Veneering is a technique where a very thin sheet of a more
expensive wood is glued to a less expensive wood. Using less expensive woods
such as elm and maple and adding a more expensive mahogany or walnut veneer
allowed furniture makers to provide furniture that was affordable for a larger
clientele. You may hear an antique dealer say; "This table is walnut on
maple." The dealer means that the item has a walnut veneer and underneath
the actual item is maple. A walnut on maple table is less valuable than a solid
walnut table. How do you tell if your
furniture is veneered? Look at the edges of the piece. If you see what appears
to be a seam, it is veneered. On the other hand, if the edges of the piece are
seamless, it is solid. Early veneers
from the 17th century were hand-cut, so they could be uneven. But, in the 19th
century veneers started to be cut by machine. This allowed the veneers to be
cut very thin and even. Depending on the way the wood is cut, veneering
produces different effects. Butterfly veneering occurs when two opposing end
grain veneers are diagonally cut from a branch. They are applied to mirror each
other.
