Glossary
A
Bark & Rock creates and sells luxury, handcrafted limited edition and one-of-a-kind notebooks made from bark and stone, with natural and exotic wood veneer covers. Our journals, notebooks, diaries, photograph albums and guestbooks are available in a range of sizes and are designed to be treasured, ageing gracefully over time.
About our woods
Bark & Rock’s selection of woods span from over six continents. We use a selection of over 40 types of wood veneers. We also use different parts of the tree to obtain the bark we use. This enables us to use veneers that incorporate features such as the highly sought-after burr wood. Our woods are also sourced from different cuts such as the crown cut, quarter cut and rotary cut. Each cut creates a different appearance and reveals the unique beauty within the wood, an excellent example of this is the wonderful figure and pomelle grain patterns.
Once we have chosen our wood veneer then we book match the individual wood veneer leaves to reflect or mirror image the wood grain pattern. This allows the natural wood grain feature to flow evenly across our wood journals and notebooks. Book matching is particularly effective when using a two tone colour veneer that contains both sap and heartwood, such as Ziricote.
Using wood veneer not only ensures that we can highlight a wood’s natural beauty and design, but it is also a good environmental choice. Wood Veneer in comparison to planked timber obtains 4,000 times more usable material. While we focus on the use of natural wood veneers from verifiable sources, we also supply a number of renewable and recycled wood veneers. These recycled wood veneers use corresponding materials with a minimal carbon footprint and high-quality papers.
About our stones
Our stone notebooks are made using the worlds’ thinnest slate and quartzite stone veneer. This stone veneer is manufactured using a process that saves more than 80% of natural resources. The stone veneers’ light weight means that in comparison to stone blocks the transportation leaves a low carbon footprint.
European Alder bark comes from the Common Alder and Black Alder trees. These trees are happiest near ponds and marshes.
The Amboyna Burr grain comes from the Narra tree bark, which is native to Australia, much of Asia and the Philippines where it is the national tree.
Our Atlas notebook was created using stone common throughout Europe, including Scotland, Wales and even Iceland. The stone is also known as lifting stone.
B
Our banana notebook was created using several distinctive wood grains with our handmade inlaying technique. Bananas are also one of our CEO’s favourite fruits!
Bark describes the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants, and in relation to our work we are talking bark of trees from across six continents. As well as our luxury journals, bark can be used in many other products including spices, resin, medicines, corks, clothing and even canoes.
A selection of our bestselling wood and stone journals.
The Birch Masur Burr comes from a rather distinctive figuring that is most commonly seen in Downy and Silver Birch. It originates from trees grown in Finland and Russia.
Our Birch Wild Burr is made from recycled natural bark from the Birch tree and has been created using multiple layers.
Using recycled natural wood, we make our wild iced version using the tree’s distinctive grain
Our Black Marble journals are made from free-flowing strips of Black Marble.
Book Matching
Book Matching is where pieces of veneer are matched together. There are different methods and at Bark and Rock we use book matching. To do this we first number each leaf then we turn every other wood veneer leaf so that the colour and grain match to create a mirrored effect.
This is a limited-edition wood from Equatorial Africa and is sourced from old and rare stock, which once exhausted will not be available again.
Burr
‘Burr’ wood (or Burl in US terms) is considered the ‘best of the best’ coming from a special growth on the tree, that creates beautiful, abstract and chaotic grain patterns and colours.
Normally, growths are found on the lower part of the tree and root system, resembling knobbly bulges.
Every tree contains dormant buds, which have all the genetic information so if the tree is damaged the dormant buds are brought into action repairing the tree like a bandage and it is this that creates the burr and this random grain pattern.
Walnut plantations are a great source of burrs, the tree have limited nut production life and they are then harvested for their burr woods.
C
This type of wood blends sapwood and heartwood. The trees are native to Southern China, Taiwan, Southern Japan, Korea, and Vietnam and can reach heights of 30 metres.
This wood is also known as the Eastern Red Cedar. It is in fact from a juniper and comes from Eastern North America, most notably Virginia.
Our Chestnut Burr is harvested from Sweet Chestnut growing in English forests. The species originated in South West Asia and is now common in Europe as well as the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Clusters
A wood cluster, otherwise known as an open burr, is a section of wood that includes part burr or nests of the burr feature and is surrounded by swirling grains of the tree. The cluster section can be more interesting than the full burr itself.
All the best ways to contact us here at Bark & Rock
Crafting our wood books
This section of the website explains how we craft our unique journals and notebooks.
Crown Cut – could link to types of wood cuts page
The Crown Cut is most similar to the Flat Cut, when the pieces of veneer are sliced parallel to the centre of the log, creating a cathedral shape. The Crown sections are taken from the top. Some of our Crown cut examples are: Aromatic Cedar, Ebony, Mango, Ebony, the Oak’s and Ziricote
D
Detailing how we will deliver your Bark & Rock journal to your address.
E
This bark comes from trees native to Southern India and Sri Lanka. The trees are also known as Indian Ebony or Ceylon Ebony and is one of the most exquisite woods in the Bark & Rock range.
White Ebony is sometimes known as Indian Persimmon, Gaub tree or Malabar Ebony and is a hardwood native to the Indian subcontinent or South East Asia.
One of Bark & Rock’s inlay designs on a luxury notebook, showcasing our hallmark craftsmanship. This book includes an abstract eclipse marquetry design using Bubinga Kewazinga, amboyna and olive ash veneers.
The Elm Burr bark comes from England and is highly valued for its intricate and dense swirling textures and tones.
Harvested from English trees our Elm Cluster combines elegant swirls of wood grain and more decorative burr sections.
Eucalyptus bark comes from trees native to Australia and New Zealand. The natural pommele used describes the markings that includes darker areas etched into warm honey tones.
These journals use bark from the Eucalyptus trees native to Australia and New Zealand. The pommele markings in these books are further enhanced when the wood is smoked with ammonia, which reacts with the natural tannin present in the log.
F
Figured wood
In wood, ‘figure’ refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface side-grain a "figured wood" is not plain. The figure is created in part by the grain in the wood and in part by the manner in which the wood is cut, this reveals the horizontal pattern running across the grain.
Our woods with the figure pattern include: Alder, Eucalyptus Pommele, Fulbeck Walnut, Curly Maple, Maple Birds Eye, Swiss Pear and Tamo Ash.
One of Bark & Rock’s inlay designs on a luxury notebook, showcasing our hallmark craftsmanship. Two woods used here are Oak Cobalt Blue and Birch Wild Iced Burr.
Flat Cut
The Flat Cut is one of the simplest ways to cut wood. This is when the pieces of veneer are sliced parallel to the centre of the log, creating a cathedral shape.
G
Grain
This is the arrangement of the wood fibres that results in lighter and darker regions in the wood from swirls to rings, the patterns can all depend on how the wood is cut too.
I
Inlaid designs
Our inlaid designs are created using two or more types of woods. Our journals, notebooks and diaries can be completely personalised for you. We use specialist techniques to design various marquetry images and inlay each section by hand.
K
One of our stone versions using rock from Tanzania.
One of our stone varieties using stone from COUNTRY. It is similar to pumice.
L
London Plane is a tree common to the UK’s capital, lining streets and parks across the city. Lacewood refers to the striking lace-like patterns found in a number of different trees.
All Bark & Rock journals and bespoke notebooks come in either lined or plain paper. As our products are refillable, customers can order refill packs that come with 120gsm paper and a refill guide for unscrewing our books and adding/replacing with new refills.
Lined paper is great for the list makers, writers, song writers and poets among us!
One of Bark & Rock’s inlay designs on a luxury notebook, showcasing our hallmark craftsmanship. Three woods used here are Padauk, Black Oak and Arctic White Oak.
M
Harvested from Mango trees native to Asia and India when they have ceased to bear their delicious fruit, this bark is considered to be an eco-conscious by-product of the food industry.
Big Leaf Maple, also known as Oregon Maple, is believed to have originated in Central and Western China. It now grows extensively in Canada and in the western USA near the Pacific Coast.
O
Made from the native British tree, the sturdy Oak. Here we add a modern twist by dying the wood a rich black, heightening the natural wood’s dense grain.
Bark used for our Oak Brown Burr is specially sourced from the Home Counties around London. Using burr cuts which have been affected by an unusual fungus, commonly known as ‘beefsteak’, due to its livid, red colour.
Oaks are best known for being British trees, but they also grow across Europe, Asia and north America. The cluster variety features the distinctive classical swirls of the grain favoured in this wood mixed with burr patterns.
Pippy Oak, also known as ‘cat’s paw,’ features many small knots some of them in clusters across the veneer. This bark comes from England and we have applied traditional lime across the veneer to create a whitewashed look to accentuate the beautiful patterns in the grain.
A popular veneer harvested from mature Ash trees. It looks similar to the glowing colours and swirling patterns of Olive wood from the same tree family.
P
Padauk comes from a quarter cut of trees native to central and tropical west Africa, South Eastern Asia, south China, Malaysia, Burma and the Andaman Islands.
Our Swiss Pear wood comes from pear trees native to central and Eastern Europe and South West Asia. It has a silky-smooth surface.
The Pepperwood Burr can sometimes be known as Peruvian Pepper or Pimienteira and comes from the Peruvian Andes where it has been grown for culinary and medicinal purposes as far back as the Inca Empire. The trees can also now be found in Mexico, central Chile, Argentina and California.
Personalised books
All our journals, notebooks, photograph albums and guestbooks can come personalised using different inlay designs that are then crafted by hand into the front of the book. You can personalise by adding a plaque with initials to the front and insides of the book in silver or gold. Please contact us with your special requests.
All Bark & Rock journals and bespoke notebooks come in either lined or plain paper. As our products are refillable, customers can order refill packs that come with 120gsm paper and a refill guide for unscrewing our books and adding/replacing with new refills.
Plain paper is great for the artists, illustrators and designers among us!
Pommele wood
This originates from the French word for apple (pomme) and is used to describe the veneer’s markings which resemble tiny apples or tear drops.
Pommele is French for ‘dappled’ and it is especially apt for describing highly figured woods like Eucalyptus and Budinga when the so-called quilted effect is present.
Q
Quarter cut
This describes where the log is cut into quarters then sliced vertically across the wood growth rings, creating stripe pattern on the wood veneer or uniformly vertical straight wood grain. Our Padouk is an example of a quarter cut.
R
Recyclability & Renewability
When using wood veneer 70% less energy is required compared with any other building materials. We use wood veneer that is incredibly thin to ensure we have as little impact on the environment as possible.
Wood veneer has the least impact on total energy use, greenhouse gases, air and water pollution, solid waste and ecological resource use.
All our journals, notebooks, photograph albums and guestbooks can be refillable, so they last a lifetime. Choose from lined or plain paper.
We doubt you will need to return a book to us but if there is ever a need we operate a free returns policy.
We speak of rock from a geology point of view, not a genre of music! Rock is a natural occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids and can usually be grouped into three main groups – igneous rocks, metamorphic and sedimentary. It has been used for at least 2.5 million years.
The crown cut of the Santos Rosewood, also known as Pau Ferro or Santos Mahogany is originally from Brazil or Bolivia.
Rotary Cut
A few decorative veneers we use are Rotary Cut or ‘peeled’ in order to reveal the particular growth characteristic that is close to the outside of the log.
Bird’s Eye Maple, for example is almost always cut in this way. Some smaller species such as Birch are often Rotary Cut otherwise the individual leaves of veneer would be too narrow.
This cutting effect is like using a pencil sharpener.
S
A list of retailers that stock Bark & Rock luxury products.
We consider the environmental impact f all areas we operate in. Using veneer extends the use of a piece of timber. The wood that might be used in one solid piece a few visible centi-metres wide can cover a far greater area when used as a veneer. Our veneers can be as thin as 2.8mm.
There is no toxicity in our wood veneers. The veneer stores carbon and also maximises the use of harvested wood.
T
Not made from tigers! Our Tigerwood hails from trees also known Brazilian Tigerwood and Goncalo Alves that are native to the Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest and other areas of central and north South America.
Our Tamo Ash journals use bark from Tamo Ash trees that grow on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
U
One of Bark & Rock’s inlay designs on a luxury notebook, showcasing our hallmark craftsmanship and that you can make your books personal. The three woods used here are Padauk, Maple Bird’s Eye and oak dyed in cobalt blue.
V
Harvested from majestic Redwood or Sequoia trees, Vavona is an elegant veneer. The trees are native to north America and are among the tallest trees in the world.
Veneer cutting
Veneer is obtained by either ‘peeling’ the trunk of a tree or by slicing large rectangular blocks of wood known as flitches. The grain appearance in each veneer depends upon the angle at which the wood is sliced. For example, a slicing machine in which the piece of log is raised and lowered against the blade yields veneer that looks like sawn wood across the growth rings is referred to as a ‘Crown Cut’.
Each slicing process gives a very distinctive type of grain, depending upon the tree species. In any of the veneer-slicing methods, when the veneer is sliced, a distortion of the grain occurs - as it hits the wood, the knife blade creates a ‘loose’ side where the cells have been opened up by the blade, and a ‘tight’ side.
Veneering
‘Veneering’ is an art dating back to the ancient Egyptians, who used expensive and rare wood veneers over other timbers to produce their furniture and sarcophagi. During the Roman Empire, Romans also used veneered work in mass quantities.
Historically, veneers were sawn by a thick blade but this resulted in wasted wood. Nowadays, most veneer is cut precisely and carefully with a thin blade, to a thickness of 0.6mm. Due to this cutting process being used, very little wood is wasted by the saw blade thickness, which is known as the ‘saw kerf’. This means that we are able to increase the yield of rare grain patterns or wood types. Some manufacturers even use a very wide knife to ‘slice off’ the thin veneer piece so, none of the wood is wasted. It is important to note that each slice of veneer is kept in the natural order in which they are cut from the log so that each veneer leaf can be matched together.
Wood veneers are also used to make furniture, some car dashboards and exclusive transport interiors and instruments.
One of our stone varieties using rock from Naples in Italy.
W
Walnut trees best known for their rich nut production are native across parts of Europe and China. They particularly thrive in Britain. The best burrs are sourced from the base of the Walnut tree.
This book is used with wood cut from a very particular Walnut Tree. It was a 300-400-year-old tree at Fulbeck Hall in Lincolnshire that sadly got blown down in a great storm of 2007.
Z
The bark used in our Ziricote journals come from trees grown in the USA, the Caribbean and South America, they have been cultivated since the Mayan Empire. This wood has a complex grain pattern and is very striking.