Evening star., 1941-03-08
Know Your Furniture

This is another in q series of I
articles on furniture and cabinet
making appearing each SATURDAY.
in the Real Estate Section OF
The EUening Star.
BY THE OLD CABINETMAKER.
1t is not difficult to understand
why the public generally became
opposed to veneered furniture. The
heirlooms of the family, made of
solid walnut, cherry or maple were
still perfect, while the veneered
furniture purchased but short
while ago was peeling of. 1t was
worthless and could not be repaired
successfully. In the early part of
our machine age, furniture fell vic
tim to quantity and cheap produc-
ton, and along with it a complete
collapse OF taste in design. Veneered
panels were seldom more than three |
ply and often only one, the face
veneer and usually on a pine core.
Glue was also serious draw
back. If it was not made fresh |
every day it would turn sour. This
caused it to lose its adhesive quail
ties. Little wonder veneered furni-
ture fell into disrepute. The word |
solid could only mean quality and,
of course, the only safe thing to |
purchase. But soon there developed |
trouble with the solid furniture. 1t |
warped, checked and even cracked |
apart. Surely, couldn't furniture |
of quality ever be made?
Again the heirlooms were COM
pared with the recent purchase Of
the solid furniture. 1t was still |
alright drawers fitted loosely:
little crack here and there, but |
think of its age? The heirloom had |
been made long years before steam-
heat. The wood had adjusted it
self to some extent, but when it was
finally in the home of an heir, with |
steamheat and all, it did begin to |
shrink and check, but after all it
was old
HeirlO0ms Also Suffer.
The heirloom suffered in our mod
ern homes, but it was not so ap-
parent as the new solid furniture,
because the moisture content of |
the wood in the heirloom was ex-
tremely low because of its age and
the many years it had passed
through violent changes in tempera-
ture. While the moisture content |
of the new solid furniture was high. |
The manufacturer of the solid fur
niture was faced with a serious |
problem. He could not control this
moisture content. He had not |
learned yet to kiln dry his lumber,
air-dried lumber, of course, he used,
but by the time it was made into
piece of furniture the wood had
absorbed so much moisture that
when subjected to adverse tempera-
lures and humidity the wood
shrank, cracked and split apart.
Even today with the most ad-
vanced methods of kiln drying, fin
ishing and protecting moisture con-
tent, solid wood proves troublesome.
Maple and cherry are somewhat
the exception. The cost of making
solid furniture is comparatively
small, that is why the inexpensive
pieces are made of solid material
rather than veneered stock.
Veneered furniture today can
Withstand any variations in tenn
perature or humidity. Veneered fur
niture is more beautiful because of
the opportunity to use beautifully
figured woods unobtainable in solid
woods. Inlays were used in all the
really lovely motifs OF the masters.
Our veneered furniture of today
will be the heirlooms of tomorrow.
Chairs Always Solid.
Confusion possibly arises as to
why some furniture, particularly
chairs, are always made solid. That |
this solid furniture is quality of
the best; chair frames as well as
structural parts of furniture are
always made solid. 1t is practical
because no large or broad surfaces
are used. Chair legs, posts of beds,
posts and legs of bureaus and chests
are always small in width and thick
ness That is the reason the solid
wood can be used with safety. Care,
however, is always taken to select
only hard, close grain material
such as Cuban mahogany, the finest
for chair frames, and posts of bu-
reaus and chests. Maple and birch
are also excellent.
Where there are broad surfaces
such as broad splats in the back of
chairs this member of the chair
would be made of plyWood If it
were solid the chances are it would
not give good service. The very
lovely Chippendale chairs with
pierced splats, the Queen Anne
chairs with beautifully figured splats
are made of plywood, while the
frame itself will be solid. The mois-
ture can be more readily controlled
because of the size of the material
and the opportunity to seal it
against moisture is more positive.
Pieces of furniture which are
handsomely carved can only be done,
of course, with solid wood. Broad
surfaces can only be controlled by
the use of veneers. For carving
and structural members solid mate
rial must be used.