I'm always excited to get new woods in the shop. Especially species I haven't had before:
This is English Bog Oak from the East Anglia Fenland Basin, Peterborough UK.
It is carbon dated at about 3,300 yrs old. There was once a forest of giant Oaks there which fell down onto the silt of the once flooded basin and laid there in the peat for thousands of years. The wood didn't rot because of the lack of oxygen and also because of the high tannin content of the wood. The tannin reacting with iron salt minerals slowly darkened and hardened the wood.
It's still has a lot of Oak characteristics like this figure in the wood:
The coloring depends on how age and how deep into the log it is. It goes from a beautiful tobacco brown to jet black. Bog Oak is in the beginning stages of fossilization so it much harder and heavier than regular Oak. It is very similar to Gabon Black Ebony in weight and hardness. It's great for bridges, binding, and fretboards:
It is more porous than ebony but I love the look and it can be fine sanded to a great shine:
I can't think of a better wood to trim with my Woodsman 00. This very old Mahogany Woodsman I'm working on right now would look awesome with a more tobacco brown fretboard like this one:
The darker fretboard is a great match with Black Walnut.
The Bog Oak back and side set is large enough for any of my models and has a very nice tap tone. I'd expect great sustain and complex tonality with the right top.
Thanks for viewing!
Mark