Solid wood for furniture

The use of wood as raw material for furniture has been done since long time ago. Now even the manufacturing technology has developed and allowing to make furniture products from various kinds of raw materials. However the wood is still most widely used raw material to make furniture. The wood technology advancement has enabled to do highly efficient of utilization timber. The small pieces of wood that are considered as a waste, now can be utilized to make the woodworking industry is more efficient.  

laminated teak wood coffee table

Solid wood furniture.

Although now the wood products such as veneer, plywood, particles or M.D.F, etc are widely available to make furniture, but the furniture industry still requires solid wood. The furniture products in the form of small bars like the chair, crib, or craft form are still need the solid wood. Furniture components such as frames, drawer fronts, legs are still better made of solid wood. The solid wood is also still be used to make solid wood furniture that has more value.
Solid wood furniture is a furniture product that uses solid wood to make all its components. The solid wood are also used to make the big panel such the top panel or side wall. The laminated wood is used make a wide and long panel instead of the m.d.f. or plywood. The solid wood furniture generally will be more expensive than furniture made from processed wood products such as M.D.F., veneer or particle. Nevertheless there are still many solid wood furniture are made and marketed, because the solid wood furniture has several advantages.
 
The benefits of solid wood furniture.

•  Solid wood furniture can produce a stronger product.

Solid wood however is a stronger material than the wood products. With the proper treatment a laminated wood will produce more durable and stronger product than the engineering wood products. The wood products such as: M.D.F., veneer or particle is still possible to use for indoor furniture, but for outdoor purpose, the solid wood is still the better choice.

•  Solid wood furniture has higher value.

The products are made of solid wood in generally will have a higher value. Solid wood is considered as a natural substrate that is more valuable than the engineered product. The solid wood will also be more valuable after long time stored and used. Someday the old wood product can be sold as an antique stuff. 

Even so the handling of solid wood has to be done properly. Wood is a natural source which has varies character and properties. The properties variation of timber must be anticipated to avoid any problems in the production process.
 
Here are the things that must be considered in dealing with solid wood.

•  Wood will always expand and shrink

Wood is a hygroscopic material that will absorb water. Wood will always correspondent its moisture content with the surrounding humidity. The wood will always shrink and swell follow to the changes of the environment humidity. The number of development and shrinkage of this wood can vary depend on the wood type and also the direct of the wood.

Therefore the construction and design for wood furniture should be made by considering the possibility of the wood movement. A room should be provided at every joint to anticipate the possibility of the wood swelling and shrinkage.

• Use laminated wood for wide and long panel.

The swelling and shrinkage of the wood will be greater with the higher length or wide of wood board. The higher width and length panel will have a higher risk for curved or cracked since he expands and shrinks more. To anticipate this problem, the wide and long panels should be made of laminated wood. With a proper gluing and laminating process a laminated panel board which is more stable can be produced. The use of laminated board is also able to overcome difficulties to get a plank of wood with a length and width sizes.

•  Wood could have varies properties.

Wood is a product which is obtain from living plant. The properties and character of the wood depends on the condition when the plants are alive. The same type of timber can have different properties if it is sourced from different places.
To produce a uniform product, then the selection and arrangement of wood must be done since the beginning of the production process. A wood selection and arrangement is required from the beginning of the laminating process. Every piece of wood should be checked and observed before they are laminated. The laminated board should be made of the uniform pieces as far as possible. The uniform of color and grain pattern will help to produce a uniform appearance in the final product.

Wood pieces also should be dry before it laminated.  Wet wood pieces will shrinkage when it releases its water, and this could crack or bending problem to the wood panel.  A panel wood that is consist wood pieces with varying moisture content will shrinkage in different size in each parts. This condition is high risk for an uneven surface, cracked and curved. 

•  Bug or mite.

Some woods such as: mango and mahogany wood is liked by termite or bug.  The termite could attack when the product is still in the process, when it finished or long time after the product is stored and used. To anticipate this problem, a proper processing must be done for the timber. Timber out from the saw mill should be soaked in an anti-insect solution before goes to the kiln dry oven.

• Oil on the wood.

Some special wood such as: teak wood, rosewood, pine will release oil from its grains, pores or knots. The wood oils are actually serves to prevent the arrival of insects and to make the wood become more durable. But sometime the oil comes out from the wood could interfere the appearance to the finishing color. Therefore the finishing color selection on some wood should always consider the existence of the oil inside.