Myths & Misconceptions
All too often I hear clients saying: “I can’t afford solid wood I’ll have to go for cheap veneers” or “I want an heirloom piece, no cheating with veneers please”.
It’s unfortunate that the words “cheap” and “cheating” are associated with veneers. Until modern times – say, from 1900 on – veneered objects could be found only in the possession of the wealthy. The materials and talent to produce veneered pieces were beyond the means of the common man.
Usually of exotic wood, often of unique design, and always elegant, veneered pieces were more appreciated by the well-to-do. In modern times the mass production of pre-veneered particle boards have given veneering a bad reputation as the high speed production of these products often yield poor quality veneered boards. Also, a lot is dependent on the skills of craftsmen building furniture from pre veneered boards as poorly applied joinery techniques can lead to short –lived pieces. With the wide range of excellent adhesives on the market as well as various well engineered substrates on which we can apply veneers there’s no reason to believe we cannot produce excellent heirloom furniture with a combination of solid wood AND veneers. Here follows a brief summary of the advantages using veneers and solid woods in certain applications.
