The availability of some woods has grown scarcer over the years and so the cost has risen. Up until the start of the twentieth century, most furniture was made from oak, walnut, mahogany, cherry, birch, maple and a few other select sources.
It is now far more common for furniture to be made from a cheaper alternative such as pine, gum or ash. The more expensive options in the first list are typically only used for the more expensive furniture or as veneers and inlays used in conjunction with cheaper woods.
Wood is characterised by its hardness. Whilst not all hardwoods are actually hard most are and they do tend to exhibit added durability. In fact hardwoods are defined as from trees that flower as opposed to conifers that do not.
Walnut, oak, cherry, teak and rosewood are all hardwood. Pine, redwood, fir, spruce and cedar are softwoods. Hardwoods which as discussed above tend to be scarcer also tend to cost more. One exception is gum which is a hardwood but is readily available and cheap.
The grain and colour of the wood is another variable. Wood is made up of cells. The cells of hardwoods are called vessels and are tubular and appear as pores in the wood which is recognised as an attractive feature. These vessels can be either large which is called open-grained, present in oak and walnut for example, or small and close-grained like beech and maple. Softwoods do not have this type of cell structure but they do most closely resemble close-grain.
Growth rings represent each year’s growth of cells and produce very different grains from wood to wood giving each a unique appearance. Some are mottled, some have eyes, swirls or ripples. This is combined with large array of colours such as almost white through to light yellow, red and black.
Classic characteristics of some of these woods include,
Maple: very durable hard wood with a notable grained pale yellow appearance.
Teak: hard wearing and moisture resistant so often used in garden furniture.
Pine: easily worked with a very smooth finish and inexpensive.
Oak: an absolute classic choice for a table; good looking, durable and moisture resistant.
Please click here for other considerations when choosing a dining table or extending dining table for your home.
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