almost like snakeskin under finish. Two faces of the same board can look like two different woods.
- Heartwood pinkish-brown to light reddish-tan
- Sapwood pale cream, often left in for contrast
- Quartersawn rays appear as darker flecks against the background
- Warms and deepens under oil; ambers slightly with age
- Flatsawn and quartersawn faces of one board can look like different species
- Straight; lacewood figure on quartersawn faces.
Cómo trabajarla
Cómo trabajarla
Saws, sands, turns, and carves well. Planing is the one to watch: the medullary rays that make quartersawn faces beautiful also tear out under dull blades. Sharp tools, light cuts, and a finish scraper or 220-grit pass to clean up. Glues and screws without drama.
Acabado
Takes oil and hardwax oil cleanly. The lacewood figure deepens dramatically under any clear finish. Test on an offcut before committing, because the contrast jumps. Stains can muddy the rays; we'd avoid them. Sand to 180–220 and stop.
Secado
Tangential shrinkage is high (around 10%) and roughly twice the radial figure, so cup and distortion are real risks. Dries best slowly, well-stickered, with weight on top. Once stable it holds shape indoors, but it's not a wood to rush through a kiln.
¿Cuánto se moverá?
La madera se hincha y se contrae a lo ancho cuando el aire gana o pierde humedad. Calcula el movimiento estacional de un tablero de London Plane antes de diseñar las fijaciones.
Movimiento estacional previsto
unos 11,7 mm
Fija el tablero con lengüetas o soportes ranurados, no con cola ni tornillos apretados.
Modelo de contracción lineal: ancho × (contracción ÷ 28 % de saturación de la fibra) × variación estacional de humedad. Usa una contracción tangencial del 10,25 % para London Plane. Es una estimación para planificar, no una garantía.
Cuánto cuesta
Seguridad y abastecimiento
- Cultivada y aprovechada en Europa.
- Estado en la Lista Roja de la UICN: evaluación mundial de conservación de esta especie.
Not commonly flagged as a dust irritant or sensitiser. Standard shop dust extraction is enough. Food-contact safe once finished, fine for boards and serving pieces.
Leer la guía completaNotas detalladas sobre el dibujo, el cambio de color, el trabajo y la estabilidad.
What London Plane actually is#
Platanus x acerifolia is bought for one thing: lacewood.
The species has exceptionally large rays, the ribbons of cells that run radially through a trunk. In most timbers the rays are small enough to be barely visible, and in oak they show as the familiar silvery fleck on quartersawn faces. In London Plane they are so large that a quartersawn face is covered in a dense, regular flecked pattern across the entire surface.
That figure is called lacewood, and it exists only on the quarter. A flatsawn London Plane board is comparatively plain, a light reddish brown with modest figure. The same log cut differently is one of the most distinctive decorative surfaces in European timber.
If you are buying this species, you are buying quartersawn stock, and if you are offered flatsawn plane at a lacewood price, the cut is the thing to check.
The naming confusion#
Three species get called sycamore in different places and they are not related.
London Plane is Platanus x acerifolia, a hybrid plane. American sycamore is Platanus occidentalis, its close relative and also a source of lacewood. European Sycamore is Acer pseudoplatanus, a maple, and has nothing to do with either.
They look different, work differently and cost differently. Buy on the botanical name.
Preguntas de compradores
Preguntas de compradores
What is lacewood?
Lacewood is quartersawn London Plane. The species has exceptionally large rays, and cutting on the quarter exposes them as a dense flecked pattern across the whole surface that looks like lace. It is one of the most distinctive figures available from any European species, and it exists only on the quartersawn face. Flatsawn plane is comparatively plain.
Is London Plane the same as sycamore?
No, and the naming is a mess. London Plane is Platanus x acerifolia, a plane tree. American sycamore is Platanus occidentalis, its close relative. European Sycamore is Acer pseudoplatanus, a maple, and unrelated to both. All three are sometimes called sycamore somewhere. Check the botanical name.
How stable is it?
Not very. Volumetric shrinkage of 15.0 percent is high and tangential shrinkage of 9.5 percent against radial at 5.5 percent is a wide differential, so flatsawn boards cup. Since the reason to buy this species is the quartersawn lacewood figure, and quartersawn stock is much more stable, the figure and the stability come together.
Can it be used outdoors?
Propiedades mecánicas
Datos técnicos
Valores de referencia publicados. Cuando las fuentes discrepan, se muestra el intervalo y se usa el valor habitual en las escalas anteriores.
| Densidad (kg/m³)Masa por metro cúbico con aproximadamente un 12 % de humedad. La madera más pesada suele ser más dura y resistente. | 500–620 kg/m³habitual: 560 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Dureza Janka (N)Fuerza necesaria para hundir una bola de acero hasta la mitad en la madera. Es la medida estándar de resistencia a las abolladuras. | 3,800–4,600 Nhabitual: 4180 N |
| MOR: módulo de rotura (MPa)Resistencia a la flexión: la carga a la que se rompe una viga. | 70–80 MPa |
| MOE: módulo de elasticidad (GPa)Rigidez a la flexión: cuánto se comba un estante o tablero bajo carga. | 8.0–10.0 GPa |
| Contracción radialContracción perpendicular a los anillos de crecimiento, desde verde hasta completamente seca. Es la que afecta a las tablas aserradas radialmente. | 5.5–6.5 % |
