What is wood veneer?

Veneer is a thin sheet of wood, applied on top of a thicker material, such as MDF or plywood. Veneer gives these materials the appearance of solid wood, achieved at a lower cost. It is a great solution for tabletops when a classic wooden finish is desired. Wood veneer offers a more sustainable utilisation of wood, as its production requires much less raw material. Only a few pieces of solid wood can be made from a tree log, while the same amount of raw material will result in dozens of wood veneer sheets.

The way wood veneers are made gives them many advantages over traditional solid wood. Since just a thin slice of wood is used, veneers maximize the use of a single log, making them more environmentally-friendly and affordable. This also makes veneers less prone to warping and splitting.

Since veneer is made of wood, it can have natural details like knots, cavities and so-called flames. Each piece has its own look. Therefore, a completely seamless running of the veneer over a tabletop consisting of two or more parts is an understandable but unrealistic expectation.

Types of wood veneer

At De Vorm, we offer two types of oak veneer for our tables and side tables:

• Plain sawn (flamed)
  Quarter sawn (striped)

If you choose a quarter-sawn veneer for a table with multiple tabletop parts, this will ensure a smoother transition between different parts than in case of the plain-sawn veneer. Optically, quarter-sawn veneer createsa more even appearance. Please, note that even with quarter-sawn veneer a 100% seamless transition is not possible.

To smoothen the transition between 2 sheets, the sheets are veneered from the center. The veneer is laid like an open book consisting of 2 halves. This creates a connection between the sheets in the middle, ensuring the best possible transition (for example, wide pattern in the veneer closer to the centre and narrower lines closer to the edges of the sheets). However, this transition is never 100% smooth. Partly, due to the excess required to re-mill the top after pressing (glue the veneer layer to the core) and the fact that each piece of veneer has its own, unique pattern.

Wood veneer options

It is common for a pattern (plain-sawn or quarter-sawn) to run across the length of the table, but we can also make it run across the width of the table. In both cases, this will give a calmer image and the veneer has a more even look. The quarter-sawn veneer is still the best choice here, but if you prefer a plain-sawn pattern, we advise to run the veneer across the width