Is it worth fixing or throwing away ??

Characteristics of Furniture Wood

To determine the value of a piece of furniture, you will need to determine what type of wood has been used amongst other attributes and where in the piece it has been used. This will no doubt help you to decide as to whether repair and or restore the piece.

Almost, any wood can be used, and has been, to build furniture but historically, some types have been more favoured for their durability, workability, availability and beauty. In times when wood was readily available, most furniture was made from walnut, oaks, mahogany, rosewood and some fruitwoods. Less attractive and at times more durable woods were used for the hidden parts of a piece of furniture. Rare wood veneers and inlays were common during the pre 1900's to not only conserve wood but also to create features and embellishments, and this work is still done today. Basically any piece of furniture dating pre 1900's is always worth restoring to some degree.

This article is attempting to give you a basic insight into wood characteristics that may help your decision of whether to repair and/or restore or not.

How to identify the wood used in your piece of furniture can be done in a few ways, such as grain patterns, colour, smell and touch to name a few. This does take some practice and knowledge at times. There are many books and websites where you can do research and gain knowledge of these various characteristics of wood and have a better understanding of what to look for.

What to look for ..!

1, Style - Try to establish how old the piece is by looking at what style it is. Various periods and countries had different styles. Some styles were also made of specific woods. eg ash was widely used in bentwood furniture etc.

Older pieces of furniture are usually hand made and this is a good sign of a worthy piece. Parts are not exactly even, which you would get with machinery. The bottoms of drawers are often hand shaped to fit the grooves in the sides. Dovetails are cut by hand and not always even, another sign of a worthy piece.

2. Colour - some woods have very distinctive colour characteristics. Colour can vary from tree to tree but the tones are usually constant within the species. The colour intensity may change but not the quality.

3. Grain pattern - look at the grain pattern, is it open or closed? Are the pores even distributed or concentrated at the growth rings? Is the grain straight, wavy, mottled or swirled?

Grain patterns and colour are sometimes a more practical way to identify the wood used, rather

than asking the question is a hardwood or softwood. At times it is difficult to distinguish between the two. As I have mentioned in other articles the hard/soft classification is a botanical one not whether its actually hard or soft.

The cell structure of a tree is different for each species and determines its grain pattern. Woods such as walnut, Oaks, mahogany, rosewoods and teaks have an open grain, whereas

beech, maple, cherry and gums are considered close grain. Softwoods don't have cells and for practical purposes can be considered close grained.

All trees have annual growth rings, made up of cells formed during each growing season and one can sometimes even tell if there was a dry or wet season from these rings.

Furniture woods are usually chosen and valued on their characteristics of colour and grain. Hardwoods usually have richer colours and finer grain patterns than softwoods.

Wood with distinctive patterns are often more valuable than subdued patterns. Weaker grained woods are often stained to give more character, which is why old finishes need to be removed so one can tell what is what underneath.

Common Furniture Woods used over the years

Hardwoods.

a) ASH - is a tough hardwood and has been known for its excellent bending ability and used in many bentwood furniture pieces because of its straight long grain.

b) BEECH - another good wood for bending but less attractive than ash as was often used for those hidden components in furniture.

c) CHERRY - one of the most valued hardwoods used in fine furniture and cabinets. It has a very distinctive grain pattern with colour variations from light brown to dark reddish brown.

d) GUM - this hardwood is often used in the form of veneers as well as solid pieces in outdoor furniture and flooring.

e) MAHOGONY - one of the traditional favourites for fine furniture. It is also extensively used in the form of veneers and has a very attractive and distinctive grain pattern.

f) MAPLE - another favourite in fine furniture. Usually has a straight grain pattern but can also be curly/ wavy pattern as well as birds eye features.

g) OAK - a hardwood used for its strength and attractive grain pattern used for furniture and in veneers. Has an open grain.

h) TEAK - another traditional one used in furniture making in both solid and veneer forms.

I) WALNUT - yet another traditional furniture wood and still very much used today. Also used in the form of veneers.

Softwoods

a) PINES - used extensively in furniture making and more so in modern furniture. It has clearly marked growth rings and close grain.

b) CEDARS - used mainly in closets and chests due to its distinctive smell and has a pleasing grain pattern.

If you have a piece of furniture that has veneers ( thin layers of wood) which have been glued to a substrate of lesser quality wood with banding of solid wood hiding the substrate these are still worth restoring. This technique has been given a bad name in times gone by, as being cheap and shoddy construction. Yes these do exist of course, but with respect to the fine furniture makers of their time, it is actually an ancient craft and used to achieve refinement and showcase the most beautiful cuts from a tree. As well as, to embellish a piece with marquetry motifs creating a stunning antique.

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