Carpinus betulus
Hornbeam
Pale, ruthlessly dense, and famously hard. The wood old joiners reached for when they needed plane bodies, mallet heads, and water-mill cogs that would not give up.
- Coltivato e raccolto in Europa.
- Gruppo botanico. Le conifere hanno foglie aghiformi, le latifoglie hanno foglie larghe.
- La famiglia botanica a cui appartiene la specie.
Avvisami quando arrivaSpecie di riferimento. Al momento non ci sono pezzi disponibili.
È adatto al tuo progetto?
Ideale per
- Plane bodies and mallet heads
- Tool handles and chisel handles
- Turned work, bowls, finials, pepper mills, fine spindles
- Joinery accents, wedges, splines, drawbore pins, dovetail keys
- High-wear surfaces, chopping boards, butcher blocks, jig faces
- Gear teeth, cogs, and replacement parts in restored mills
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Aspetto del legno
Che aspetto ha
Creamy white to pale straw, sometimes drifting to light grey-brown with age. Grain is irregular and often interlocked; texture is fine and even. Almost no figure, no drama, its character is in the surface itself, which polishes to a hard, near-ceramic feel that softer pale woods cannot match.
- Creamy white to pale straw when fresh
- Drifts to light grey-brown with age and UV
- Occasional grey streaking on slower-grown stock
- Almost figureless, reads as a clean, even pale ground
- Polishes to a hard, near-ceramic surface sheen
- Irregular grain, fine even texture.
Lavorazione
Come si lavora
A specialist wood. Density and interlocked grain blunt edges fast. Expect to sharpen often and feed slowly. Planing tears out unless irons are keen and the cut is light; a scraper or sander often finishes better than a plane. Drilling and routing demand sharp carbide. The reward is on the lathe, where it turns to a fine, crisp surface and holds detail other woods crush. Glues and screws well once pre-bored. Steam-bends reasonably for such a dense species.
Finitura
Sands to a glassy surface if you stay patient and step through the grits. Takes hard waxes, oils, and lacquers cleanly. Stains can blotch on the interlocked patches. Test first. Burnishes beautifully on the lathe; many turners leave it bare or oil-only.
Essiccazione
Dries slowly and moves a lot, tangential shrinkage of 11 to 13 percent puts it among the most mobile European hardwoods. Prone to distortion, surface checks, and case-hardening if rushed. Air-dry under weight, then finish in a kiln on a gentle schedule. Acclimatise in the workshop for several weeks before machining, and design for movement in any wider piece.
Quanto si muoverà?
Il legno si gonfia e si ritira in larghezza al variare dell’umidità dell’aria. Stima il movimento stagionale di un piano in Hornbeam prima di progettare i fissaggi.
Movimento stagionale previsto
circa 13,7 mm
Elevato. Usa nottolini o staffe asolate, lascia gioco alle estremità di eventuali traverse e fai acclimatare la tavola prima del montaggio.
Modello di ritiro lineare: larghezza × (ritiro ÷ 28 % di saturazione delle fibre) × variazione stagionale dell’umidità. Usa un ritiro tangenziale del 12 % per Hornbeam. È una stima di progetto, non una garanzia.
Quanto costa
Sicurezza e provenienza
- Coltivato e raccolto in Europa.
- Stato nella Lista rossa IUCN: la valutazione globale dello stato di conservazione di questa specie.
Food-contact safe once finished, which is why it has a long history in kitchen tools and chopping blocks. The dust is a known skin irritant and can sensitise on repeated exposure. Wear long sleeves, run good extraction, and mask up when sanding.
Leggi la guida completaNote approfondite su marezzatura, variazione del colore, lavorazione e stabilità.
What Hornbeam actually is#
Carpinus betulus is the wear wood. At 735 kg per cubic metre and 7,260 N Janka it is the second hardest measured species in this catalogue, behind only robinia, and it has a fine even texture with no strong grain direction.
That combination, hardness without a pronounced grain to split along, is what made it the traditional wood for things that get hit, rubbed and worn: plane soles, mallet heads, gear teeth in windmill and watermill machinery, butchers blocks, and cogs.
It is not a decorative wood and it was never used as one.
Reading a hornbeam slab#
Colour is pale, near white to light cream, sometimes with grey streaking. Figure is minimal. The texture is fine and even and the surface has a slight natural lustre.
The characteristic feature of the tree is fluting: the trunk grows with pronounced longitudinal ridges rather than round, which is why hornbeam logs look twisted and why converting them to wide clean boards is awkward. Expect irregular widths and a good deal of waste.
Grain is frequently interlocked, following the fluting.
The movement problem#
Domande degli acquirenti
Domande degli acquirenti
Why is Hornbeam used for tool parts and machinery?
It is exceptionally hard at 7,260 N, second only to robinia among measured species here, with a fine even texture and no pronounced grain direction. That combination resists wear without splitting, which is why it was the traditional wood for plane soles, mallet heads, gear teeth in mill machinery, and butchers blocks.
How much does it move?
A great deal. Volumetric shrinkage of 17.0 percent ties with beech for the highest in this catalogue, and tangential shrinkage of 11.0 percent against 5.5 percent radial is a very wide differential. Hornbeam is not a wood for wide solid tops in a variable environment. It is a wood for small dense components.
Is it hard to work?
Yes. The density and interlocked grain blunt tooling quickly and cause tear-out, and it is heavy going by hand. The fine texture that makes it wear so well is the same thing that makes it resist cutting. Sharp carbide tooling and light cuts are the practical answer.
Can it be used outdoors?
No. Despite its hardness it is rated decay class 5, perishable, and it will rot readily if exposed. Hardness and durability are unrelated properties. For exterior work use robinia, oak or sweet chestnut.
Proprietà meccaniche
Dati tecnici
Valori di riferimento pubblicati. Quando le fonti non concordano, viene mostrato l’intervallo e il valore tipico è usato per le scale sopra.
| Densità (kg/m³)Massa per metro cubo con circa il 12 % di umidità. In genere, un legno più pesante è anche più duro e resistente. | 700–820 kg/m³valore tipico 735 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Durezza Janka (N)Forza necessaria per spingere una sfera d’acciaio fino a metà nel legno. È la misura standard della resistenza alle ammaccature. | 6,900–7,700 Nvalore tipico 7260 N |
| MOR: modulo di rottura (MPa)Resistenza alla flessione: il carico al quale una trave si rompe. | 110–130 MPa |
| MOE: modulo elastico (GPa)Rigidità alla flessione: quanto si incurva una mensola o un piano sotto carico. | 12.0–14.0 GPa |
| Ritiro radialeRitiro trasversale agli anelli di crescita, dal legno verde a quello anidro. È il movimento delle tavole a taglio radiale. | 5.5–7.0 % |
