What is Solid Wood
Construction
Wood Types
Finishing
Choices
POINTERS FOR BUYING AND FINISHING SOLID WOOD FURNITURE
Although this information is part of the Mudroom site, we hope it will help you when you are purchasing furniture in general.
The best way to get value for money is to buy well constructed solid wood furniture and finish it yourself.
I am really referring to everyday furniture, including tables, chairs, dressers and beds. If you want a highly finished dining room set then this may not be the way to go. However, in the area of mud rooms, around kids etc, this would be my choice.
Materials:
When I owned my furniture store, I found people were fed up with dragging their furniture in the garbage three years after they had bought it (and sometimes before they had paid for it!). INDEX
So What is "real" and what is "solid"?
Planks:
A plank of 3/4" wood is solid but is subject to checking
(cracking) at the ends, warping and cupping. To overcome these
problems, builders make up panels of smaller boards glued together which
is more stable. The advantage being that you have a solid
piece but it will have the appearance of a panel with no consistent
grain pattern.
Plywood:
A furniture grade plywood has several advantages over planks or
panels of solid wood. It has a very flat surface and when
carefully used can be used to show off the unique grain pattern of the
wood you have chosen. Plywood comes in an amazing array of grades
and types well beyond what you will see in your local home center.
You should count plywood as being solid in you definition.
Particle board and fiber board:
Some furniture store sales people will say this is REAL WOOD
hoping you won't pick up on the semantics. Technically it may be
because it's made up of sawdust or wood fibers set together with glue.
Used extensively by cheap furniture manufacturers, these materials have
got a poor reputation mainly because they chip at the edges easily and
don't hold fasteners like screws well. However, used in the right places
such as kitchen counter tops they can serve a useful and economic
purpose but I don't think you should be looking for them in your new
bedroom set.
Veneer:
Veneer is a thin piece of wood glued to a suitable subsurface. In
this way you can have all the looks of an expensive wood without all of
the cost. For frequently used woods such as Maple, Oak and Cherry,
plywood are factory made using the wood as the actual outer ply.
More expensive and exotic woods are sold in rolls for the actual
furniture builder to apply to a suitable base. This reduces waste
and cost but you still end up with a sound structure and appearance.
Cheap Veneer:
Now this is where veneer has got a bad name. When people talk
to me about cheap veneer, they are usually referring to some
photographic process that sticks some paper that looks like wood onto
some particle board.
So in buying furniture, you must be able to distinguish between this cheap kind of stuff and the perfectly acceptable and often preferable use of veneers that afford you the benefit of a sound structure with a great appearance that will last for lifetimes.
The good news is that you will not find this in a store specializing in unfinished furniture. INDEX
Construction: What should you should be looking for?
Tops and Sides: Look for panels made up from boards of solid wood or from plywood which has the outer ply made from the wood of your choice (e.g. maple, oak etc.)
Face Frames: These are the strips of wood that form the face such as in a dresser or desk between which the doors and drawers fit. These should be made from solid wood.
Drawers: Look for sides made from either solid pieces (in smaller drawers) or from 1/2" thick plywood with nine or so plies. Look for corners that are either dovetailed or use some other joint to add strength to the corner. I have seen solid wood drawers that are butted together with glues and resin coated staples that can also hold up well - just don't buy drawers containing chipboard or fiberboard sides.
Drawer slides for heavy drawers in kitchens etc should be strong ball bearing based slides. Euro slides that use wheels instead of bearings are now popular and also work well. Wood slides on bedroom furniture are fine too and can be helped by waxing. INDEX
Features and benefits of frequently used woods.
Pine: This is a commonly used wood because it's relatively less expensive. You will find several species used. White Pine and Ponderosa Pine. These both tend to give the popular knotty look. A lot of furniture is now being sold made from panels or Radiata Pine which is grown in South America and Australasia. It is usually made into panels and is usually clear - free from knots.
Pine is ideal for painted furniture but you would be advised to use a conditioner on the wood before staining it a dark color as it tends to blotch.
Oak: Red Oak is now commonly used to make furniture and of course is known for its strength. It has a distinctive grain and you need to be aware of this when mixing with furniture and trim made from other woods as they tend not to go well together. It's kind of "all oak or nothing" but that's just my opinion. It finishes well but it does have tiny pores which should be filled if you are looking for a high quality finish.
Maple: This is a beautiful hard wood which is also very strong. It is best finished in a natural or light color as it does not take dark finishes well.
Cherry: This is the most expensive of the popular woods and is used more in high end furniture because of its great grain and color. However if you are looking for a less expensive alternative try Alder.
Alder: Sometimes called the "poor man's cherry" alder is grown in the pacific northwest. It is very similar in appearance to cherry and finished really well especially if you choose an oil finish. This is my recommendation for best value for money.
Rubber Wood or Parawood: This had found its way into all areas of the furniture business in great quantity. As its name implies this wood is made from rubber trees that no longer product latex or have been chopped down for the more profitable palm oil plantations in Malaysia, Indonesia etc. It is a hard and heavy wood and finishes easily. Because it is made into panels table top and other flat surfaces tend to have a butcher block appearance. It's great value for money.
Outdoor Woods: This is usually Cedar or Cypress. Please visit the link in the next paragraph if you are thinking about Teak.
Mahogany and other Tropical Woods: You will not usually find Mahogany furniture in unfinished furniture but it is commonly sold in regular furniture stores. However, Luan, which is a cheap plywood used for the backs of many items is a tropical product. As a responsible consumer you will want to get familiar with the associated environmental problems by visiting Rain Forest Relief. INDEX
Finishing something yourself
can save you
as much as 45%.
When choosing your finish think of patent leather shoes.
Patent leather shoes never look better than they do on the day you buy
them. However, a regular leather shoe will look better over time
providing you apply a regular coat of
polish. In other words, they develop a nice patina. The same goes
for finishing. A heavily lacquered finish needs careful use and no
scratching. Eventually the only way to repair it is to strip it
down and recoat - an expensive proposition. However, an oiled or
polished finish can develop a patina over time despite some knocks
and scratches. Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder, as they
say. If you are finishing mudroom furniture, I recommend that you
go for an oil finish which can be applied by hand and is really
difficult to screw up!
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