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A veneer is where thin slivers of wood are used as a furniture finishing
material. They are made from one or more layers of wood, usually less than 3/16
inch thick, made from sheets of wood produced by spinning a log against a long
lathe blade. A veneer is where thin slivers of wood are used as a furniture
finishing material.
Technically plywood consists of many layers of veneer held together with glue
and high pressure used in manufacturing. Sometimes veneers are used to give a
higher quality look to low cost furniture, other times furniture veneers are
used by craftsman to create fine furniture with intricate designs incorporating
several contrasting woods. When we speak of veneer in the context of quality
furniture, we are of course not referring to plywood which had no place in
quality furniture making.
A veneer is where thin slivers of wood are used as a furniture finishing
material. Sometimes veneers are used to give a higher quality look to low cost
furniture, a less valuable wood might construct something like a desk or large
armoire. To cover this coarser variety, sheets of fine (and more expensive or
rare) wood would be applied over the piece. Other times furniture veneers are
used by craftsman to create fine furniture with intricate designs incorporating
several contrasting woods.
Wood veneer furniture has certain advantages over solid wood furniture. It is
environmentally kind - it is up to 40 times more efficient than solid wood
furniture. A solid piece of mahogany furniture is necessarily more valuable than
one featuring a veneer surface of mahogany. Since veneer is so thin, it can be
glued to a stable substrate allowing designs and arrangements of the wood that
would be impossible with veneer wood. It is stable and not prone to warp or
splitting or seasonal movement.
Veneers can be laid over less costly and lighter materials to save production
and shipping costs, or added to a very expensive piece to showcase a
particularly beautiful grain pattern.
While it is true that veneers are often used to cover articles about furniture
that are made of a low-grade wood, this is not the only reason that furniture
makers use veneers. The slices used for veneering are generally trimmed from the
most attractive parts of the wood source. A saw was originally used for this
procedure, but is now commonly replaced by a stationary knife. The finest inlaid
tabletops and inlaid furniture also incorporate veneers for purposes of design.
In this case the veneers are placed of good quality hardwoods. Veneer was a
commonly used decoration style for furniture. In fact, many kinds of precious
wood, such as satinwood, were reserved only for veneer because it was quite
rare.
There is nothing wrong with well-made veneer furniture, in fact some of the
finest and most valuable pieces of furniture ever made use veneers. For these
reasons, much of our veneer furniture is finished off with solid wood lip. Thereby adding an extra level of durability. Any smooth and flat material can
have veneer laid over it, making this an extremely versatile and popular method
of constructing furniture. |
