Not all wood good for furniture
Apr 23, 2010
ONCE a friend told me it is better to buy finished furniture products to escape the drama of dealing with carpenters. I told him If having durable and unique furniture involved such trouble, I was more willing to face it a million times over than let anyone impose their designs on me,†Brenda, a n
BY STELLA NASSUNA
ONCE a friend told me it is better to buy finished furniture products to escape the drama of dealing with carpenters. I told him If having durable and unique furniture involved such trouble, I was more willing to face it a million times over than let anyone impose their designs on me,†Brenda, a nurse says.
“I appreciate other people’s touch of art and design, but I also love unique furniture that is curved according to my taste. It should make me feel comfortable, stylish, elegant and define who I am,†she adds.
However, Brenda’s love for such unique furniture remains a dream since she does not have knowledge on how to make her desire a reality. She has a desire for good furniture but has little knowledge about quality wood.
She thinks carpenters will take advantage of her and make for her the desired designs using poor quality wood. You may also be facing a similar dilemma. You have an eye for detail but cannot get exactly what you are looking for. In order to avoid being conned, visit the workshops first and see the products on offer.
Acquire knowledge about the different tree-woods. Milo, a carpenter at Tropical Carpenter workshop in Makindye, says it is important to know the common tree types and whether they produce soft or hard wood.
He says although there are different trees, the commonly used ones in producing wood for home and office furniture in Uganda are mahogany, musambya, mvule and mugavu.
All these trees produce hard wood but have special features that distinguish them. “For example, mugavu shares similar features with mahogany. Both trees produce reddish brown, heavy and hard wood.
So most carpenters take advantage of this resemblance to dupe people claiming it is mahogany they are selling yet it is mugavu wood,†he says.
He advises that whenever one is out to make the best home furniture he should not look any further than these four types of hard wood. These woods are among Uganda’s best hard woods widely and commonly used at most wood working shops.
Milo says, mahogany is the best type of wood for making durable and shinny furniture that will add quality and class to your home. You can even pass the same furniture on from generation to generation looking as good as new if it is kept well.
Mahogany usually comes in two classes, mahogany timber and mahogany boards that are usually imported from other countries. He explains that a mahogany board is made by cutting wood Mahogany. Pine and cyprus into small pieces and compressing it with a machine to form one board with different texture and colour.
“From the mahogany boards (textured wood) you can make kitchen cabinets,†Milo says “You can also use this same wood to patch up your house walls. It can also be used for the ceiling and flooring. The wall, floor and ceiling woods usually come in small sizes that are easy to fit in two or more colours (light shades of reddish brown or darker shades). The texture of these boards adds beauty to any furniture (tables, kitchen cabinets, dinning table and chairs) when it is laid on the surface of any wood and then patched up with wood glue,†he explains.
One can also carve out a number of items from Mahogany timber. Durable dinning tables can be constructed, coffee tables, beds, kitchen cabinets, wardrobes and other items, he adds.
Milo notes that the main problem that most customers usually face with furniture carved out of mahogany is that it is sold at a much higher price than they can afford.
Muvule, musambya and mugavu can be used as substitutes. The wood from these trees is also durable, less costly and they produce the similar furniture as mahogany.
“For unique crafted furniture with detail, consider pine, cyprus, bamboo and papyrus,†Amuza Munana of Nsambya Metal and Wood crafts says.
Munana says all these trees produce hard wood, an indication that they are strong and durable if looked after well. To maintain this kind of wood, it should not be exposed to water and should be dusted often to keep it shiny and sparkling.
“Papyrus and Cyprus wood can be woven into any design that suites the customer’s taste. It is used to cover the top of various furniture frames such as coffee tables, dinning tables, television, wall cabinets, beds and sofa sets frames. The frames are caved from bamboo sticks,†Munana adds.
He says furniture made from papyrus, Cyprus, bamboo and pine is more genuine than the rest such as sofas that are covered up with textile materials. For example, the customer cannot establish the kind wood used to build the sofa.
John Kibowa, another carpenter, warns that soft wood, such as Ankuzanyana, is one of the worst when used in constructing furniture since such it can be easily destroyed by moths and weevils.
Ankuzanyana contains stones in its stem trunk since it absorbs stones as it absorbs water from the soil. This makes getting furniture out of it very difficult. The stones also make the saw machines get blunt and spoilt.
This tree also easily cracks when exposed to the sun for long hours. “In fact, we usually do not want to work with such wood, we only do if there is no other alternative or if the customer insists, but at a cost because of the risks involved. Not much can be made out of this wood apart from door frames and doors,†Kibowa says.
He says customers are usually limited by finances. So the customer has to settle for wood that is within his purchasing ability even if it is poor quality.
ONCE a friend told me it is better to buy finished furniture products to escape the drama of dealing with carpenters. I told him If having durable and unique furniture involved such trouble, I was more willing to face it a million times over than let anyone impose their designs on me,†Brenda, a nurse says.
“I appreciate other people’s touch of art and design, but I also love unique furniture that is curved according to my taste. It should make me feel comfortable, stylish, elegant and define who I am,†she adds.
However, Brenda’s love for such unique furniture remains a dream since she does not have knowledge on how to make her desire a reality. She has a desire for good furniture but has little knowledge about quality wood.
She thinks carpenters will take advantage of her and make for her the desired designs using poor quality wood. You may also be facing a similar dilemma. You have an eye for detail but cannot get exactly what you are looking for. In order to avoid being conned, visit the workshops first and see the products on offer.
Acquire knowledge about the different tree-woods. Milo, a carpenter at Tropical Carpenter workshop in Makindye, says it is important to know the common tree types and whether they produce soft or hard wood.
He says although there are different trees, the commonly used ones in producing wood for home and office furniture in Uganda are mahogany, musambya, mvule and mugavu.
All these trees produce hard wood but have special features that distinguish them. “For example, mugavu shares similar features with mahogany. Both trees produce reddish brown, heavy and hard wood.
So most carpenters take advantage of this resemblance to dupe people claiming it is mahogany they are selling yet it is mugavu wood,†he says.
He advises that whenever one is out to make the best home furniture he should not look any further than these four types of hard wood. These woods are among Uganda’s best hard woods widely and commonly used at most wood working shops.
Milo says, mahogany is the best type of wood for making durable and shinny furniture that will add quality and class to your home. You can even pass the same furniture on from generation to generation looking as good as new if it is kept well.
Mahogany usually comes in two classes, mahogany timber and mahogany boards that are usually imported from other countries. He explains that a mahogany board is made by cutting wood Mahogany. Pine and cyprus into small pieces and compressing it with a machine to form one board with different texture and colour.
“From the mahogany boards (textured wood) you can make kitchen cabinets,†Milo says “You can also use this same wood to patch up your house walls. It can also be used for the ceiling and flooring. The wall, floor and ceiling woods usually come in small sizes that are easy to fit in two or more colours (light shades of reddish brown or darker shades). The texture of these boards adds beauty to any furniture (tables, kitchen cabinets, dinning table and chairs) when it is laid on the surface of any wood and then patched up with wood glue,†he explains.
One can also carve out a number of items from Mahogany timber. Durable dinning tables can be constructed, coffee tables, beds, kitchen cabinets, wardrobes and other items, he adds.
Milo notes that the main problem that most customers usually face with furniture carved out of mahogany is that it is sold at a much higher price than they can afford.
Muvule, musambya and mugavu can be used as substitutes. The wood from these trees is also durable, less costly and they produce the similar furniture as mahogany.
“For unique crafted furniture with detail, consider pine, cyprus, bamboo and papyrus,†Amuza Munana of Nsambya Metal and Wood crafts says.
Munana says all these trees produce hard wood, an indication that they are strong and durable if looked after well. To maintain this kind of wood, it should not be exposed to water and should be dusted often to keep it shiny and sparkling.
“Papyrus and Cyprus wood can be woven into any design that suites the customer’s taste. It is used to cover the top of various furniture frames such as coffee tables, dinning tables, television, wall cabinets, beds and sofa sets frames. The frames are caved from bamboo sticks,†Munana adds.
He says furniture made from papyrus, Cyprus, bamboo and pine is more genuine than the rest such as sofas that are covered up with textile materials. For example, the customer cannot establish the kind wood used to build the sofa.
John Kibowa, another carpenter, warns that soft wood, such as Ankuzanyana, is one of the worst when used in constructing furniture since such it can be easily destroyed by moths and weevils.
Ankuzanyana contains stones in its stem trunk since it absorbs stones as it absorbs water from the soil. This makes getting furniture out of it very difficult. The stones also make the saw machines get blunt and spoilt.
This tree also easily cracks when exposed to the sun for long hours. “In fact, we usually do not want to work with such wood, we only do if there is no other alternative or if the customer insists, but at a cost because of the risks involved. Not much can be made out of this wood apart from door frames and doors,†Kibowa says.
He says customers are usually limited by finances. So the customer has to settle for wood that is within his purchasing ability even if it is poor quality.