Newsletter
April 26 2003

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April 26, 2003

First of all I want to apologize for the lateness of the newsletter this time.

I had this issue of the newsletter almost complete, then decided to change horses in the middle of the stream (actually Saturday morning).

Many people have been requesting information about wood types and species and about veneer, so I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate some time to wood and veneer.

This issue is just about wood, but next time we'll cover the remaining furniture wood and get back to color and other interesting things, hopefully there will be something of interest for everyone.

Hard and soft woods

The definition of hard wood is wood from a deciduous tree which is a tree that produces a fruit or nut (not necessarily edible) that sheds it's leaves and grows new leaves. Hard wood runs from definitely hard to softer than soft wood.

Soft wood is wood from coniferous trees. Soft woods are generally softer than most commercially used hardwoods, although some hard wood classed woods are softer than the commercially used soft wood. Whew, let's go on to something else.

The definition doesn't describe which wood is the hardest or softest and sometimes leaves you scratching your head in wonder why those people who are 'they' came up with that method of defining wood.

Hardest and softest woods

Balsa

The hardest and softest woods generally won't be found in any of your furniture or kitchen cabinets, but if you're a craftsperson you're probably familiar with balsa wood or if you're a boating enthusiast you may be familiar with lignum vitae.

Balsa is the softest wood there is that has any useful value. Balsa can be worked with a serated table knife, although it would be very tedious and there are a lot better ways to work with it. You can turn a child loose with a block of balsa and some tools so dull the child could never get hurt and they can turn out some interesting projects and really enjoy their time while you're working on furniture.

Balsa grows like a weed and reseeds itself like a dandelion. The seeds waft on the wind and can end up growing way inside a forest where it's very difficult to cut and transport. It grows very rapidly and can reach heights of 45 feet and diameters of six feet. Balsa is generally harvested when it's 18 to 24 inches in diameter, because when it gets much larger the outside wood starts to harden and the inside starts to rot, so they aren't of much commercial value when they're big.

A very interesting thing about balsa is that officially, by definition, it's a hardwood. At the end of the rainy season the balsa will quite often lose it's leaves, although the new leaves will grow back almost immediately.

Balsa wood can be pretty handy if you have some large gouges or cracks in the base wood when you're veneering or covering with a plastic laminate. Balsa is a lot easier to work with and smooth out than a lot of plastic wood fillers available today.

If you have a big gouge in the base wood, just take a chisel and flatten out the bottom, sides and ends and cut a piece of balsa just a bit larger than the hole and thicker than the depth. Apply glue to the surfaces of the hole. Sand the sides and ends of the balsa until it just starts into the hole, then put a block of wood on it and tap the block with a hammer or mallet. The balsa will compress and fit tightly into the hole. Use a sharp chisel and sandpaper to smooth the top and you've got a good plug. A balsa plug can save time by not having to wait for layers of filler in a deep gouge to dry. It's not advisable to use it in openings larger than about an inch in width and length, because in larger patches under veneer it can be spongy allowing the veneer to split.

Balsa in blocks and thin sheets can be found in most craft stores.

Lignum Vitae

Like balsa, lignum vitae won't be found in general use around the house. Lignum Vitae is the hardest wood there is and will dull most woodworking tools before you can do anything with it and it's so resinous that it takes special preparation to glue it.

Lignum Vitae can be turned on a lathe and has a nice natural finish due to it's resinous nature.

Bearings made from lignum vitae are very durable, because they have a natural lubricant. They make ideal bearings for the propeller shaft on boats, since the wood won't rust.

If you have a great desire for a hunk of lignum vitae you would have to order it from a specialty wood source. I can't think of a durn thing an average refinishing, woodworking craftsperson could use it for.

On to the useful stuff

Wood used around the house

Particle board is made from wood, but it isn't really wood and isn't really a choice material to use for furniture, although there is a tremendous amount used in furniture in these modern enlightened days. We'll cover particle board in it's various forms at another time, but for now we'll stack it out behind the barn.

Plywood

Plywood has been with us for many years and is used extensively around the house. When glue was perfected to the point that wood plys would stay together after they were glued, plywood was the typical product for home construction where large areas needed to be covered.

A lot of kitchen cupboards are constructed with plywood.

Plywood is made by putting a log on a gigantic lathe and thin sheets are cut from the log by a very sharp blade the full length of the log as the log turns.

A ply is laid down and glued, then another ply is laid with its grain pattern laid across the pattern of the first sheet. A third sheet is laid with the grain in the same direction as the first and so on until the required number of plys are laid down with glue between each ply, then it's pressed to hold the plys together at a certain thickness until the glue dries. That's a very basic description. The specifications are very strict as to thickness, width and length and the quality of material used. The plywood is xrayed to check for voids and if there is an inner area that has an open area for any reason it's rejected and those become the plywood blows at a reduced price that you read about in the lumber ads.

Plywood is very stable and resists warping and cupping, so is good for large areas.

Cabinet grade plywood is made with more plys than construction grade, then it's clad with veneer of nicely grained woods, generally hardwoods, which are easier to finish than the woods used in plywood. The woods used in regular plywood are ideal for painting, but can pose a problem for staining and clear finishing.

Most interior doors are made with a form of plywood, too. A frame is made, often with a wood of the same type as the flat surface of the door, about an inch and a half wide. The inside of the door is zigzaged cardboard strips to hold the two outer surfaces apart at a certain thickness. The outer surfaces are 1/8 inch thick plywood with a hardwood veneer. The thin plywood is called a door skin and is usually birch, mahogany or oak. There is a larger block of wood used at the area of the doorknob and latch for strength.

The curved fronts and drawers of lots of antiques and older furniture were made with laminated wood, which could loosly be called plywood, since it's made with wood plys. The main difference is that the grain of the wood strips are all laid in the same direction.

Some sweeping curves are made by steaming and forming solid wood, but tighter and more curvier pieces could only be made by using thin pieces of wood and forming each piece individually, then gluing the pieces together to make one curvy piece.

Most modern day curved pieces are made by pouring glue impregnated wood chips into a form and curing at high pressure, then applying a wood veneer to the front.

Furniture Wood

In the distant past, there were many pieces of furniture made from whatever trees were available in the location where the furniture was made. Some made by handy home craftsmen and some by small local furniture manufacturers. These pieces of furniture are among the most prized collectors pieces nowdays, some primitive, some very elegant and some made from several different species of wood.

Some of the most popular and common woods for better furniture are walnut, mahogany, maple, birch, alder, cherry, oak, beech and poplar.

Pine

Pine and the other similar coniferous woods have always been popular, because it's easy to work with and although it's very soft and dents easily it's durable and will last a long time.

Pine will vary in hardness depending on the species. Yellow pine is a little harder than white pine. Yellow pine is a pale yellow color and white pine varies from white to pale yellow. Pine is easy to work and sands easily. With patience and care you can get a very admirable staining job on pine and then a good clear finish.

Walnut

Walnut is an open grain wood that varies from a straight grain to a lightly figured grain pattern. Walnut burls are highly figured and beautiful pieces of wood. The color of walnut is from light tan to a very dark brown, almost purplish brown. Walnut is often the choice in more elegant furniture. Walnut stains, to even out the color, and finishes nicely.

Mahogany

There is mahogany and then there is mahogany. The really beautiful stuff is from Africa or Honduras.

Mahogany will vary from a light tan color to browns and through pinks and into deep dark red and on to almost black.

When you go to an average lumberyard and ask for mahogany you'll probably get luan mahogany from the Philipines. Luan is light brown with occasional dark brown areas.

Mahogany has a fairly straight grain with enough variation to make it interesting.

The African and Honduras mahogany veneer is a little beyond fantastic in appearance.

Oak

Oak is one of the most popular all around furniture woods. Oak has a very distinctive grain pattern which has open pores and depending on the way the boards are cut from the log may have straight line grain to a very leafy variated grain pattern. The color will vary across a board alternating lighter and darker colors. White oak can vary in color from a creamy almost white color to a medium brown and red oak is pretty much the same with a reddish tinge. Oak is very hard and heavy. Oak will take a stain well and can be made to have color accents from a whitewash to any other color you can imagine by staining and wiping immediately leaving the color in the pores of the wood.

Running out of space

I generally seem to run out of time with my mouth still full of words or run out of space with my fingers still full of words. Next time we'll cover more furniture woods and some veneer information and I'll have some wood sample pictures on the web site with links from the newsletter, so you can see the wood as well as read about it. I would put the pictures in the newsletter, but some people have slow Internet connections and it would take too long to download. We'll get back to some variety, so those who aren't interested in wood don't get ho-hummed.

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