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Last weekend we once again organized our open house in Hamburg Harburg for all wood enthusiasts. Traditionally, as always on the first Saturday in June.
The week before the event, we were busy tidying up, cleaning, making final preparations and checking the weather forecast on various websites several times a day. Unfortunately, it was forecasted a bit mixed.

To be safe, we therefore accommodated all exhibitors inside our warehouses this year. It turned out to be a very good decision, as there were a few small rain clouds.
On Friday afternoon, some people were already setting up their exhibition stands, the final touches were made early on Saturday morning, as the first visitors were spotted on the yard even before the official start at 9 am.

With the help of our exhibitors, we were able to introduce visitors to a wide variety of wood crafts.
With familiar faces, but also some newcomers, who were able to provide some new insights into topics such as varnishes, restoration, milling, lighting, wood art, cutlery, branding and inlay work.

As usual, there were live demonstrations by some wood turners, or you could watch sculpting and fire painting. There were also fine ukulele sounds coming from one of the warehouses.

The selection of pens, knives, chopping boards, candleholders, wooden jewelry, bowls, wood art and more for sale was once again very large this year.
There was a lot to learn at the Thünen Institute's exhibition on the subject of wood research and next door at Dr. Noldt's desk a lot of knowledge of insects and pests. Of course, every exhibitor had a few tips and tricks to share with curious visitors.

In our wood store, every item was turned inside out and a lot of people went shopping here: many Cropp bags filled up were wandering around the yard with their happy new owners.
Our sized up range of milled and planed short lengths in the main warehouse number 10 was also pretty popular.

Weight guessing to win a 50, 100 or 150 euros worth Cropp voucher. The piece was a huge buckeye burl cut off and the weight was 157 kg.
Almost 200 guesses ended up in the collectionbox. Here are the top estimates and winners:
- the best estimate of 160 kg came from Florian Seifert - he secured the €150 voucher
- second best guess with 153 kg from Lea Kristin Petersen - she wins the €100 voucher
- third best guess with 150 kg from Kirsten Rusche - prize: 50 € voucher. Congratulations and thanks to all participants! The winners have already been contacted.

A big thank you to everyone who took part and helped to let this day happen.! To the exhibitors, our employees, the team behind the grill and fryer! And also to the estimated 600 visitors!
We are very happy about the grateful feedback from all sides, as the event takes a lot of preparation time and means a considerable amount of work. But it is worthwhile and honors us to be able to offer this platform - for networking, exchange, preservation and inspiration to work with this great and unique material - our passion - wood.

See you next time! Your Cropp team

🔊 Travel information for the open house on 07.06.25 

👉The Elbtunnel is now free after all🎉, the closure has been postponed, more information on the ADAC website.

👉You can park for free in the surrounding area!

👉After consulting several weather forecasts, temperatures of up to 17 degrees are expected, but there may also be some rain.

But don't worry, the event will take place in our 3 large warehouses. 😊

We look forward to seeing you!

Free entrance! Please note for your travels: the Elbtunnel is closed on this weekend!

UPDATE: die Sperrung wurde auf den 13. bis 16. Juni verschoben! 
More Information here: https://www.adac.de/news/elbtunnel-vollsperrung-a7/ 

Participating exhibitors:

• Knife maker/smith – Peter Paul Ulrich
• Wood jewelery – Mirjam Poller
• Writing instruments – Norbert Zeplien
• Kloster Ukulele – Dirk Jungbluth
• Drechselzentrum Erzgebirge – Martin Steinert
• Writing Turning Flipping – Sascha Stoelp
• Knife maker – Stefan Steigerwald
• Capricorno Naturhaus – Jörg Gesell
• Historical tools – Henning Eberhardt
• Woodturning art – Dirk Jahns
• Woodturning art – Hans & Jakob Weissflog
• Bows & knifes – Hermann Borghardt
• Pytha 3d CAD System – Kay Busch
• Precious wood pieces – Jürgen Kusel
• Wood Pests – Dr. Uwe Noldt
• Thünen Institute – Dr. Gerald Koch
• Drechsler Forum – Matthias Lumpe
• Eckener School Flensburg – Stefan Siegmund
• Wooden chairs – Peter Rogge
• 3d Inlays – Admohammad Jafari
• NatürLicht Lamps – Philipp Stadtmüller
• Lamps, Jewelery and more – Sebastian Liß
• Engravings in Wood -  Regina Gerken
• CNC milling – Eicke Stamm
• Engravings in Wood – Michaela Brauch
• Art carpentry & Restauration – Dorothee Machaczek

Botanical name: Entandophragma cylindricum
Use of the wood: Sapeli Mahogany is an excellent veneer wood and furniture wood

We were able to purchase a giant tree from the Central African Republic through the Timberlink company - a gigantic Sapeli Mahogany pommelé log with a length of approx. 9 m and a center diameter of approx. 3 m with an estimated mass of 50 cbm.
From the outside, there were indications of a beautiful pommelé pattern of the wood, but it always is a surprise making the first cut to have a look inside the log.

We had not expected the log to weigh considerably more than we had anticipated when we bought it. This made transportation by ship and later by heavy transport on the streets to Germany very difficult, but in the end it was possible with great effort.
A major problem was the extreme weight of approx. 40 tons, not the previously estimated 30 tons, which is why the gigantic log could not be loaded onto the originally planned ship. The crane was too weak. We needed the stronger crane from another ship.

The log was prepared by our partner Hermann Huxohl & Sohn in Gütersloh for sawing large table tops and divided in the middle for this purpose. Then the uneaven sides were cut off so that the log would fit through the saw.

To be continued!

With pleasant temperatures in the morning and warm temperatures during the day, we once again held our annual open house event for all wood experts, wood fans and those who may have become one after this weekend.

The event attracted an estimated 400 visitors, including experts, wood processors, hobbyists, colleagues from the industry, customers and curious people from the hamburg area.

The event offered a wide range of exhibitors, live demonstrations, presentations of a wide variety of woodwork, advice and the opportunity to purchase unique woodwork or the raw material for it in our wood store.

On the large area of approx. 5700 m², 29 exhibitors spread out in the yard and in the storage halls to present the works they had brought with them.

Our exhibitors provided lots of useful tips and suggestions, which will certainly be helpful when working on your own projects in the future. A wide variety of wood crafts were represented, ranging from the production of jewelry, pendants and (knife)handles, to the turning of pens, bowls, boxes, instrument makers, model makers and furniture makers.

It was possible to take part and try out or carve for yourself at some of the stands, and some people may have booked a whole course after trying out a little bit.

Finely crafted wood could be found as souvenirs for your home - all handmade with attention to detail, of course!
Larger pieces of furniture such as tables, lamps and picture frames were also on offer.
Anyone who was inspired by the numerous impressions to tackle their own project could take the right material directly from our wood store.
Great, long conversations took place at the stands, contacts were exchanged and networking was lively. This day became a meeting place for everyone, whether beginner or expert. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer this platform.
We were delighted with the positive feedback on our event from all directions. The personal yet rustic atmosphere was well received by everyone and many new visitors, who had not been to our event before, were surprised by the wide range of woodworking possibilities.

This year we have implemented a new idea: an auction as a donation for Kinderkrebsstiftung, which we have realized with the support of some exhibitors.

In 2024 the event is taking place on the 01.06.2024!

What a beautiful weekend is now already behind us again....

Thank you very much for your visit, the overall good mood, the interest in precious wood, the various crafts and the professionals, who willingly shared their sectrets, tips and tricks to the audience!

Special thanks to all exhibitors, this way we could represent a great variety this year all together, so there was something interesting for everyone to discover. An extra thanks to Thomas for the main organization, and last but not least to the whole Cropp team for the super cooperation! It was a lot of fun again!

But now to the report:

There was a lot to see, over the three halls and the large courtyard we have 28 exhibitors distributed - such a large number, as never before! Pick up new tips and tricks, get inspired, make contacts with like-minded people and spend a nice day

Address house No. 10:
Sylke Dawartz - Everything about species conservation (NEW), Dr. Gerald Koch - Thünen Institute, Heiko Rockel - Pens made of wood with history, Norbert Zeplien - Writing utensils, Kay Busch - Pytha - 3D CAD system, Christoff Borowski - Model making (NEW), Henning Eberhardt - Historical tools (NEW), Frank Jürgens - Knife maker, Manfred Timpe - HausDrei e.V., Mirjam Poller - wood jewelry (NEW), Richard Stanley - furniture and object design, Arbortech products - Udo Arens, Antje Eickmeier - HolzKunstWerte sculptureing, carving (NEW)

Many questions regarding species protection, CITES, wood species identification and more could be asked to the first two mentioned. Just because there are nevertheless again and again news e.g. concerning CITES. Or it can be very difficult to determine a wood species, so you were free to ask here!

Turning wood artist Norbert, which specialized in turning writing utensils entertained half the hall with a lot of cheerfulness - as you might already know from him. At the stand were not only pencils to buy, you could also watch him live turning. Kay's Pytha CAD system, interesting for carpenters and joiners, could be explained in detail. This year there was a new face, Christoff, who brought his detailed ship models with him to show you and right next to him a stand that we didn't have yet in our repertoire: Historical tools! & apropos tools: Dream knives, hand-forged by Frank Jürgens were presented as well.
At HausDrei e.V. you could get information about the open workshop and its offers. A new face, Mirjam, presented her silver jewelry combined with wood. A very small but fine stand! Richy's stand was shining with countless wooden stars on the table, especially interesting here was: The bog oak slabs cast in epoxy resin. An eye-catcher for those, who know exactly, what wood this is!

At Arbortech's place the chips were flying, a lot of tools were demonstrated here. One stand further you could hear it knocking all the time..., Antje was inviting everyone to try some carving under her guidance.

Address house No. 8:
Hermann Borghardt - bow and arrow, Rolf Gruda - solid wood mosaics, Mario Marquardt - leather crafts, Sascha Stoelp - Writing Turning Flipping, The woodturning forum, Kurt Lotzen - toy maker (NEW), Ira Riepen - The wooden owl (NEW), Stefan Siegmund - RBZ Eckener School Flensburg, Dirk Jahns - Dechselkunst.

Old and new faces resulted in a colorful mixture and a wide range of topics, crafts and handicrafts.
Finely handcrafted solid wood mosaics were sparkling across the entire yard, impressively beautiful works with the tiniest patterns. A selection of specialty adhesives and product kits for pen making and more were available at Sascha's stand.
The Drechsler-Forum was represented by Matthias and was considered a meeting place for forum members and those who might want to become one in the future. 😊
At toy maker Kurt's stand you could be impressed by his ingenious games - until there was finally some understanding, how the wooden games really worked. 3 steps further, Ira had brought bows and other finely sawn figures - extremely impressive and detailed handiwork!
At the Eckener School from Flensburg, on the other hand, things were a bit rougher at the beginning of each workpiece. Here, too, everyone with an interest in sculpting and carving was allowed to try their luck under advice.

Address house No. 9b:
The catering point, the Cropp wood store, Martin Steinert - Drechselzentrum Erzgebirge, Hans Weissflog - Drechselkunst, Dirk Jungbluth - monastery ukulele, Jürgen Kusel - works from precious woods, Wolfgang Jansen - handicrafts and writing utensils, Jörg Gesell - Capricorno Naturhaus oils & waxes moved in.

At the french fries, sausage, coffee & cake stand it was full pretty early already, shortly after noon the french fries were already sold out, so that we organized some more french fries. Our wood shop in the back of the warehouse hall was continuously very well visited, which we were of course very pleased about. On about 120 m of shelves we presented turning wood blocks, scantlings, woods for musical instrument making and dried fruits, not to forget the traditional big table in the middle of the warehouse, equipped with selected turning wood blocks.

One of the highlights for wood turning fans were probably Hans & Jakob Weissflog, who had really very impressive, filigree bowls and boxes with openwork technique exhibited and also they were working on some pieces live at the lathe and demonstrated their workflow. At their stand the people often came into conversation. Likewise, on the opposite side, Wolfgang let the chips flying, accompanied by warm ukulele sounds, created by Dirk. With him you can build your own ukulele in a course in the monastery.

We have already received some feedback from you, which is consistently positive about this successful event - thank you very much for the feedback, which pleases and motivates us quite much!

With your support and that of the exhibitors, we were able to collect a great amount of donations for Ukraine, together with the income from coffee and cake sales, we come to an amount of 657.45 euros, which we will round up to 700 euros. Many, many thanks for the support!

And now: please get out your calendar and mark next year's open house, which will take place on 01.06.2024!

Many greetings from Hamburg, your Cropp-Team

According to the dendrochronological investigation from the OTTO-FRIEDRICH-UNIVERSITÄT BAMBERG, the oak logs had been lying in the river 'Elbe' for about 2500 years and were discovered in the shipping channel by chance. The largest tree has become over 200 years old.
In summer of 2022, the logs were salvaged and then offered at the wood log submission in Saxony- Anhalt.

At that very submission, the log sections and fragments were assessed and evaluated by us. W could get 14 of the 15 sections, which were delivered to our log yard on the 6th of march 2023, divided and sawn in the same week. The fast processing of the super wet logs is necessary to avoid cracking, because the wood can dry better and more evenly when sawn.
 
So far, the wood shows a beautiful dark, slightly bluish color, light zones appear only in the core or at the knots.
The wood will probably find use in art turnery and carpentry for furniture. Bog oak is a popular wood for unique writing instruments, knife handles or furniture not only because of its color, but also because of its historical context.

After a few months of work and a visit to our local supplier in Indonesia, we received a load of Macassar ebony a few months ago. After unloading, the wood was sorted, graded and measured, now it is ready for sale.
We can offer 26 mm and 52 mm thicknesses, lengths from about 2.0 - 4.0 m in top quality. For more details please send your inquiry to info@cropp-timber.com.

Botanical name: Diospyros celebica
Family: Ebenaceae
Origin: Southeast Asia
The heartwood of Macassar Ebony is very decorative due to its dramatic, striped appearance. It is black interspersed with brown or brown-red streaks of varying widths.
Macassar is a very hard and heavy wood, the pores are very small. It is easy to cut and plane, turn, carve and polish. The wood is used in cabinet making, musical instrument making, for billiard cues and veneer.

Dear partners and customers,

We would like to inform you about changes and new listings of woods in the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): CITES: several important wood species to be protected in future

The 19th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was held in Panama City from November 14 to 25. Several important wood species (e.g. Padouk, Ipé and Cumarú) were listed on Appendix II of the Convention, which means that special permits for export and import will be required in the future.

In the future, the following species of the genera listed below will be listed on Appendix II of CITES:

- Genus Dipteryx spp. (Cumarú)
- Genera Handroanthus spp., Roseodendron spp., and Tabebuia spp. (Ipé)
- Genus Afzelia spp. (Doussié) - African population
- Genus Pterocarpus spp. (Padouk) - African population
- Genus Khaya spp. (Khaya) - African population

For all of the above new listings, Note #17: logs or blocksof wood, sawn wood, veneer sheets, plywood, and processed wood (Note: in our view, "processed wood" corresponds to planed wood).

CITES listings generally become effective after 90 days. For Afzelia, Pterocarpus and Khaya this means an entry into force on 23.02.2023. For Ipé and Cumarú a transition period of 24 months was negotiated, these listings will enter into force on 25.11.2024.*

A listing on CITES Appendix II does not mean a trade ban. Instead, special permits are required for export and import. For this, the respective authorities in the country of origin must confirm that the logging was legal and that the continued existence of the species was not endangered as a result. These authorities then issue a CITES export permit, which can be used to apply for an import permit from the respective authority in the importing country (in Germany: BfN).

This letter is intended as first, non-binding information and makes no claim for completeness and/or legal compliance.

An overview about the listed species can be found on the website of German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN.de): https://www.bfn.de/sites/default/files/2022-01/Liste%20der%20gesch%C3%BCtzten%20Holzarten-22_engl.pdf

*corrected on 01.02.2023 (Before: According to the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), this transition period will also apply from 23.2.2023, i.e. these listings will enter into force on 23.2.2025.)

from 9 AM to 4 PM - more information will follow!

A quick reminder:
In February 2021 we had the opportunity to purchase a shipment of pear trees from the 'Altes Land' (very close by Hamburg), after cutting, steaming and drying they are finally ready for sale after almost two years.
We planed some boards to show you the great structure of the pear wood!

Botanical name: Guaiacum sanctum, coulteri, officinale

Origin: Central America

The Open House on 04.06.2022 was very special for us.
Due to the two-year pandemic break, we were very much looking forward to the event together with you!
Many thanks to all exhibitors for their commitment, without you we wouldn't be able to organize the open house.

A huge thank you goes to our Thomas, who organized most this event with a lot of fun. THANK YOU!

This year there were so many handicraft works to see with a lot of attention to detail and - what we all probably have in common - with a lot of love for the natural material wood! Whether amateur woodworkers, woodturners or professionals, who have been working with wood for decades, everyone contributed their part to this successful day.

The most beautiful thing is the diolog that can take place here. We are happy to be able to offer all wood enthusiasts a "platform" where they can exchange ideas about their wood projects or the refinement of ideas and concepts. Inspiration and advice on top and all in a relaxed personal atmosphere.

This year we had so many exhibitors, than ever before, 25 ! This meant a great variety of wood crafts, wood knowledge; accessories and tools which could be experienced.

Turning demonstrations where pens, balls and boxes were made live with spectacular techniques were very popular with visitors, around these stands small crowds formed again and again whenever active turning was going on. A big highlight were Hans Weissflog and his son Jakob, who had a small but nice stand in the east hall. Interested people could ask their questions and watch the technique of the experienced woodturner in detail.

Wood care products and tools/accessories were offered in a wide selection from Naturhaus and Steinert Drechselzentrum Erzgebirge and Writing, Turning, Flipping. For carpenters and furniture designers very interesting: the 3D scan program from Pytha could be demonstrated.

In our wood store the day started quite relaxed, but between 11 and 1 o'clock it was very full and people bougt the wood for their next projects.

The biggest wood fans first took a close look at our large table with the many turning blocks to find the best pieces first. But there was no reason to worry, more of it was stored as usual in the back of the shelves together with scantlings and blocks in various types of wood.

Across the street at number 10, wood samples from the Thünen Institute were examined more closely, information was provided about wood pests, and there was a lively exchange of views on specialist topics.
Leather crafts and sculpture from the Flensburg School, where visitors could try their hand at, were also interesting stations for the younger visitors.

You could "test hear" instruments at the instrument makers. Here we had ukuleles and woodwind instruments on site. If you not only wanted to see but also hear the differences between the types of wood used in instrument making, this was the place to be. It was very interesting to see how differently the types of wood used affect the tone of the instrument. Thus, there is an enormous amount of leeway in tone color when different types of wood are combined in instrument making. The quality of the wood of course plays an extremely important role here.

A wide spectrum was also shown by our knife makers and bow makers, whether handmade knives, blanks, different materials, accessories and much more. Always great to see how wood and steel can be combined into a high quality, useful object and still look so great.
Wooden objects, mosaics, furniture, jewelry, cutting boards, pens, decorations, tins and bowls, lovingly handcrafted, could be purchased on this day, for a bit of wood charm at home.

We are very satisfied with a successful event, motivating have been this year again especially the great feedback we have received from our visitors, exhibitors and in the end it rewards all the work of the organization of such an event.

Finally! We have been waiting for a long time! Now we would like to invite you to our open door event on 4 th June 2022 from 09.00 AM to 16.00 PM. The entrance is free!

In addition to our proven exhibitors, this time we were able to arrange with new faces, from furniture making, object design, instrument making, carving, sculpting, woodturning, to bow and knife making, who will be happy to present their best works and exchange ideas with you on topics related to wood.

At the stands you can discover decorative items for home, jewelry, carved objects, furniture, musical instruments and much more.
We would like to share our passion for the material wood with you and inspire people. With this unique natural product, the possibilities are not limited.

Like every year, we are preparing a large table with selected, particularly beautiful and unusual pieces for you to purchase.

You can buy lunch with sausage, french fries and softdrinks or coffee and cake on site.

[As of 01.06.2022] Currently, no more Corona regulations are prescribed & the weather forecast looks promising!!! :)

Note: we will take pictures and videos for advertisements and our website.

Two containers of Black Walnut arrived at our yard!

Dear wood friends,

it's time again for the Advent calendar in our online shop! From 01 December onwards, there will be daily surprises in our Edelholzshop!

Turning blocks, scantlings, nuts and dried fruits, wood for musical instrument making, tree slabs, table tops and lumber.
The special products from the Advent Calendar are only available in the online shop by placing an order and entering the correct daily discount code. You will find the code in the Advent calendar overview at https://www.edelholzshop.de/de/adventskalender-2021/ daily from 9 a.m. But be careful - the code is only valid for one day!

Merry Christmas!

Your Max Cropp Team

Further into the past - Archive