Product highlight: Tamo Ash Veneer

Photo: Work in progress project by IDW&D featuring Tamo Ash cabinetry.

​Tamo Ash is one of the most unique materials currently available for Interior Design Projects. Not only does it have an aesthetically pleasing and fresh look, but it also has a very interesting story that it's worth exploring.
Let's have a close look at all that you can do with this material.


What is it?
Tamo or Japanese Ash is one of the most beautiful woods to work with and a rarety within the hardwood world. Predominantly found on the Northern Japanese Island of Hokkaido, this stunning material has a very unusual, almost tridimensional grain pattern caused by the combination of the city's cold weather and strong winds. 


Where can it be used?
Fine Cabinetry, Furniture, Marquetry, Doors and Paneling.


What does it look like?
The heartwood comes with a variation of light to medium beige and brown tones and a mixture of grain patterns that look like peanut shells, giving the mentioned tridimensional look to the material. The grain is generally straight with an uneven texture.


What workability does it offer?
When well treated, this material responds greatly to both hand and machine tools. It takes well to glues, stains, and a variety of finishes, giving this material great design plasticity.


Price and availability
Tamo Ash is mainly sold as a veneer or with specific types of finishes. That, combined with the fact that it is exported from Japan, and therefore quite rare, makes it a pricier material than other veneers.


What does it look like on a project?
This flexible material offers quite a high-end interior design finish, with quite a luxurious appearance. It can be combined with other materials and textures, and it's frequently seen as the stand-out focal point of a project. 
Below you can see some examples of Tamo Ash.

Images from: https://wood-veneer.com/images, https://houstonpanel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/tamo-ash-veneer-624x624.jpg, 

​Curiosities: 

• Tamo Ash has a grain pattern and figure that is entirely unique, making it really rare to have two identical pieces.
• When stained, ash can look very similar to oak and quilted maple.
• The peanut shapes that make this material unique seem to be caused by vines that grow tightly around the tree’s trunk, restricting the flow of nutrients and causing uneven growth of the tree.​

Interested in using Tamo Ash on your project? Reach out to us at [email protected]