Expert: maura macaluso - 6/7/2010

Question
Hello,

I wanted to know a way of identifying different types of wood furniture like whether to tell if it is maple, oak etc? The color in my case wouldn't be a relevant issue because the furniture piece in question has been stained. However, what types of other ways are good to identify wood types?

Answer
Hi Bryn,

Identifying wood is always difficult because there are over 10,000 species and subspecies of wood and then there are different color variations of most woods. Identifying wood is a skill that comes from many, many years of experience working with wood and even the experts can get it wrong.  It can not be done over the internet and should not be done working from pictures, it is best to "eyeball" it in natural lighting.  Your best bet is to locally find someone who is an experienced woodworker and have them take a look for you. However, there are a few more common woods used for furniture making.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/guide-to-furniture-woods-ga1.htm

http://www.woodworking.org/WC/woodsampler.html

Another good idea might be to get in touch with the manufacturer to see what types of wood the furniture was made available in.

You will first need to find an area of your furniture which is not stained. This will either require you to remove a piece of the furniture because it will only be stained on the exposed sides or to pick an inconspicuous area where you can gouge out a piece of wood to see its true color and grain pattern.  It is important that you look at a piece of wood which is a main part of your furniture because most furniture is composed of more than 1 type of wood, usually the frame will be a cheaper variety than the actual body of the furniture.  Color is not the only thing used in determining what type of wood you have, grain patterns,hardness, smell and weight of the wood are also used to pin down the correct answer. Hopefully it is one of the more common types of woods which will make your job much easier. Thanks for the question and good luck in your quest.  

Maura Macaluso
www.carvinginnyc.com
Member National Woodcarvers Assoc.