If your furniture is solid wood or not , is one of the major and timeless questions concerning wood . Many people experienced or not , woodworkers or just wood “lovers” , may have experienced the bad moment in which they have been bought a wood , which wasn’t wood .
Yes , no matter how experienced you are and how many years you have on your “shoulders” in your woodworking activity , making a bad wood choice , is always a possibility .
The certain “thing” is this : You cannot be 100% certain for the quality of the wood , just only from its looks . There are more than 1400 different varieties in our awesome planet and to make a mistake is very easy .
Seing only the grain of the wood , its feeling and how it looks can give you higher possibilities to be right , but not 100% certain . So as you see the correct identification of the wood is a very hard “job” .
But , “things” aren’t so bad . These are the 8 Criteria , in order to choose furniture form real-solid wood :
1)The Weight of the Furniture .
2)The grain/texture , of your wooden furniture .
3) The quality of wood’s connections .
4) The general stability and solid construction .
5) The varnish factor .
6) The smell factor .
7) The price of the wooden furniture .
8) The quality of the fabric , if it has .
Lets’ begin to see these criteria :
1) The wooden furniture’s weight .
The first and very important criterion( along with wood’s grain ) to identify and have your first opinion for your furniture’s wood is : the weight of the wood .
Be very careful and have you attention in the highest focus . The engineered wood which seems like wood , cannot have the weight of the solid real nature’s wood . No way .
This is the first you should watch and begin your “checking” of the furniture you have in front of you . No other engineered type wood can be as heavy as a furniture made from real solid wood .
***The Engineered wood types are :
a) MDF ( medium dennsity fibreboard ) . .
b) HDF ( high density fibreboard ) .
c) OSB ( oriented strand board ) .
d) Particle Board .
e) Plywood ( physical wood layers glued together ) .
f) Veneer .
If you want to rememmebr the types of wood , see them in HERE .
The first thing an experienced carpenter does when he wants to make a wood furniture purchace is , lifting the furniture .
I’ve seen those very experienced woodworkers , to lift all the furniture they like to buy , “abandon” the lighter pieces and focus to the heavier ones . Then , they make more intense looking .
The solid real wood is heavy , the heavier of All others .
So if you want to buy a wooden table , chair , small library , desk , et.c and you have many choices in front of you , choose the heavier ones .
Then you’ll do more advanced search , but left aside the light ones and focus to the heavy pieces . After that you’ll have to do some more looking to your future buy .
2) The furniture’s grain/”waters” .
After the heaviness , you should watch and check the wood’s grain .They must have a “continuity” to all the length of the wood surface you check and don’t be “interrupted” .
This means that the wooden surface is made by the same wood part/material of the tree .
All the wood parts of your furniture , should “obey”, this texture continuity . The wood legs , the back , the big surfaces , the bottom , all . Your furniture may have many wood parts , but these parts should be from the same wood part/material , in all of its mass .
Grab your furniture in your hands , turned it upside down and look it in all of its dimensions and levels . The upper , the sideways , the lower surfaces , the drawers , everywhere .
Some wooden areas , may be from different parts , but check how these parts are joined together .
You should also see where these different parts came together and the quality of their continuity , giving to the entire furniture , continuity .
The real solid’s wood grain is something unique and it cannot be copied by other type of engineered wood .
You can feel it in your hands and when you touch real wood , the energy it has , is unique .
Many times the wood constructors , cover the sideways of a wooden surface with veneer . The Veneer gives many different aesthetical results and sometimes times is used .
If the wooden furniture has venner in its sideways , it will have an horizontal grain pattern and you should also check if the veneer is from the same wood type and the matching is perfect .
If the furniture’s feeling is totally perfect( above-bottom-sideways) , you should be careful . It’s probably veneer . The real solid wood , no matter how well is its sanding , it hasn’t the industrial engineered perfection , made by the factory’s machines .
In a very expensive well created and elite wood furniture , you let it’s beautiness “free” and you don’t need to increase it , by using veneer .
Yes sometimes even in a solid furniture you can see veener ( to make curves or something like that ) , but this is the exception . If you “fall” in this case you’ll see that the level of the veneer and the whole furniture work , is very high .
The wooden furniture condition , should have a uniform look and if it has curves , the woodworking process , should be “surgical” perfect .
If the furniture has also carved details on it , it’s a very good sign , of being from real solid wood . You cannot make carvings in the veneer , or the MDF , or other industrial wood type .
3) The quality of wood Connections .
After the heaviness , the grain of the wood , you should check the wood connections . The elite furniture’s joints are in the highest level of joining . They very close to perfect matching . The woodworker should be very careful to this point .
In a top quality’s furniture you won’t see , pins , screws , staples , visible “messy” wooden glue and in general cheap joining solutions .
The wooden notches and dents must be “surgical” matched , with minimum allowance , between the wooden surfaces .
The quality of the matching should be visible easily from anyone and all this should “excrete” the aura of the solidity . The 2 surfaces must look like as one piece of solid and healthy wood .
See yourself the quality of the wood’s joining surfaces , in the drawers area . Drawers from real solid wood , have usually dovetail connections and this is a serious sign of real wood , also .
4) Furniture’s general Stability – Solid Construction .
Is your future furniture , stable in any surface or it sways ? Usually the good quality’s furniture is very stable and doesn’t sway in different floors . If you place your furniture in some of the store’s floors and you see it being very “shaky” , this is something to consider .
This is up to your judgement . If your wooden furniture has passed all the previous “tests” and it sways a little , maybe it isn’t something to prevent your buying .
If you “judge” , that it sways a lot more than the normal , make a re-check to the previous criteria and reconsider . Maybe you’ve missed something and this “shaking” , is a reminder .
5) The Varnish factor .
Are the top and elite and expensive wooden furniture been varnished ? For this there isn’t a “law” .
Many times ( not saying all of the times) yes , even the solid real wood furniture are varnished . The varnish protects the wood from the human activities on them and the manufacturers , prefere to varnish them .
Yes i don’t like the varnish “thing”and i like my wood to “breath” , but the majority of people want their furniture to have the protection of the varnish . So you may find very good furniture unvarnished , but most of the times the varnish exists .
In here you should check the quality of the varnishing process and the general looks .
Put on your furniture a glass of water , try maybe to make a mark with your finger or your nail on it and see the results . The good furniture must have good quality’s varnish and be able to mark it , should be a difficult “job” .
6) The Smell factor .
Of course as i said previously , most of the furniture you’ll find in the stores , they are varnished furnitures . Solid and more luxury and expensive ones , are not in many cases .
They have only a very thin layer of water soluble finish . So the varnish is blocking the smell of the wood and it’s very difficult the wood’s smell to overcome the varnish one .
But sometimes if you bring the wood very close to your nose and smell deep a couple of times , you may detect the wood’s smell . And of course this is very good and it’s a crucial sign that your furniture is made from real and solid wood .
The manufactured and engineered wood isn’t a real material , which exists in the real world . It’s made by us and of course smell as real wood . You may smell several chemical smells and other stuff , but you won’t smell wood .
Even if the wood “sandwiches” which have pieces of wood inside , they don’t have the pure smell of wood . The chemicals and glues we use to make these sandwiches , prevail the smell of the wood materials inside .
So if you your wood furniture has all the above criteria and it smells like wood , clearly and with purity , you are in a very good path to make a correct buy .
7) The Price of the wooden furniture .
As you can imagine , real solid wood’s furniture , are way more expensive , than the other ones . The opposite is impposible . The working hours and effort you need to create a furniture from real wood , are for sure more , than a machine which makes the engineered wood piece .
Usually the elite wood furnitures are made by hand , from very experienced carpenters . This costs . Sometimes , in some “simple” wood furnitures without sculpture designs on them , machines can cut and shape real wood .
But the final shape , the connections and the finish of the furniture is made by human hands .
And this costs . Of course i should mention the higher price of the real wood to buy and all this are making the price of the true wood furniture , much more expensive .
8) The Quality of the Furniture’s Fabric .
If your wooden furniture has fabric on it , the quality of this fabric, says much for the quality of your wooden furniture . Is it a cheap fabric or an expensive one ?
Is it covered with good quality’s leather , velvet , et.c and how good is the job , the fabric tailor has done ?
Be very careful on this . You may found “situations” you don’t like and maybe will change your final buying opinion . The top quality’s furniture fabric , is measured , designed , cut , joined together with “surgical” attention .
Advantages and Disadvantages between Real – Solid Wood and Veneer/Engineered Furniture .
1) If you have your real wood in several places and you move it a lot , you should be aware of damaging it , from the tranfer .
2) Real wooden furniture , need more attention and care-maintenance , concerning the weather conditions ( moisture , high temperatures , big temperature fluctuations , et.c)
3) Laminate furniture haven’t the “personality” , the feeling , the smell , the warmth , the prestige of real solid wood’s furniture , even if they can handle betteer the moisture/ water / weather factors . They seem way more “cheaper” .
4) Real wood furniture have way more durability to external forces and some wood types are extremely hard and strong . They can last forever .
5) The veneer furniture is lighter than the real solid ones and they are easier to transfer .
6) If you damage veneer , you cannot make adjustments and fix it .
7) Usually the engineered furniture , are used for small periods of time , student rooms , et.c .
8) The veneer – engineered furniture doesn’t need maintenance .
9) After a while the chemicals and wood glues the factories use for the industrial wooden furniture , loses its properties and problems , begins .
Have you ever seen MDF – OSB – Particle boards , having “bellies” in their middle sections , caused by weight ?
This happens because the wood glue is losing its strength to hold together the small/medium wood pieces of the engineered board .
Last Tips & Advices .
Many times i go to the popular big markets , all cities have (IKEA , et.c) and when i go to the outdoor area , i see their outdoor and not only furniture .
Some of them are from “wood sandwiches” , some from plywood , some from industrial wood and some are from real/solid wood .
The industrial and other styles of furniture most of the times are very easy to identify .
But in the ones which are from real wood , i see so many different mixtures . Wooden tables and other creations having true wooden boards for their tops , but “feet” from plywood , or industrial one .
Furniture that they are all from true wood , but so thin and without great attention in their connections and because of that , not being so stable .
I see “countless” wooden furniture’s mixtures , because the factories are trying to combine the quality with the low prize . And of course this sometimes is very difficult .
So have the above criteria as your “lighthouse” to choose well , but you should be very flexible . Sometimes you may need to make some “discounts” to your preferences , according to the money you can give .
Because you may find a wooden table with good and real boards and its “feet” having not so good quality wood or maybe having no real wood at all .
But because its price is very good for you , you may decide to buy it anyway . So always have your “wood mind” “open” and your personal judgement sharp .
So if you make your quality checks using the above criteria , you should also know that we separate the wood in qualities . The wood the manufacturers use for the making of furniture is different from the other needs .
In the constructions we use normally pine and fir . For the furniture we use the most luxury wood .
Which Wood is expensive for making Furniture ?
1)Walnuts .
2)Beech .
3)Chestnut .
4)Mahogany .
5)Ebony .
6) Rosewoods .
7)Maple .
8) Tropical Wood types .
9) Teak ( fire resistant & durable ) .
10) Satin Wood .
11) Sal Wood .
12) Meranti .
13) White Cedar .
14) Mulberry .
If you are a completely beginner to the woodworking activity – hobby , or someone who you haven’t the wood as a hobby , but you are also beginner , it’s very difficult to choose good furniture .
You may see a very beautiful , BUT PAINTED technical wood and be confused . Of course if you follow the above criteria of weight , et.c your “life will be easier” , but sometimes enthusiasm , can lead you to mistakes .
If you are a total beginner ( which isn’t a bad thing of course ) , try to have with you a more experienced person to help you . Everyboby knows someone , who is a carpender , an experienced woodworker , a retired carpender , et.c .
Keep woodworking and give to your life happiness .
