Three Types of Wood Used to Make Furniture

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Wood is the most widely used material in the making of furniture. It is a material of choice for a number of reasons: it is renewable, versatile and has unmatched durability. As an organic material, certain types of wood are native to certain regions. This means that different types of wooden furniture would be more common in these areas than others. Here is a closer look at the different types of wood used in the creation of furniture items.

Cedar

Cedar wood has a reddish color and is classified as a soft wood. It's known for its characteristic sweet odor, which makes it the material of choice for chest making and lining of indoor closets. Some of the advantages of using cedar wood in the creation of furniture items include:

• Resistance to humidity and temperature changes. Cedar wood has a higher resistance to extreme conditions of temperature and humidity. The higher resistance makes it difficult for cedar wood to shrink, wrap or swell under the mentioned conditions.
• Thermal insulation. Cedar wood is also advantageous in the sense that it naturally has thermal insulation properties thanks to its large number of cell cavities.
• Uniform texture. The uniform texture of this type of wood gives furniture items a classic finish

Chestnut

Chestnut is also commonly used to make furniture. It is a hardwood that comes in a number of variations, the most common of which is referred to as Spanish chestnut.

Chestnut is known to lose its durability if the trees are grown beyond half a decade. This is why it is never easy to get large and long pieces of timber cut from a chestnut tree. It is for the same reason that this type of wood is a preferred material in the creation of small pieces of outdoor furniture which require great durability.

Elm

Elm trees provide timber that has interlocking grains. Interlocking grains are important because they make it difficult for the wood to split. This is the number one reason why wood from elm trees is used for furniture.

Another great quality about elm wood is that it comes in long planks thanks to the long and straight trunks of the elm tree. Elm wood is also highly resistance to corrosion and provides great mechanical strength when used on furniture items.

There are several other types of wood used for furniture. For more of these, visit local wood furniture or building material providers such as Calco Trusses & Timber.

17 December 2014