What You Should Know:
Wood Furniture and Cabinets
Understanding the nature of the wood used in your furniture or cabinets will enable you to appreciate and enjoy each piece to the fullest.
At Pride Furniture, we use solid wood and hardwood plywood to construct quality furnishings and cabinets that will last a lifetime, in fact several lifetimes.
Understanding the nature of the wood used in your furniture or cabinets will enable you to appreciate and enjoy each piece to the fullest.
At Pride Furniture, we use solid wood and hardwood plywood to construct quality furnishings and cabinets that will last a lifetime, in fact several lifetimes.
Things to Remember
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Wood is open grained and textured and is capable of expansion and contraction due to temperature and humidity changes.
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While we all appreciate the lasting beauty of wood, consumers are often unaware of the nature and characteristics of wood.
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Anyone who will not be satisfied with slight movement or checking in their wood should never buy such furniture.
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The lines and grains are what give handcrafted wood furniture its uniqueness.
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Due to the natural variations of the wood, appearance may vary from one piece to the next. This is part of the beauty and splendor of natural wood.
Solid Wood
Solid wood is dried slowly in kilns down to approximately six-percent moisture content. Solid hardwoods are cut and shaped into pieces that provide the structural integrity of the furniture.
These pieces include the legs frame and posts that support the weight of the table, chair or cabinet. The proper method of connecting these frame pieces is by joining them using a proper combination of wood adhesive and screws, nails, or staples.
Hardwood Plywood
The use of plywood is probably the most maligned and misunderstood aspect of furniture and cabinet construction.
As wood is porous by nature, solid wood has a tendency to expand and contract as the humidity changes. In constructing the large flat panels that make up the sides and/or tops of various pieces of furniture or cabinets, solid wood does not offer the necessary stability.
Plywood and products manufactured of wood are significantly more stable and less apt to warp or split. While there are some lower quality pressboards on the market at reduced costs, at Pride Furniture we select high quality plywood, which may be more expensive than the solid wood, to improve the durability and life of your furniture or cabinets.
It is the combination of solid wood and plywood, each having its own function, similar to various ingredients in a recipe.
At Pride Furniture, we do NOT use any engraved or printed material to simulate a wood surface. Contrary to using plywood, the only advantage to using engraved or printed material is to reduce cost.
Due to the high cost of veneering, a method has been developed that reproduces the grain of wood photographically. This wood image is then applied over the flat panels to simulate a wood surface.
The drawbacks of engraved surfaces are that they are not repairable and the flat panels may not be durable enough for the function.
Another important ingredient of Pride furniture and cabinets is quality hardware such as drawer slides, which are carefully selected for the function.
It has been said that a piece of furniture looks only as good as its finish. Here at Pride Furniture, our furniture and cabinets go through a quality finishing process that starts at the beginning.
Sanding is a critical and ongoing part of the finishing process. Raw lumber is sanded prior to cutting and shaping and pieces are sanded throughout the assembly and finishing process. Proper sanding is not only critical for a finish that is smooth to the touch, but equally important in creating an even color when staining.
The stain is sprayed on and then each piece is hand-rubbed to bring out the grain and natural beauty of the wood. A base coat and topcoats are applied to seal, protect and enhance the natural luster.