Book-Matched

A research into wood grain

Wood has this wonderfull property of having grain running through it. This gives the material its strenght but also provides it with its distinctive look. This outlook is determined by the type of wood, the age of the tree, and the way the wood is cut. For this research I used Ash wood, known for the strong appearance of its wood grain.

The grain doesnt just run across the surface either, it is captured inside the material. This allows wood to be bookmatched, a technique often used on slabs off marble. Cuttig the material in half and opening it like a book creates two surfaces with patterns that are mirrored and can be joined on the edges. With a lot of trial an error it was possible to figure out how to cut and glue these pieces together to achieve this visual efect.

The final piece is a coffee table, with a top made of one solid block of ash wood, cut in half lengthwise, these halves are then cut in two again. When the four pieces are bookmatched and glued together, it creates a top with a unique wood grain pattern thats does not have the warping and bending issues of a solid slab of wood.