Tuli Success Stories
Colours beneath the wooden surface
Riku Kärri, a hunting and shooting enthusiast, craved for some fresh decoration for his gun. He started to develop a new method with which wood could be dyed evenly. When he found Jussi Helve as his partner, the world’s only company that produces thoroughly coloured birch ply was born.
The first successful colouring project was the stock of a competition firearm. Inspired by the success, Kärri started to develop the method as a part of a research project in the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland. Using the method industrially was already possible, but to start up a company, a knowledgeable partner was needed.
“Me and Riku met via our mutual friend Ilkka Snellman, who suggested that we should work together. I’m a designer by profession, Riku is an engineer”, Kärri explains.
During its founding year, the company was successful in the national Venture Cup competion for new business ideas.
Today, Coloured Wood Products – or CWP – is located in the village of Rauha, near Imatra. With the method developed by CWP, even a 45-millimeter thick piece of wood can be coloured throughout.
“We only colour birch ply. When different-coloured plies are piled together, the result is visually impressive. A traditionally stained parquet retains its colour only as long as the surface of the wood remains intact. Thorough colouring is not affected when the surface of the wood is worn, and that’s a big advantage”, Helve says.
The secret method produces an even surface
CWP’s method is based on a colour mixture, developed by the company themselves, which penetrates the wood fibres easily. Helve does not want to shed light on the details of the method.
“Colouring wood is not something anyone is able to do, although many have tried. A common result is that the inner colouring is left uneven. For us it’s easy, but I won’t tell you why”, Helve chuckles.
The company of five employees does not have competitors in Finland, nor are there many of them globally either.
“There is one company in the United States that colours gun stocks and Italy has a few ply colourers,” Helve counts.
Half of the CWP products go into export. Domestically, especially the business for interior design has grown during the years of operation. Coloured wood is also used for knife handles, rifles and gift items.
“We’ll be shifting our focus more and more to interior design in the future”, says Helve.
