Norrgavel's Wood Guide

FURNITURE MADE OF SOLID WOOD

At Norrgavel, we love using solid wood for our furniture – this vibrant, durable, and uniquely beautiful natural material. No piece of furniture is exactly like another, precisely because each individual tree leaves its own distinct mark on every piece. And even after the tree has been felled and sawn into timber, the natural material continues to be influenced by its surrounding environment. That’s why we choose to call wood a living material. Since wood reacts to moisture and temperature, it essentially lives in tune with the seasons. Independent and expressive!

Wood at Norrgavel – a lifelong love affair

Ever since our founding in 1993, we have chosen to use solid wood for our furniture – a passionate and sustainable choice. We are also eager to share more knowledge about wood, focusing on the types of wood found in Scandinavia. Partly to make it easier and more enjoyable to furnish with the natural cycle in mind. But also to highlight all the benefits of wood, so that Norrgavel furniture has the best possible chance of becoming a lifelong love affair in your home. But what is the actual difference between solid wood and veneer? And how should you care for furniture made from solid wood? We explore these questions and much more in this wood guide – offering plenty of inspiration, facts, and helpful advice.

“Every tree is completely unique, which is why the surface of a piece of furniture made from solid wood will appear more vibrant – it will never have the uniform look of veneer.”

The difference between solid wood and veneer

The process of manufacturing solid wood furniture and veneer furniture looks completely different. The properties of each material also differ.

Solid wood consists of parts crafted from solid wooden planks – they can be glued together (laminated) to create different dimensions. Veneer, on the other hand, is a thin layer of wood glued to a supporting structure, usually a chipboard or MDF.

Every tree is completely unique, which is why the surface of a piece of furniture made from solid wood will appear more vibrant – it will never have the uniform look of veneer. Moreover, veneer is much more sensitive to dents and scratches, as these cannot be repaired. In contrast to veneer furniture, solid wood furniture can easily be maintained and almost restored to its original condition through sanding and surface treatment – time and time again – year after year. That being said, there is nothing inherently wrong with veneered furniture. But if you want furniture that will withstand daily use for many years to come, solid wood is simply a better choice. At Norrgavel, we primarily work with solid wood because we create furniture designed for everyday use. In our quest for authenticity and honesty, we also want the materials to truly be what they appear to be.

Did you know:
Veneer consists of thin layers of wood, ranging from 0.4 to 3 mm in thickness. Veneer sheets are produced by slicing or rotary cutting. The material consists of a thin wood layer/veneer sheet glued to chipboard or MDF.

“Unlike veneer furniture, solid wood furniture can easily be maintained and almost restored to its original condition through sanding and surface treatment – time and time again – year after year.”

HARD AND SOFT WOOD SPECIES

At Norrgavel, you’ll find furniture made from types of wood commonly found in Scandinavia and Europe – such as oak, birch, and beech. A distinction is often made between soft and hard woods, where the softwoods primarily come from coniferous trees, while hardwoods come from various deciduous trees. The classification into soft and hard woods doesn’t actually reflect the material’s physical strength but is instead a botanical classification. However, in general, hardwoods tend to grow more slowly than softwoods.

Birch

Yellowish-white, hard, and fine-pored. Can be plain or patterned. Grows in large parts of Northern Europe.

Oak

Greyish, hard, and coarse-pored. Grows throughout Europe.

Beech

Light, slightly reddish, fine-pored, and hard. Grows throughout Europe.

Did you know:
By looking closely at a cross-section of a tree trunk, you can gain insight into the tree's life, year by year. The growth rings reveal, for example, whether the tree suffered damage or if a summer was particularly dry.

Choice of timber

A tree is always sawn lengthwise and then cut into different dimensions. Depending on the dimension, the wood is given different names – timber, plank, decking, or moulding are some common terms. Norrgavel uses A/B-grade wood when manufacturing furniture in solid wood. In practice, this means that the most visible parts are of the highest quality. For example, the top surface of a tabletop will have A-grade quality, while the underside may have B-grade quality. Grade A means that the wood has few knots and no cracks. It is considered the highest quality and is perfect for fine wooden furniture. This type usually comes from the heartwood (the innermost part of the tree trunk), which is particularly dense. However, knots are perfectly acceptable under a tabletop or inside a cupboard. Wood from the same type of tree can have completely different characteristics depending on where and how the tree has grown.

“The wood that Norrgavel uses for manufacturing furniture in solid wood is primarily A/B-grade, which means the wood has few knots and no cracks.”

Did you know:
If you saw a board straight across the growth rings, it's called crosscutting, whereas cutting along the growth rings is called ripping.

WHAT IS SOLID WOOD - FINGER-JOINTED AND LAMINATED

At Norrgavel, tabletops, shelves, and frames in solid storage furniture are made from glued laminated wood with continuous staves. Glued laminated wood consists of glued wooden staves, known as lamellas. Therefore, glued laminated wood is often referred to as stave-glued. Before the lamellas are glued, they must be planed. For optimal strength, no more than 2–3 hours should pass between planing and gluing. Glued laminated wood is dimensionally stable and very strong, making it perfect for furniture production. It is also well suited for various surface treatments – such as oil or soap – or alternatively painting with lacquer or tempera paint. This makes the material more resistant to moisture and dirt.

“Glued laminated wood is dimensionally stable and very strong, making it perfect for furniture production.”

Did you know:
It’s only after a glued laminated wood surface has been treated that you see the final result. Different types of wood create different shades once, for example, oil has been applied.

SOLID TIMBER, MANUAL LABOR, AND UNIQUE APPEARANCE

Norrgavel's furniture is made from high-quality solid wood – our glued laminates are produced from whole wooden staves/lamellas. Compare this, for example, with standard parquet flooring, where short lamellas are used, and you will easily notice the difference. It is much more difficult and expensive to obtain whole staves, as only a relatively small part of each tree is fine enough to be used for this purpose. In the tabletop of one of our dining tables, the glued laminate can consist of lamellas from several different trees. For our tabletops, we specifically select lamellas with lively patterns and occasional knots.

“Norrgavel's furniture is made with exclusive whole staves, whereas standard parquet flooring typically uses short lamellas.”

The drying process of the wood, i.e., the time the plank spends in the kiln, affects the final colour of the material. A thick plank that dries slowly will develop a certain colour, while a thinner plank that dries quickly will have a completely different tone. This is particularly noticeable on Norrgavel’s Multi table, where the colour shade often appears slightly different on the legs compared to the table apron. The apron is made from a 1-inch plank, whereas the legs are made from a 2-inch plank. The shape of different parts of the furniture can also affect the colour. For example, the spindles and legs on the Pinn chair are turned, giving them a different texture (stripes), which can result in a more even colour tone when surface-treated (especially pigmented oil can settle into the sanding marks) compared to the seat and the top rail of the backrest.

It’s an important task within the wood industry to be the person who carefully selects lamellas that colour- and pattern-match harmoniously. And when you sit down for breakfast at your dining table from Norrgavel or reach for the coffee jar on your shelf, you can pause for a moment and appreciate that every single lamella has been manually selected with care – giving each piece of furniture its own truly unique appearance.

“Every lamella has been manually selected with care – giving each piece of furniture its own truly unique appearance.”

On the pine board crafted by Norrgavel's founder and designer, Nirvan Richter, you can clearly see how varied a piece of pine can appear – colour tone, structure, texture, and pattern all differ. Take a look at the end of a Norrgavel shelf or tabletop to see how the growth rings are oriented in different directions.

A hygroscopic material – movement in wood

Solid wood is a so-called hygroscopic material, meaning that it can adjust to the surrounding humidity. Norrgavel primarily works with open surface treatments – such as soap, oil, pigmented oil, and egg oil tempera – which allow the wood to continue to "live" and adapt to seasonal changes. Wood absorbs water when the air is humid and releases water when the air is dry. That’s why it moves. The movement decreases over time but never completely stops. However, the degree of movement varies between different types of wood. Alder moves relatively little, while a birch tabletop can change by more than a centimetre over the course of a year. Drawers slide best in winter, and door gaps are narrowest in summer. Wide planks tend to warp slightly, and cracks can always appear. The wood lives.

"A beech tabletop can change by a whole centimetre over the year. The wood lives."

Did you know:
Wood moves 20–35 times more across the grain than along the grain. It responds to changes in humidity and ages as a personal reflection of your way of living.

"On a Pinn chair painted with lacquer, the wood’s movements can become more visible since lacquer is not an open surface treatment."

In winter, low humidity causes the wood to shrink. During the summer months, the humidity is higher, causing the wood to swell. Each lamella in a glued laminate moves differently depending on how the growth rings are oriented or which part of the tree it comes from. Lamellas move very little along the length but much more across the width (between the joints). On a Pinn chair painted with lacquer, the wood’s movements can become particularly noticeable, as lacquer is not an open surface treatment. And on a table with extensions, these natural wood movements can appear at the joint where the extension leaf is placed. When the air becomes drier, the gap may widen slightly at the edges of the table compared to the middle. This is because wood dries or swells more quickly at the ends of a solid wood panel.

Note!
Furniture that is frequently wiped with a damp cloth (using a well-wrung cloth), such as dining tables, requires more regular maintenance since moisture raises the grain and dries out the wood.

Take the best care of your Norrgavel furniture – read our care instructions.