This steady advance of composites, which is expected to continue, is largely a matter of cost. Another consideration is that the quality of composites has improved. Computerized machinery produces more consistent, reliable boards. Better glues make veneers less likely to peel off. Unlike solid wood, many composites offer a uniform density with no knots or other flaws, making them more suited to mass production.
Composites also are less prone to expand or contract with changes in humidity.
The result is that composites show up everywhere. When asked, though, they say composite cores make the furniture less likely to warp. Composites, whether exposed or concealed, also are common in kitchen cabinets, countertops, speaker boxes, store shelves and car parts. Panels for roofs, exterior walls and floors of many new houses are made of oriented strandboard, or OSB, a composite manufactured from strands of wood. Brett Bros. Bat Co. makes baseball bats from three pieces of northern white ash glued together, instead of the traditional solid ash.