There's a lot to know about the woods that go into furniture and the finishes that make them so beautiful and rich looking. You may have heard people talk about their mahogany table or their new birch cabinetry; you may have heard debates about the merit of solid wood furniture versus veneered.

If you want to know more about all of this, browse the glossary or read The Truth About Veneers, a brief but informative article comparing veneers and solid wood.


A

Alder: A hard strong wood resembling maple, easily stained to imitate darker woods.
Antiquing: A process to make wood furniture look aged by applying a glaze of color, then rubbing it down to revel the original color underneath. The process can be enhanced with crackle varnishes creating the texture of cracked and aged paint.
Applewood: A fine fruitwood used in colonial furniture.
Ash: A native hardwood, used widely for furniture frames because of its strength and durability. Ash has a prominent oak-like grain and also resembles hickory or pecan.
Aspen: Light-colored white poplar with a lustrous surface.


B

Beech: A hard, strong wood, similar in appearance to maple. This relatively inexpensive wood is often used for frames, bent or turned parts, and veneers.
Birch: One of the toughest American woods, with fine grain and pleasing light tone similar to maple. Birch can offer a variety of grain patterns (straight, curly, and wavy) and can be stained to resemble walnut or mahogany.
Book Matching: The process of placing sheets of veneer side-by-side, like the pages of a book, to create a symmetrical pattern or mirror image.
Brazilian Rosewood: Reddish-brown wood with distinctive dark markings varying from deep purple to black.
Burl: Highly figured veneers from trees with knots.


C

Cabinet Woods: Wood used to make casegoods, such as tables and chairs. It is strong, easily worked and carved and able to take a good finish. The category includes hardwoods like mahogany, walnut, maple, birch, oak, cherry, ash, alder, elm, pecan and hackberry and soft woods like pine and redwood.
Cedar: A fragrant, knotty softwood used mainly to line chests and drawers.
Checking: The appearance of wide cracks or splits in wood caused by expansion and contraction due to humidity changes.
Cherry: A hard and sturdy wood with a reddish-brown tone and tight, straight grain. Cherry resists warping and checking and is easily worked. It is used in 18th century American and French styles, both as a solid and veneer.
Concealed woods: Woods including poplar, gumwood and cottonwood used for hidden interior surfaces (i.e. drawer backs and partitions).
Conifers: A category of trees, mostly cone-bearing evergreens, including pine, spruce, and fir.
Core woods: Strong and workable woods used under veneers,  including popular, gumwood, alder, aspen, beech, cottonwood and particle board.
Crotch Veneer: A highly-prized veneer cut from just below the fork of a tree.


D

Deciduous trees: Non-evergreen trees that shed or lose foliage at the end of a growing season.
Distressed: Furniture that is marred to create the appearance of age and use.
Douglas Fir: Light, strong wood used primarily for drawer linings and bottoms.
Dust panels: Linings between drawers to keep clothing cleaner by eliminating the migration of dust and other materials.


E

Ebony: Dark black wood, hard and fine grained. Used primarily for veneers and inlays.
Elm: Tough wood with an ash-like grain, used mainly for furniture frames.
End matching: The process of placing sheets of veneer end-to-end to produce a continuous pattern.
Engraving: The process of printing a pattern or wood grain design on a panel.


F

Face Veneer: The top layer of veneer, as seen in the finished product.
Fiberboard: Composite material composed of wood chips or plant fibers bonded and compressed into rigid sheets. Used as a core wood under veneers because of its strength.
Fiddleback: A wavy-grained wood pattern.
Figure: The characteristic markings found in wood solids or veneers.
Finishing: A multiple-step process of applying coats of materials like stain, paint, lacquer, and oils with frequent sandings in between. This protects wood from the effects of humidity changes and makes it more beautiful.
Fourway matching: The combination of using book and end matching to create a large pattern of veneers.
Frames: Woods used for the frames of upholstered pieces like sofas and chairs. Frame woods must be strong, able to resist shocks, and not twist, warp, swell or shrink. Ash, birch, oak, gumwood and poplar are among the most popular.
Fruitwood: A generic name for woods like apple, cherry and pear.


H

Hackberry: An elm-like wood with a light blonde color.
Hardwoods: This is more a category of woods cut from deciduous trees (oak, beech, maple, hahogany and walnut) than an actual designation of hardness.
Hickory: Hard, tough and heavy wood used as a veneer and in structural elements requiring strength and thinness. Pecan is a species of hickory.


I

Inlay: A design (i.e. a border or other ornamental pattern) set into the surface of furniture by inserting contrasting woods or other materials into tiny grooves or channels.
Intarsia: Similar to inlay, with designs such as an entire scene sunk into a solid wood surface.


J

Japanning: A painting technique requiring several coats of heat-hardened lacquer, used in creating chinoiserie designs.


K

Kiln-drying: The process of slowly drying cut lumber in a kiln to gradually eliminate moisture from the center to the outer surfaces. Kiln drying prevents future cracking and checking.


L

Lacquer: Varnish that takes on a very high polish. It is applied in a series of thin layers, each of which must be dried and sanded before moving on to the next layer.
Linseed Oil: Oil extracted from flax seed, an ingredient in paints and varnishes.
Lauan: Reddish brown hard wood with attractive markings, once marketed as Philippine Mahogany.


M

Mahogany: Close-grained with excellent woodworking and finishing qualities, mahogany is a red-brown wood closely associated with formal 18th century and Victorian furniture. It's used both as a solid and for veneers. Crotch mahogany is a veneer  cut from beneath the fork of the tree, is known for its handsome markings.
Maple: An extremely hard, fine-textured wood used extensively for American colonial furniture and contemporary furnishings. Color is basically light although some maple has a reddish cast; it can also be stained to simulate cherry wood which has similar grain. Birdseye and wavy maple grain patterns have provided highly prized veneers since the 18th century.
Marquetry: The process of covering an entire surface with a pattern of inlays set into veneer. Materials include contrasting wood veneers, metal and mother of pearl.
Myrtle: A light to rich brown burl with intricate and curly grain.


O

Oak: A strong, hard-wearing wood with a pronounced texture and grain that's emphasized when quarter sawn (see definition below). It is the most popular wood for country, casual and Mission furniture.
Oiling: Applying several applications of linseed oil to finish woods with good natural color (i.e. walnut and mahogany).


P

Particle Board: A mixture of wood chips, resins and other binding agents compressed into panels under extreme heat and pressure. The result is an extremely strong and stable material used as core material under veneers or in other unseen areas. Also known as fiberboard and chip board.
Patina: The warm glow which age, use and care impart to wood surfaces.
Pecan: A type of hickory with a strong grain pattern, usually stained a medium dark color.
Pickling: The process of rubbing white paint into previously finished wood.
Pine: Soft, knotty wood used as a solid wood on country or rustic furniture.
Plywood: Layers of wood (placed with the grains of adjoining layers at right angles to each other) and adhesives. The materials are bonded under high pressure for strength and resistance to warping.
Prima Vera: A light colored wood also known as white mahogany.


Q

Quarter Sawn: A method of sawing a log into quarters lengthways to obtain strong, distinctive grain patterns. Especially associated with Mission furniture.


R

Rattan: A thick vine used in manufacturing casual furniture. Rattan is bent into larger shapes or cut into the core material for wicker.
Red Gum: A fine-grained wood that can be stained to closely resemble mahogany or walnut.
Redwood: A highly durable wood valued for its strength and wood working qualities. Redwood is also popular for outdoor furniture because it weathers well and is highly resistant to decay.
Rosewood: Dark red brown wood with prominent black graining.
Rubbed finish: A finish polished with both abrasives and lubricants for a superior surface and reduced sheen.


S

Satinwood: Light colored wood with handsome feathered features. Used as cabinet wood and for veneer inlay work.
Seasoning: Removing moisture from wood through the drying process.
Slip matching: The process of placing sheets of veneer in side-by-side patterns to produce herringbone, diamond and checkered patterns.
Softwoods: Woods such as pine, spruce and fir, taken from conifers rather than deciduous trees.
Spruce: A light, strong wood that's easy to dry and glue, used as a core material under veneers.


T

Teak: A yellow to dark brown hardwood, so heavy, strong and durable that it's used for shipbuilding as well as furniture. Teak may show straight or figured grains and is used as both a solid and a veneer. It's popular in designs with simple clean lines such as Scandinavian modern.
Tulipwood: A species of rosewood, yellow toned with deep purple or red stripes.


V

Varnish: A hard, clear wood finish.
Veneers: Thin, decorative slices of wood cut or sliced from a log, then applied to a core material of solid wood or particle board. The technique allows the application of especially attractive grains to furniture surfaces, even when the wood from which the veneer is taken is too rare, expensive or hard-to-work to be used structurally.


W

Walnut: A highly desirable wood used for both cabinet woods and veneers. Walnut carves and holds its shape well; veneers have distinctive and handsome grains. Like mahogany and cherry, walnut is found in some of the most impressive English and American antiques.
Wenge Wood: A dark, dense, striated wood with an expressive grain of fine, closely spaced, dark veins and white lines. The sawdust can cause skin and respiratory problems in some individuals. Used primarily as a solid.
Whitewood: Synonym for yellow poplar.
Willow: A soft wood used only as a solid wood. Willow withes (long, tough, supple stems) are used in weaving wicker furniture.


Y

Yellow poplar: Straight-grained, pale wood used primarily as core wood.
Yew: Hard, durable wood with a warm, light reddish-brown tone. Used for veneers and, less often, cabinet work.


Z

Zebrawood: An African wood that, when quarter sawn, shows brown and black stripes on a lighter background.