Face veneer in American white oak, red oak and black walnut — cut at our own operation in Türkiye from logs we bought and graded in the United States. The leaf and the log come from the same company, which is the whole point.
Sliced veneer is a thin leaf of hardwood cut from a log with a knife rather than sawn, so almost nothing is lost to sawdust and one high-grade log can face a very large area of finished work. Silvestryn slices American white oak (Quercus alba), northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and American black walnut (Juglans nigra) in quarter, crown and rift cuts, supplied as sequence-matched bundles kept in flitch order.
The logs are bought and graded in West Virginia and Ohio, shipped to our slicing operation in Türkiye, cut to face-veneer specification and exported worldwide from Turkish ports. Nothing is traded on in between. That means the grading decision at the landing, the choice of how the flitch is opened, and the sequence that reaches your bench are all made by the same company — rather than inherited from whoever sold the flitch on.
Most veneer sellers buy flitches. That is a legitimate business, but it means every decision that determines the face has already been made by someone else, for their reasons.
The flitch starts as a log we graded ourselves in West Virginia or Ohio, against our own defect criteria. A veneer mill buying flitches on the open market inherits whatever decision someone else made at the landing.
Logs move from US ports to our slicing operation in Türkiye. Nothing is traded on in between, so the log that was tallied in the yard is the log that reaches the knife.
Knowing what is inside a log decides whether it is quartered, crowned or rifted, and where the flitch is opened. That judgement is worth more to the finished face than any tolerance written into a contract.
Leaves are kept in flitch order from the knife to the pallet. A matched face across a panel run depends on a sequence never being broken, and every hand a bundle passes through is a chance to break it.
The cut is chosen before the flitch is mounted and cannot be revised afterwards. It is the single decision that does most to determine what the finished panel looks like.
The log is quartered and sliced perpendicular to the growth rings, giving a straight, tight, uniform stripe. On white oak it is the only cut that opens the medullary rays into ray fleck — the figure European specifiers ask for by name.
Sliced parallel to a line through the centre of the log, producing the cathedral or flame figure at the leaf centre that runs out to a stripe at the edges. The highest yield per log and the most familiar face in furniture and joinery.
Sliced at a slight angle off the quarter, specifically to suppress ray fleck and leave a very linear, even grain. Specified on oak where the design calls for a quiet face rather than a figured one.
Face veneer sliced from our own American logs. Because we buy the log, we know what is inside it before it reaches the slicer — which decides how a flitch is opened, how the leaves are kept in sequence, and whether a buyer gets a face that matches across a whole panel run.
| Species | American white oak, red oak and black walnut |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 0.50, 0.55 and 0.60 mm standard |
| Length | 2,000–3,200 mm |
| Width | 120 mm and up, sorted by band |
| Cut | Quarter, crown (flat) and rift |
| Moisture | 8–12 % on despatch |
| Grade | A, B and C faces; backing veneer to order |
| Presentation | Sequence-matched bundles, kept in flitch order |
| Packing | Palletised and containerised; 40' HC |
Sliced veneer is a thin leaf of hardwood cut from a log with a knife rather than sawn, so almost nothing is lost to sawdust. It is used as the visible face of plywood, decorative panels, furniture and joinery, letting one high-grade log face a very large area of finished work.
In Türkiye. American white oak, red oak and black walnut logs are bought and graded in the United States, shipped to our slicing operation, cut to face-veneer specification, then exported worldwide from Turkish ports.
Quarter cut slices perpendicular to the growth rings for a straight uniform stripe, and on white oak it is the only cut that opens the medullary rays into ray fleck. Crown (flat) cut gives the cathedral figure at the leaf centre and the highest yield per log. Rift cut is angled slightly off the quarter specifically to suppress ray fleck and leave a quiet linear grain.
American white oak (Quercus alba), northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and American black walnut (Juglans nigra) — the same three species we export as logs, sliced from logs we bought and graded ourselves rather than bought in as flitches.
Yes. Leaves are kept in flitch order and supplied as sequence-matched bundles, which is what makes a face match across a run of panels. Because we buy the log, the sequence is controlled from the flitch onward rather than reconstructed after purchase.
Yes. Buyers who take both usually run them as separate shipments on one commercial relationship, because the logs load from the United States and the veneer loads from Türkiye. Contracts, documentation and the point of contact stay the same.
Species, cut, thickness, the panel size you are facing and roughly how much of it — that is enough for us to tell you which of our logs it should come off, and what it costs.
