Don's Home Furniture

Characteristics of Wood

Oak

Oak grows in as many as 86 different species native to this country. Of those North American Red is the most widely used. A big, slow growing tree, red oak takes an average of 20 years to mature and lives an average of 300 years. It has a strong, heavy, rugged look that has made it a favorite of both furniture manufacturers and consumers for years. It has come to embody the very idea of strength and durability in the furniture industry. This reputation comes from oak's high density and hardness as well as it's distinctive radial grain pattern.
Natural oak when finished will first appear an almost pale blonde color with a slight to moderate reddish cast. Over time, the oak will oxidize to a golden honey color and the reddish cast will somewhat diminish. As with most woods exposure to sunlight will accelerate the speed and intensify the degree of oxidation.
The grain of oak will appear more defined and and darker than the flake (the closed grain section) when stained. This is a result of very open grained sections of the log running through an otherwise very closed grain wood. When stained the flake absorbs only a portion of the stain while the grain absorbs much more of the pigment.
The heavy grain pattern and open grain can often help hide the inevitable scratches, dings and dents that occur with every day use. Oak may be the best choice for dinette tables, coffee or worktables or desks. Especially, when kids are involved.
Oak can sometimes contain a streak of sapwood, which comes from the outer most portion of the log when milled. Sapwood may have a slight greenish cast.
Oak may also have dark almost black streaks in it called mineral streaks. The minerals absorbed by the tree during it's growth cause these. The above, as well as minor pin knots are considered to be natural characteristics and all of our builders make no attempt to avoid them.
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Cherry

Like all fruit trees, cherry belongs to the rose family and was used as early as 400b.c. by the Greeks and Romans for furniture making. It has helped define American traditional design because colonial cabinetmakers recognized its elegance and woodworking qualities. Black cherry found in Mid Atlantic states is the type of cherry used in most furniture manufacturing today.
It is a closed grain wood typically known for its rich red-brown color. Cherry is often stained with a deep red stain to further enhance its distinctive swirling grain and already red coloring.
However, natural cherry is actually a very pale pink in color when freshly milled and it darkens with age much more than any other hardwood. The process can take as little as a few weeks (depending on its exposure to light and rate of oxidation) or as much as a year. Once it has reached a certain point, which can vary from board to board, the rate of change will slow dramatically and in many cases stop completely.
A frequently occurring feature specific to cherry is its gum pockets, also known as a pitch pocket. They are small black flecks or streaks in the wood caused by dried sap pockets. It can also contain a naturally occurring grain feature known as curl. Curl results from an abrupt twist in the expected pattern of the wood's grain. This can create an almost iridescent effect in the wood. Cherry may also contain streaks of sapwood, which come from the outer most portion of the log. Sapwood will be markedly lighter in color than the surrounding area. This contrast will be less visible when stained. The above as well as minor pin knots and mineral streaks are natural characteristics of real cherry wood and our manufacturers make no attempt to avoid them.
When finished cherry has an exceptionally lustrous appearance that is satiny to the touch. The curl in the wood often will absorb more stain than the surrounding area creating a higher level of contrast. However, overall cherry accepts staining evenly and very well.

Hickory

Early pioneers made hickory a prerequisite for their wagon wheels. Often it is used for applications requiring strength and toughness such as flooring, tool handles, skis and golf clubs.
A Native American tree, hickories are members of the walnut family. Hickory is the hardest, heaviest and strongest American hardwood in use today. It has excellent elasticity and is good for steam bending. Hickory machines well but can be difficult to work with tools because of its hardness.
It is a fine but open grained wood. In its natural state it will have more color variation than any other wood we use. The color can range from white, to tan, to brown, or even reddish brown.
Dark black mineral streaks are also very prevalent throughout hickory. As well as moderately sized knots that can also be darker in color. The heartwood, or wood harvested from the center of the tree is usually brown or red in color. The sapwood, harvested from the outermost portion of the tree is extremely light or white in color. We cannot specify to use or use sapwood or heartwood in any product. Nor can we request that our manufactures try to avoid any other natural characteristics listed above when producing a hickory product. Please ask a salesperson to see an example of these.
Hickory welcomes a full range of stains. However, if by staining the intent is to even out the vast color variations this often does not happen. When staining hickory, the results are too often unpredictable.

Maple

As with oak there are several species of maple. The most popular among furniture manufacturers is a hard maple. Also called hard rock maple, it is one of the heaviest and hardest woods available. An extremely versatile wood, maple has been commonly used in shoe soles to cutting boards and chopping blocks to airplane propellers in the 1920s.
Maple is classified as a closed grain wood and is very light in color. However, you should expect variations in both color and grain as it is a natural material. Wood harvested closer to the center of the tree can appear almost pink. Whereas lumber from the outer portion can have light gray cast. Because of its closed grain maple has the ability to take a very smooth finish and show a distinctive sheen. Thus it can show more wear than an opened grain wood like oak.
There are several random features that occur in maple that may be more visible than in other woods due to its light color. Mineral streaks (dark, sometimes black streaks in the wood) are commonly visible in maple. Maple can also contain a naturally occurring feature known as curl. Curl results from an abrupt twist in the expected pattern of the wood's grain. This can create an almost iridescent effect in the wood. Large collections of curl are known as burl maple and are highly sought after. Birds eye maple is another unpredictable trait that occurs randomly in maple. Its name comes from its tiny circular grain pattern. The above as well as minor pin knots are considered to be natural characteristics of real wood and our manufacturers make no attempt to avoid them.
When maple is stained the results are unpredictable at best and at times may even appear blotchy. The curl in the wood often will absorb more stain than the surrounding area creating a high level of contrast. We cannot, nor will we guarantee how maple will stain.

Quartersawn Oak

Quartersawn Oak, a material little used today, is one of the hallmarks of the Arts & Crafts and Prairie styles. At the sawmill, the log is first split into four quarters (hence the name 'quartersawn'), then cut on the diagonal from the center of the tree out toward the edges. A peculiarity of oak is that it has a very strong, well defined 'rays' running from the center of the tree outward. Look closely at the end of a sawn oak board or branch and you can easily pick out the rays. They look like fine, straight lines spreading out from the center of the tree, perpendicular to the grain of the wood.
The Quartersawn Method places these rays on the face of the board, revealing the distinctive stripe or 'ray fleck' running across the grain that is the signature of quartersawn oak. According to Gustav Stickley "The quartersawing method of cutting... renders quartersawn oak structurally stronger, also finer in grain, and, as shown before, less liable to warp and check than when sawn in any other way." Quartersawing fell out of favor in the first half of this century because it yields less lumber per tree and takes more labor than plainsawing. Because almost all oak furniture today is plainsawn, we associate the quartersawn figure with prized period pieces. Therefore, this unique figure is an important ingredient in accurately recreating the look of turn-of-the-century furniture.
Plainsawn Lumber
Plainsawn Lumber is used in most oak furniture today. Here boards are sawn from around the perimeter of the log so the growth rings are essentially parallel with the surface. The 'ray fleck' appears only on the edges of the boards, if at all. Plain sawing produces many wide, clear boards with a pronounced 'cathedral' figure mixed with straighter grain. Plainsawn oak has a coarser, more textural look that draws attention away from the lines of the piece toward the surface itself. This textural quality tends to give furniture a more rustic or 'country' look, whereas the quartersawn figure is more refined and shows off the rectilinear lines of Prairie and Arts & Crafts furniture more clearly.