Oak has been a popular choice of timber for British furniture for hundreds of years. The reasons were simple; oak was commonly found in most parts of the UK, seasoned oak is extremely tough and hard-wearing and oak has an attractive colour and grain. In recent years oak furniture has enjoyed a revival in popularity thanks largely to new supplies of oak coming from Europe and Asia.
When investing in oak furniture, it is important to understand the significance of the term solid oak furniture, rather than just oak furniture. Solid oak furniture is generally regarded as being the highest quality. It is made, as the name suggests, from solid planks of oak. This usually includes the bases of any drawers and the backs of cabinets. An example of
Solid Oak Bedroom Furniture and an example of
Solid Oak Dining Room Furniture.
The term oak furniture on the other hand can, when used by retailers, include the following;
solid oak mixed with solid ash, solid hardwood sections glued together and finished with an oak veneer or even particle board (such as chipboard or MDF) finished with an oak veneer.
The quality may not be as high as solid oak furniture, but should not be dismissed without careful consideration. After all, some of the best furniture ever made by the great cabinet makers such as Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton used veneer finishes.
A mixture of solid oak and ash is a popular option amongst contemporary furniture makers. Usually the woods are carefully matched for grain and colour tone and the overall result, when finished with oil or lacquer, can be very pleasing to the eye. To match sections of wood in this way, particularly if they are of different species, can be difficult and time consuming, so the next option is to just glue the timbers together and create a uniform finish by applying a wood veneer. This still has similar qualities of strength and durability as solid oak furniture or mixed oak and ash, yet should offer a price advantage at the time of purchase.
The other option, which should more correctly be described as oak finish furniture, is constructed from particle board finished with a wood veneer. The particle board can be made from shavings or chips of many kinds of wood including softwoods. Because it has no grain structure like solid wood, it does not have the same strength to weight ratio.
This means the furniture either has to be much heavier to achieve the same strength, or is not as strong if the weight is comparable to wooden furniture. Techniques are constantly improving however and some manufacturers are now able to produce furniture in these materials that is quite acceptable to all but the most discerning and represents reasonable value for money.