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noob furniture question: what's a veneer dining set/bedroom set?

L

LordSnailz

Diamond Member
Shopping around for some furniture and realized that many places carry veneer stuff. Is this just fake wood glued onto of some cheapo wood? Similar to ikea?

Should I just be looking for stuff that says solid wood only?
 
Wood veneer is real wood (usually higher quality wood) over something else such as cheap wood or particle board.

For a bedroom set that you might keep all of your life and give to your children, you don't want veneer. It is too fragile, and can't be refinished very well. Veneer might save you half the money now, but every 10 years you'll want a new set. So, over the long haul, veneer may be far more expensive. Of course, a quality solid wood bedroom set may look dated in 10-20 years and you might want to replace it (if you are that type of person), which ruins the main reason to buy real wood furniture.

For a dining room set that you might not use much, veneer may work. But, if it is the table you will use daily, go for solid wood.
 
Veneer can be real or fake wood, but you can be sure the material it's being applied to is something like particle board.
 
Thanks ... yeah, I'm thinking we'll be replacing or finding a new place 10-15 years down the road and we'll like whatever looks nice then. 🙂
I wonder if there's a way to tell whether the veneer is real or fake, but I guess it doesn't matter since it's only a thin layer anyways.
 
Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Thanks ... yeah, I'm thinking we'll be replacing or finding a new place 10-15 years down the road and we'll like whatever looks nice then. 🙂
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Yes, if you are the type who will keep replacing it, veneer may be the route for you. You'll save money over real wood. But you will always have inferior furniture if that matters to you.
 
veneer is just a thin sheet of wood ( think basket reed) , glued to particle board, its real wood with a particle board core, that is normally stained and then has a protective clear finish put over it, its not always cheap but is cheaper then solid wood,

its used because well solid wood is a PITA to work with , especially when you are a bulk manufacture, but IMO it looks better

you will definitly be able to tell if its fake, bewcause it looks like plastic, because it is
 
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Thanks ... yeah, I'm thinking we'll be replacing or finding a new place 10-15 years down the road and we'll like whatever looks nice then. 🙂
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. You'll save money over real wood. But you will always have inferior furniture if that matters to you.
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IDK about that we make some extreamly high end funiture and i wouldent call it inferior
http://www.gunlocke.com/
 
Originally posted by: Anubis
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Thanks ... yeah, I'm thinking we'll be replacing or finding a new place 10-15 years down the road and we'll like whatever looks nice then. 🙂
Click to expand...
. You'll save money over real wood. But you will always have inferior furniture if that matters to you.
Click to expand...

IDK about that we make some extreamly high end funiture and i wouldent call it inferior
http://www.gunlocke.com/
Click to expand...

Actually, veneer does not speak to the quality of the furniture. I have a friend who custom builds extremely high end furniture. It's all veneer. Good stuff underneath rather than particle board or cheap wood, but veneer nonetheless.

Edit: So I'm agreeing with Anubis. Veneer does not necessarily mean inferior.
 
Like others have said stay away from fake wood veneers. It's like pasting a photograph of wood over particleboard.

The problem with real wood is that most of it is pine because to make the entire piece of furniture out of solid hard wood be out of most peoples leagues. Pine is soft and will easily dent unless it's coverd in a thicker type finish. A good alternative is a mixture of veneers and solid. Lets say on a dresser, the door fronts and top are good places to have solid wood, but the sides can be veneer and save some cash.

People have been making veneers for hundreds of years and the quality runs the full spectrum. Some of nicest pieces of furniture I've seen lately are from companies that specialize in mail ordering pieces for you. These places usually look more like warehouses with an office up front full catalogs. They keep a little furniture on hand and they'll take you back into very cramped warehouse and show you something similar so you'll have some idea, but you're really picking the furniture out of a catalog.

 
You're not going to be able to make something like this without using veneers. In the past, glue quality was no where near what it is today. As a result, some veneered furniture pretty much peeled and fell apart after a number of years. Although there were still high quality veneers available, it sort of gave the term veneer a black eye for a number of years.

For what it's worth, sometimes for certain components of a piece, veneers offer several advantages over a solid piece of wood. Certain types of wood, or wood with certain characteristics simply lack the strength to hold up to their intended purpose as a solid piece of stock. Example: burled wood is going to crack over time. However, to create the beautiful look with certain types of textures/grains of wood, a veneer is perfect because the substrate and glue keeps the veneer intact. Veneering also allows for much larger areas to be covered by what appears to be a continuous piece of wood, lacking in joints. (Although, because of the way veneers are cut from logs, a repeating pattern will occur; not necessarily a bad thing.)

Also, the use of veneers, such as in thin solid core furniture grade plywood allows greater strength and resistance to breaking and cracking than a piece of solid wood of the same thickness would ever allow. i.e. 1/4 inch thick oak, cherry, or maple plywood would resist breaking much more than 1/4 inch solid oak, cherry, or maple, particularly if the size of the piece was 30 inches by 36 inches, i.e. the back of a cabinet. Of course, the back of a cabinet could be made by thicker pieces of hardwoods, but that will greatly increase the weight of the finished piece.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
You're not going to be able to make something like this without using veneers. In the past, glue quality was no where near what it is today. As a result, some veneered furniture pretty much peeled and fell apart after a number of years. Although there were still high quality veneers available, it sort of gave the term veneer a black eye for a number of years.

For what it's worth, sometimes for certain components of a piece, veneers offer several advantages over a solid piece of wood. Certain types of wood, or wood with certain characteristics simply lack the strength to hold up to their intended purpose as a solid piece of stock. Example: burled wood is going to crack over time. However, to create the beautiful look with certain types of textures/grains of wood, a veneer is perfect because the substrate and glue keeps the veneer intact. Veneering also allows for much larger areas to be covered by what appears to be a continuous piece of wood, lacking in joints. (Although, because of the way veneers are cut from logs, a repeating pattern will occur; not necessarily a bad thing.)

Also, the use of veneers, such as in thin solid core furniture grade plywood allows greater strength and resistance to breaking and cracking than a piece of solid wood of the same thickness would ever allow. i.e. 1/4 inch thick oak, cherry, or maple plywood would resist breaking much more than 1/4 inch solid oak, cherry, or maple, particularly if the size of the piece was 30 inches by 36 inches, i.e. the back of a cabinet. Of course, the back of a cabinet could be made by thicker pieces of hardwoods, but that will greatly increase the weight of the finished piece.
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:thumbsup:

I am not sure you could find furniture that is not made of veneer. Quality veneer would be on plywood verses MDF or partical board. Drawer fronts and door stiles/ rails would be solid wood.
 
As for everyone bashing me, try this tought experiment. Suppose all the pieces of furniture in the world were randomly selected until one piece mostly solid-wood and one piece mostly veneer were selected. You could be given one. Which would you take?

Yes there are quality veneers. But the vast majority of it isn't quality (think Walmart). I don't think you understood my point (which would be my fault for typing it in a confusing fashion).
Originally posted by: LordSnailz
http://www.loftlivingoutlet.com/100601-4406setc.html
http://www.loftlivingoutlet.com/200101qc.html
http://www.loftlivingoutlet.com/5631qc.html
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I like the look of those. :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
You're not going to be able to make something like this without using veneers. In the past, glue quality was no where near what it is today. As a result, some veneered furniture pretty much peeled and fell apart after a number of years. Although there were still high quality veneers available, it sort of gave the term veneer a black eye for a number of years.

For what it's worth, sometimes for certain components of a piece, veneers offer several advantages over a solid piece of wood. Certain types of wood, or wood with certain characteristics simply lack the strength to hold up to their intended purpose as a solid piece of stock. Example: burled wood is going to crack over time. However, to create the beautiful look with certain types of textures/grains of wood, a veneer is perfect because the substrate and glue keeps the veneer intact. Veneering also allows for much larger areas to be covered by what appears to be a continuous piece of wood, lacking in joints. (Although, because of the way veneers are cut from logs, a repeating pattern will occur; not necessarily a bad thing.)

Also, the use of veneers, such as in thin solid core furniture grade plywood allows greater strength and resistance to breaking and cracking than a piece of solid wood of the same thickness would ever allow. i.e. 1/4 inch thick oak, cherry, or maple plywood would resist breaking much more than 1/4 inch solid oak, cherry, or maple, particularly if the size of the piece was 30 inches by 36 inches, i.e. the back of a cabinet. Of course, the back of a cabinet could be made by thicker pieces of hardwoods, but that will greatly increase the weight of the finished piece.
Click to expand...


:thumbsup:
 
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