- Key People:
- Adam Weisweiler
- Related Topics:
- ébéniste
- parquetry
- crossbanding
- laminated wood
- coating
Veneer
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What is veneer in the context of furniture?
In furniture, veneer is a thin layer of fine wood glued to a base of less expensive wood to create an attractive surface. It allows the use of beautiful woods that might be limited in availability or too difficult to work with in solid form.
Veneering strengthens furniture by backing the decorative wood with sturdier wood. Laminating veneers at right angles in layers offsets the wood's cross-grain weakness. Modern veneering techniques involve special glues and equipment, resulting in a strong, beautiful product. The process involves sawing, slicing, or peeling the decorative wood into thin pieces, which are then glued to a prepared surface.
The practice of veneering furniture dates back to ancient Egypt and was revived in the 17th century.
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How is veneer different from solid wood in furniture making?
Veneer and solid wood differ significantly in furniture making. Veneer is a thin layer of fine wood glued to a less expensive material to create an attractive surface. Solid wood is natural wood used to construct furniture.
Veneering allows the use of beautiful woods that are either rare, small, or difficult to work with in solid form. Also, it increases the wood's strength by backing it with sturdier wood. Solid wood is prone to shrinking or swelling depending on moisture, which requires special construction methods. While solid wood is still used for shaped components and edges, man-made materials are regarded as reliable and stable. Using solid wood can be wasteful, with only about 25% of the tree ending up in the final product.
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Why do furniture makers use veneer?
Furniture makers use veneer for several reasons. Veneering allows the use of beautiful woods that, because of limited availability, small size, or difficulty in working, cannot be used in solid form for making furniture. It helps to produce a smooth and attractive surface that would hardly be possible to achieve using solid wood, partly because of the expense, partly because of its brittleness, and partly because the grain can never be shown off to its best advantage when the timber is cut into solid boards. Additionally, it significantly increases the strength of the wood by backing it with a sturdier wood. The practice of veneering furniture has been known since the time of pharaonic Egypt and was fully exploited at the beginning of the 18th century.
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How is a veneer sheet made?
Veneer sheets, used in furniture making, are thin slices of wood with a consistent thickness, typically between 0.5 and 1.0 mm [0.02 and 0.04 inch].
Veneer is made through:
* Softening Logs of harder wood species are softened by steaming or submersion in hot water.
* Cutting The softened logs are then sliced using one of these methods:
* Rotary-cut This method, which accounts for over 90% of veneer production, involves rotating a log against a blade on a lathe.
* Slicing A knife blade cuts thin sheets from a log section.
* Sawing Though wasteful, a tapered saw can produce veneer.
* Drying The veneer is then dried in specialized chambers with controlled temperature and air circulation.
* Clipping The dried sheets are clipped using a guillotine-type knife to remove defects and create usable sizes.3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some common techniques for applying veneer to furniture?
Veneering techniques enhance furniture by applying thin wood layers to improve appearance, increase strength, and reduce costs. Common methods include simple veneering, where a single sheet of decorative wood is applied to a surface, and crossbanding, which involves fitting small veneer pieces together within a framework to create patterns.
Parquetry uses small pieces cut from the same wood, arranged in geometric patterns with alternating grain directions. Modern veneering uses special glues and equipment for drying and testing, securing the veneer to coarser wood using presses or molded sandbags for curved surfaces. In mass production, resin glue is applied, veneers are positioned, and heat is used to cure the adhesive rapidly.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of using veneer in the furniture industry?
Veneer is a thin layer of fine wood glued to a less expensive material to create an attractive surface on furniture.
Advantages of Using Veneer
- Veneering makes it possible to use beautiful woods that might be too rare, small, or difficult to work with in solid form.
- It increases the strength of the wood by backing it with a sturdier wood.
- Applying veneers at right angles in layers offsets the cross-grain weakness of the wood.
- Veneer surfaces can be produced smoothly, which would be impossible to achieve using solid wood.
Disadvantages of Using Veneer
- Veneers may lift, crack, and separate from the underlying structure.
- Exposure to light may cause fading or discoloration.
- Changes in humidity can cause warping and cracking.
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Veneer, extremely thin sheet of rich-coloured wood (such as mahogany, ebony, or rosewood) or precious materials (such as ivory or tortoiseshell) cut in decorative patterns and applied to the surface area of a piece of furniture. It is to be distinguished from two allied processes: inlay, in which cutout pieces of decorative wood or other materials—such as metal, leather, or mother-of-pearl—are inset into cavities cut into the main structure of the piece being decorated; and marquetry, or boulle work, which is a more elaborate kind of complex veneering.
There are two main types of veneering, the simplest being that in which a single sheet, chosen for its interesting grain (yew or purple wood, for example), is applied to a whole surface of inferior wood in one unit. In the more complex variation called crossbanding, small pieces of veneer wood are fitted together within a surrounding framework in such a way that the grain changes pattern, thus altering the tone according to the light. This process can produce complex fan shapes, sunbursts, and floral patterns.
When the veneers are made up of small pieces cut from the same larger piece of wood and affixed so that their grain runs in opposite directions in accordance with a formal geometric pattern, the process is known as parquetry.
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Veneering allows the use of beautiful woods that because of limited availability, small size, or difficulty in working cannot be used in solid form for making furniture. In addition, it significantly increases the strength of the wood by backing it with a sturdier wood and, through the process of laminating veneers at right angles in successive layers, offsets the cross-grain weakness of the wood.
Modern veneering, which uses special glues, drying, and testing equipment, produces a strong and beautiful product. Basically, the process involved in making all veneers is the same. First, the decorative wood is sawn, sliced, shaved, or peeled, sometimes by a rotary machine, into pieces between 1/16 and 1/32 inch in thickness. Then the veneer is glued to a prepared, coarser wood and secured by the application of mahogany, zinc, or cardboard presses; for curved and intricately shaped surfaces, molded sandbags are used. Early hand-cut veneers were thicker than the later machine-sawn product; although they were seldom less than 1/8 inch in thickness, they were cut by hand to 1/10 inch in 16th-century southern Europe.
Although the craft of veneering was practiced in classical antiquity, its use lapsed during the Middle Ages. It was revived in the 17th century, reaching its apogee in France and spreading from there to other European countries. Because of their preference for ebony, the French masters of the craft of veneering were known as ébénistes, although they later combined veneering with technical variations such as marquetry. By the end of the 17th century, woods such as almondwood, boxwood, cherry wood, and pearwood were commonly used.
The considerable craftsmanship involved in the artistic use of veneers is most evident in the 18th and early 19th centuries, when Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton employed mahogany and satinwood veneers. Later, exotic woods, various metals, and organic materials such as tortoiseshell—which was also popular with 17th-century Flemish craftsmen—were in vogue. By the mid-19th century, with the introduction of mechanical saws, the veneering process was sometimes used in mass production to make high-style furniture out of cheap pine or poplar wood.
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