Three good reasons why hardwood is the best material for furniture
YOU MIGHT HAVE GRANDCHILDREN
Yes, it sounds silly, but this is a comment on the durability of hardwood. Hardwood furniture survives the test of time. Wood furniture that has been used and abused will never be out for the count until it’s been burned to ashes. So, how’s this related to grandchildren? Well, case in point, we had a client approach us with a refurbish job, a small accent table that belonged to her grandmother, a table dating back about 100 years. It wasn’t a particularly intricate or fancy table, but it was hand made with great craftmanship by hand. These is something special about these kinds of handmade heirlooms, antiques, and possessions from another time. Being able to restore something that has such sentimental value was a great honor. We took the job and were able to repair and refinish the table without adding any “new” wood, the table stayed all original. Not to toot my own horn but the result was fantastic. The table will last on another 100 years for another few generations to enjoy. One might argue it’s just stuff, but I’m sentimental, and I love the connections that antiques give, they transcend time and space. Furniture is like that; it inhabits your living space with you daily and we grow attached to these inanimate objects. I hope one day when I’m long gone there is some young relative of mine who managed to get his or her hands on something I made. Enjoying great grandpa’s handmade lamp, or table, something that can’t be replaced to ordered for next day online. And if its ever damaged there is some woodworker who can fix it up to last another 100 years. Hardwood is furniture for life and will take on greater meaning than you would think, don’t underestimate the value your furniture will have to future generations.
hardwood furniture is good for mother earth
Working a piece of wood, we feel great for the impact on the plant, absolutely no guilt, zero. In fact, we feel good for producing a product that sustains the planet. How can we say that you must be thinking?! The truth is, to our point above, hardwood furnishings are crazy durable and built to last. Our furnishings, and furnishings of all woodworkers, will be in commission for years, in service for generations. Modern furnishings, made of slurry mixes of wood dust and compressed particles don’t have that kind of durability. Spill a drink on a particle board table and it absorbs the liquid like a sponge, destabilizes the molecular structure and deteriorates instantly in a puff of smoke. Well, that’s an exaggeration, but we all know the pain of buying one of these. Going through the pain of assembling what looked like a nice product, turns out to be puzzle from hell. One side with a nice sticker that looks like wood grain, the other like chalky mix of brittle particles with pores and voids. Let’s pray you screw section A2 to section G3, instead of A2 to G8, because if you must unscrew it, you’ll either tear the hole out or strip the cheap zinc screws (yes zinc not steel). After a few hours of unforgiving labor, you slide this monstrosity into place damaging the edges, and pray you don’t have to move it ever again. Forget about it! We all know how often we replace these inferior products. That is the real waste. In trying to replace wood with man-made chemicals and cheap fillers, we inadvertently become sucked into a cycle of purchasing and replacing. The faux wood products will deteriorate within a few years and be replaced with whatever cheap item we can get next day delivery. Yes, I’m guilty of this too, it’s awfully convenient. This is the real culprit of the unsustainable modern furniture manufactures. It’s a throw away culture, high volume products with short lifespans destined for the garbage bin. This cycle is unsustainable. We need to see it for what it is.
mechanical properties and design innovation
Ah yes, stress and strain, force application, the cornerstone of engineering and materials science. Material properties set the limits for an engineer or designer. Hardwood is one of those materials that opens a whole world of possibilities of design and innovation. The strength and durability of hardwood is unparalleled. Hardwood is light, machinable, bendable, shapeable, you name it. I personally love watching slow-motion videos of a bowl cut on lathe, its infinitely entertaining. All these physical properties and woodworking techniques put wood into a class un-paralleled for artists and designers to achieve feats of expression that will never be seen in the modern furniture industry. Modern furniture designers, producing the high-volume products imported from Indonesia and China, although extremely creative, will be limited by how much load a particle board can bear. They need to limit how thin and how long a table can be before it will bend and break. They can’t add routed accents, cutouts, arches, or floating shelf with a decent load limit. They are boxed in, (excuse the pun) to an extremely narrow design option. But this is not a limit for the woodworker. The woodworker can take designs to new levels of uniqueness. This is my favorite aspect of woodwork, the uniqueness of a hardwood piece, only limited by the imagination of the artist. One of my first bookcase designs has several Asian style cutouts creating a sun burst like pattern, I smile every time I glance over at it. It’s one of those designs only made possible by that wonderful hardwood.
Furniture and home décor serve a very practical and utilitarian purpose in our homes. We live with them day in and day out. These items whenever possible should bring joy and happiness in one form or another. Should it be the sentimentality of a family heirloom or the longevity and quality of an enduring piece. Hardwood furniture are unique art pieces made possible by wood, a wonderful natural organic material. This should be considered on you next furniture purchase, you will not regret it, I promise. Check out my first bookcase below, and a few pics of the 100 year old refurb table. Thanks for reading!
