Author: Steve

The use of veneer is much older than most people think. A lot of people associate veneers with elegant rococo furniture from the time of Louis XV, in the mid of the 18th century. But veneer was used already in the ancient Egypt, 2000 BC.

Veneering can transform a simple cabinet door into a glamorous piece of furniture, sometimes even turning it into a piece of art. Veneering declined in the 19th century, when it became possible to produce good furniture with help of machines, far cheaper and faster than had been previously possible. But veneering has recovered, thanks to improved technology. Furniture that would be extremely expensive if made of exotic woods, can be made of cheaper wood and then veneered with the expensive wood, saving a lot of money.

Veneering is a little bit like woodworking in reverse. You don’t really need any power tools. But you need a couple of special tools. A veneer press is used to press the veneer sheet down on a panel. A veneer hammer can also be used to press the veneer sheet down onto the panel. A veneer saw is used for trimming and cutting veneer. It has a curved blade to ensure clean cuts.

Ironically, using good quality particleboard is often the best choice for veneering. Particleboard does not have any grain so you can arrange the veneer on the particleboard panel any way you want. If you are using a hardwood base, you need to lay the veneer parallel to the grain.

Nowadays you have more than 200 different veneers to choose from. Some types of veneers are only available in small sizes. This means that you often need to join several small pieces. This can be tricky, rightly done the result is often eye-catching and impressive. But you see at once if it has been done badly.

Veneer sheets that are going to be matched should be cut from the same log. This gives you a set of sheets that are virtually identical. If you join sheets that have different grain patterns, the end result will seldom be good. Picking suitable grain patterns for decorative matching comes with experience. But by using mirrors you can get a reasonable preview of how the end result will look like. If you want to get an idea how a diamond match will look like, you need two mirrors. Place one mirror at a right angle to the veneer sheet and set the other mirror 90 degrees to the first mirror.

Wood is generally divided into softwoods and hardwoods. The names are a little bit unfortunate, if wood is hardwood or softwood has nothing to do with how hard or soft the wood is. Some hardwoods, like aspen, are softer than many softwoods. Neither are all evergreens hardwood. And broad-leaved deciduous (leaf-shedding) trees are not always softwood. Instead it is how a tree reproduces that determines if it is hardwood or softwood. Softwoods are gymnosperms while hardwood comes from angiosperm trees.

About 80% of the timber produced is softwood. As rule of thumb, cheap timber is softwood but that does not mean that all softwoods are cheap. The cell structure of softwoods is much simpler than that of hardwoods. Hardwoods have vessels.

Two terms that are often misunderstood are grain and texture. They are two distinct features. Grain describes the direction and regularity of the wood fibers relative to the tree trunk. A wood’s texture depends on the size and distribution of its cells.

Both hardwoods and softwoods are graded. The grading ensures that you get what you pay for. Note that the grading is different for hardwoods and softwoods. Hardwood grades are mainly based on appearance, high grades means smaller defects. The top grade is FAS, First and Seconds. In most cases, the higher grades of lumber are generally cut from the outer parts of the log, near the bark. The closer to the middle of the log, the poorer the grade becomes.

Unlike hardwoods, softwood lumber is graded differently depending on the species. This means that it takes much more time to understand the softwood grades. The most common grades are Select, Finish and Common. Select and Finish softwoods are not allowed to have any defects.

Generally defects make the wood worse. But in a few cases, defects may actually give the piece of wood character, making it more attractive. Lumber defects may be natural or manmade. Some defects are easy to deal with while others force you to discard the whole piece of wood.

Blue stains are a common defect. The discoloration is caused by molds that flourish when the wood is stored in poor conditions. The blue stains are easy to conceal by using a dark stain.

Generally, hardwood is the best wood for most projects. But the cheaper and ready available softwood is often good enough. Plywood does not have a glamorous reputation as the solid wood types. But for some tasks, plywood is a very good solution. First, it is available in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses. And it is easy to work with. Like hardwood and softwood, plywood is graded. Since plywood can be softwood or hardwood plywood, you have several different grades.