Are my expectations too high?

[cwhaley]

Then that would without question be a solid carved table... I'm not quite that strung up on it but when you see items such as table tops made from many lengths of timber joined together it's hard to describe them as 'solid'. Depends how they've marketed it I suppose.

My dad was a French polisher and the tables they made would genuinely be a solid piece of oak mounted onto legs.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

My dad was a French polisher and the tables they made would genuinely be a solid piece of oak mounted onto legs.

That seems unlikely for anything more than a coffee table. Most dining tables would have to be made from several boards. Which is no more or less 'solid' than modern blockboard, really!

 

[cwhaley]

That seems unlikely for anything more than a coffee table. Most dining tables would have to be made from several boards. Which is no more or less 'solid' than modern blockboard, really!

He used to work on loads they were a popular request for decades - certainly as a singular piece of oak. The below picture shows the type of thing I'm thinking of. I see where you're coming from, but having had a relative who worked in furniture manufacture for so many years it did get drilled into me!

 

[Nozzle]

Fo the record, I wouldn't expect a "solid timber" piece of furniture to be a whole piece. Mainly as trees that large are hundreds of years old and hard/expensive/immoral to cut down legally. Therefore cutting down small ones and machining/gluing planks together is still reasonably called solid wood.

Nozzle

 

[big-all]

its all in the wording
solid american oak =as described but probably staves glued together
solid wood american oak veneer finish =any old carp covered in american oak veneer
american oak coloured finish=any make up any material as long as it has the the right colour [could be printed paper like most furniture]

 

[cwhaley]

I'd agree with that it does depend on wording. In my mind though a 'solid' piece should be a 'whole piece'!!

Like I say though, it depends how they market it. Most use the term lightly but it's when they big up the word 'solid' and insist it's totally solid timber.

 

[big-all]

I'd agree with that it does depend on wording. In my mind though a 'solid' piece should be a 'whole piece'!!

Like I say though, it depends how they market it. Most use the term lightly but it's when they big up the word 'solid' and insist it's totally solid timber.

it will be described like
beutifully specially selected solid bits off timber fixed together to give a distortion warp free finish designed for years off happiness or gushing to that effect

 

[Notch7]

To me, solid oak should be one piece of solid oak. We were in a furniture shop the other week and were accosted by a salesman telling us that all of the furniture is 'solid oak'. The table he was stood by was indeed made of oak, but the table top was not a solid piece at all - it was lengths of oak butt-joined together to form a 'solid' piece. Always annoys me when they market items as being solid when they're not.

Reminds me of oak furnitureland:

their campaign is: 'no veneer in'ere'

They manage to sell oak furniture at prices we would have been used to paying for pine furniture when it was in fashion. However the solid wood is engineered from small pieces. Not single stave planks for tops etc.

They sell their furniture for around the price I could just buy the timber, or quite probably less, so something has to give!

 

[Gerrydelasel]

The below picture shows the type of thing I'm thinking of.

Out of interest, is this a solid wood table?

 

[Notch7]

There is nothing wrong with veneering or making out of smaller pieces of timber, they all have their part to play in furniture construction.

Certainly some table tops that have long grain meeting cross grain would be hopeless made solid, splits would start.

 

[cwhaley]

Reminds me of oak furnitureland:

their campaign is: 'no veneer in'ere'

They manage to sell oak furniture at prices we would have been used to paying for pine furniture when it was in fashion. However the solid wood is engineered from small pieces. Not single stave planks for tops etc.

They sell their furniture for around the price I could just buy the timber, or quite probably less, so something has to give!

Their prices are incredible; possibly part of the reason why they're still doing a 50% off sale in February!

Out of interest, is this a solid wood table?

I'll still stand by my belief that some places sell furniture as 'solid' when it's not. I'm not massively bothered by it, I just don't like a sales assistant smiling and telling me a £700 table "has a solid oak top" when I grew up knocking about in the furniture factories after school seeing the types of timber the blokes in there would work with. No biggie just a little annoying.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Out of interest, is this a solid wood table?

I'll still stand by my belief that some places sell furniture as 'solid' when it's not. I'm not massively bothered by it, I just don't like a sales assistant smiling and telling me a £700 table "has a solid oak top" when I grew up knocking about in the furniture factories after school seeing the types of timber the blokes in there would work with. No biggie just a little annoying.

Is that.... a no?