I was very surprised for the price of the table, the level of quality in the product.  The wood is very nice and takes stain well.  It does use a combination of screws and twisting type collars to secure the pieces, but once assembled, it is quite sturdy.  The nice thing about being all wood is that if over time, one of the securing areas become damaged or worn, you can actually re-secure using wood screws.  I am glad we decided to take a chance on this item.  We purchased two.