By: Abe Abbas
I hear customers ask about veneers all the time, and mostly I sense a prejudice against them. Maybe this comes about as a result of our associations with the word "veneer", namely, a superficial or deceptive appearance, display or effect, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
However, when it comes to furniture, veneers are not necessarily a bad thing. The use of veneers does not imply that the furniture is of lesser quality, because that depends on two things: the type of veneer, and how well made is the furniture that it covers.
Veneers have been around for centuries. They cover some very prized antiques, as well as some very highly regarded modern work. So let us explore this in a little more depth.
1. What is a Veneer?A veneer is a thin sheet of wood or some other material. It is usually of better or superior quality, and placed over any lesser quality material such as an inexpensive wood, particle board or engineered wood. In this article we will concern ourselves with wood veneers only.
2. Why Are Veneers Used in the First Place?They are primarily used to make the furniture piece look more attractive. Particle board does not look all that good on its own. Neither does low quality lumber. Veneers can easily make less expensive wood look better, and in some cases more decorative, by giving it an ornamental look. The effects can be quite breathtaking.
Sometimes they can also give a piece a little extra strength. That happens when the grain on the wood veneer is placed at right angles to that of the underlying material.
3. How are Veneers Made?There are several different ways of making veneers. The way it turns out depends on the type of wood, its placement on the tree, but primarily on how the wood is cut. Different cuts create different figuring or pattern.
- Horizontal slices across the tree expose the concentric growth rings.
- Vertical cuts make for a striped grain.
- Rotary peeling yields a bold, strongly variegated pattern. Rotary peeling is done by rotating the log on a lathe against a long blade. This produces a continuous sheet of veneer.
- Different parts of trees, and different types of trees yield different patterns. Sheets from the same piece of wood will have the same figuring. These can be cut and placed in patterns to create marquetry.
4. When Was Veneering First Used?The history of wood veneering goes back a long time. Ancient Egyptians used them, as did the Romans. For some reason the practice fell out of use for a while. It made its reappearance in Europe in the 16th century. Since then it has been widely used. Today, in addition to wood veneers, we also see plastics such as Formica.
5. Common Misconceptions and Their Answers- It is simply some form of plastic. Sometimes it is but more often it is not. Cheaply made furniture will have bad quality veneers, while better quality furniture will have better ones.
- Veneers are only used in low quality furniture. Sometimes they are, but veneers are also used in more high end furniture. Drexel-Heritage and Baker also use veneers.
- Veneers cannot be refinished. Not true, but you do have to be more careful, because it is a thinner piece of wood. It will not withstand very heavy sanding for instance.
- The particle wood underneath is not as strong as lumber. Actually particle wood is as strong and durable as lumber, and it does not warp. Again, you have to look for well made furniture.
6. Some Common Veneer Terms- Cabinet Wood: Superior quality wood that is commonly used for outside surfaces of furniture.
- Face Veneer: The outside layer of cabinet wood, which is selected for its attractive grain.
- Veneer Matching: This is a painstaking process in which hand cut pieces are combined for design and ornamental effect.
- Book Matched Veneers: Slices with same grain configuration are reversed from each other and placed side by side.
- V or Chevron Matched Veneers: When two panels are diagonally book matched.
- Parquet Match: There are many ways to do this, and it is a way to create strong geometric patterns. Some commonly used patterns: butcher block, herringbone, random planking.
- Diamond Matched Veneers: Quarter panels are diagonally matched to create a diamond shape.
Article Source:
http://furniture.about.com/
Topic: 6 Things You Need to Know About Veneers (Read 1208 times)
