Veneer Furniture

A veneer is where thin slivers of wood are used as a furniture finishing material. Sometimes veneers are used to give a higher quality look to low cost furniture, other times furniture veneers are used by craftsman to create fine furniture with intricate designs incorporating several contrasting woods. There is nothing wrong with well-made veneer furniture, in fact some of the finest and most valuable pieces of furniture ever made use veneers.

While it is true that veneers are often used to cover articles of furniture which are made of a low-grade wood, this is not the only reason that furniture makers use veneers. The finest inlaid tabletops and inlaid furniture also incorporate veneers for purposes of design. In this case the veneers are placed of good quality hardwoods.

Veneers are made from one or more layers of wood, usually less than 3/16 inch thick, made from sheets of wood produced by spinning a log against a long lathe blade. Technically plywood consists of many layers of veneer held together with glue and high pressure used in manufacturing. When we speak of veneer in the context of quality furniture, we are of course not referring to plywood which had no place in quality furniture making.