Antique Glossary

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Veneer

An extremely important devlopment in cabinet-making, as it allowed expensive, exotic woods go much further than if they were used in the solid. Early veneers were hand-sawn; the machines required to cut the thinner, much later veneers, didn't appear until about the 1830s. Consequently, early veneer is usually between 1.6mm and 3mm thick. Additionally, rotary-cut veneers, which have a distinctive and not very attractive pattern, are taken from a trunk and peeled off like carpet from a roll, and require quite sophisticated machinery which didn't appear until early this century. Older veneers are always crown-cut, quarter-cut , curl-cut, oyster or burr .

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