As a woodcrafter, I spend a good amount of time fishing for unique pieces of wood, both common and exotic. My search runs the gamut from my own back yard, to digging thru cut offs discarded on an exotic wood dealers’ garage floor, to the swamps of North Island, New Zealand. No, I have not literally traveled across the pond for that special piece of exotic heaven; although the temptation to see, first hand, the recovery process for Ancient Kauri is indeed great. Instead, I turn to the web, where Robert Teisberg of Ancientwood, Ltd. has taken fishing for trees to a whole ‘nother level.
New Zealand’s most famous native tree, the Ancient Kauri, felled by natural forces and buried in a cocoon like state underground for thousands of years, is being excavated from farm and ranch lands of North Island. The logs are radio carbon dated to be over 50,000 years old and the oldest known ‘workable’ wood discovered. It has an iridescent quality called whitebait, aptly named after schools of New Zealand whitefish that emit light one minute, only to disappear the next, creating a shimmering effect. Ancientwood Ltd. recovers the logs in an eco-friendly way, returning the harvested sites back to its original landscape. A daunting task considering the giant Kauri grows up to 150 feet in height and 60 feet in girth. That’s a lot of tree!
Needless to say, with its rarity and intensely laborious harvesting process, a board of this exotic tree is extremely expensive. I’ve been contemplating a small purchase (under $100) for nearly a year now. My goal is to work with as many different species of trees I can snag, turning each into lasting pieces of art, art that is most times practical, sometimes whimsical and always pleasing to the eye. Some of my favorite projects, from Bocote guitar picks and ‘Dog Ear’ Boxes to an 8 foot tall Pez, will find their way to this blog –eventually. As for the Ancient Kauri tree.. It’s high time I reel this one in!
New Zealand’s most famous native tree, the Ancient Kauri, felled by natural forces and buried in a cocoon like state underground for thousands of years, is being excavated from farm and ranch lands of North Island. The logs are radio carbon dated to be over 50,000 years old and the oldest known ‘workable’ wood discovered. It has an iridescent quality called whitebait, aptly named after schools of New Zealand whitefish that emit light one minute, only to disappear the next, creating a shimmering effect. Ancientwood Ltd. recovers the logs in an eco-friendly way, returning the harvested sites back to its original landscape. A daunting task considering the giant Kauri grows up to 150 feet in height and 60 feet in girth. That’s a lot of tree!Needless to say, with its rarity and intensely laborious harvesting process, a board of this exotic tree is extremely expensive. I’ve been contemplating a small purchase (under $100) for nearly a year now. My goal is to work with as many different species of trees I can snag, turning each into lasting pieces of art, art that is most times practical, sometimes whimsical and always pleasing to the eye. Some of my favorite projects, from Bocote guitar picks and ‘Dog Ear’ Boxes to an 8 foot tall Pez, will find their way to this blog –eventually. As for the Ancient Kauri tree.. It’s high time I reel this one in!
