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Commercial Furnishings

Don Swank

2013-04-29 13:47:00

Q-We are considering several types of furnishings for our new offices, including Oak. How would I go about selecting the best Oak office furniture?

A-Last month I provided some information relative to Oak office furniture insofar as style and design. This month, I will provide a little more information relative to price, versatility and color. For those looking to save money, or those concerned about the environmental consequences of using solid Oak, veneer products may be a good choice. Be careful when purchasing extremely low-priced veneer products, however, as poor quality veneer habitually buckles and bubbles, creating an uneven and unattractive surface. Also, some products that look like veneer are just vinyl film, not wood veneer at all. For those with environmental concerns, look for veneer products that have a body made of recycled or sustainable materials. It is important to remember when choosing good Oak office furniture that it may outlast you in the office. An Oak desk or bookcase can be heavy so you may want to incorporate it into an environment that may be more permanent, not moving and reconfiguring constantly. Consider choosing Oak products for furniture that does not require frequent moving such as conference tables or a front desk. Color may also be an important consideration when choosing Oak office furniture. Veneer offers a wealth of possibilities, from pale and warm golden Oak, to deep finishes like tobacco and Espresso Oak. Most Oak furniture is golden or medium brown in hue. Considering factors like the amount of natural light, floor color, and the color palate of other office furnishings such as rugs or chair cushions can help determine what color of Oak furniture will match well. In most cases the same attributes that have been listed for Oak would pertain to other species as well.

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Commercial Furnishings

Don Swank

2013-03-25 14:06:43

Q-We are considering several types of furnishings for our new offices, including Oak. How would I go about selecting the best Oak office furniture?

A-Oak office furniture is a popular choice, known for its quality and weight. This beautiful wood is heavy and majestic, lending an air of formality and gravity to any office setting. Choosing the best oak office furniture is a matter of taste and budget, as the mighty wood can be crafted to suit a variety of design styles. In order to choose the best oak office furniture, first consider the style of design desired. Oak lends itself to certain aesthetics, such as early American, mission, arts and crafts, and French renaissance design. Choosing a style that will suit the needs and atmosphere of the office can be a big step toward narrowing down choices for oak office furniture. It is important to consider the difference between solid oak furniture and oak veneers. A veneer is a coating of oak material placed over a body of another kind of material. Oak veneer is usually considerably less expensive than solid oak, and may be available in a wider range of colors and finishes. Solid oak furniture is made entirely of oak, is typically very heavy and quite durable. Both veneer and solid oak can be treated with clear or colored glaze to protect the finish and alter the tone of the wood.

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Commercial Furnishings

Don Swank

2013-03-01 11:17:29

Q-Woodworking is a subject that many people it seems have an interest in…and perhaps more so today than ever before. I have read some of your articles on seating, types of wood, and the vernacular used in the industry, as well as several other topics. I would love to begin doing woodworking as a hobby. While this question may border on a trade secret, I was wondering if you could help me. If I was to begin woodworking and only going to buy one saw, should it be a radial arm saw or a table saw?

A-I would be happy to help. Not only am I interested in promoting the industry, but we never know when we will need more good, skilled people. It’s good to have the opportunity to advise you now. In doing so, I have gathered some additional information from several Internet sites, including Rochester University’s site at cs.rochester.edu…a great school for engineering and applied sciences. Below are the tasks that are performed most of the time with either or both of the two saws you mentioned. Before getting into these, I might say, when you have made your decision, select the saw that is going to give you the features you need and the one that is going to last. In this business, you will get what you pay for. You will find that table saws work best for ripping. Radial arm saws work best for crosscutting, but are limited by their arm’s length. Both saws will perform both tasks. The radial arm is more adaptable for non-sawing tasks. For instance, overhead routing, surface planing, and drum sanding attachments are available for some radial arm saws. You can buy a disk sanding attachment for use on most table saws. Ripping on the radial arm saw is difficult because it is necessary to push the lumber under the motor housing. This problem can be minimized by use of push sticks and hold down wheels. Maximum rip width is normally limited by the length of the arm. Building a secondary rip fence on the other side of the table from the column will enable you to rip wider pieces, but the off-cut piece width is then limited. Radial arm saws are more prone to overheating during rips in thick wood since the teeth stay in the cut longer, unless you cut substantially into the table top and even then there is no place for the sawdust to exit. Crosscutting on the table saw is difficult because it is tough to keep a board much longer than 4 ft square to the blade. This problem can be minimized by building a good sliding panel cutter. Some table saws have built-in sliding tables, and aftermarket sliding table attachments are available for most saws. A couple of saws have sliding arbors, enabling them to work as inverted radial arm saws. The arbors typically don’t slide as far as the length of many radial arms. Both saws are capable of accurate work. The radial arm saw, with its cantilevered arm attached to a cantilevered column, is typically less rigid than the table saw, which usually has its arbor trunions bolted to the table in a wide pattern. A worn arm bearing in radial arm saws can also contribute to wander in the cut. In table saws, play of the miter gauge bar will adversely affect accuracy. Both table saws and radial arm saws need to be aligned to work optimally. There are more aligning tasks to be performed on a radial arm saw than on a table saw. Radial arm saws typically require realignment more frequently than table saws, perhaps because of the stresses put on the cantilevered assemblies. Radial arm saws don’t need as much space around them as table saws for performing equivalent tasks. On the radial arm saw, boards are always oriented the same way whether you are ripping or crosscutting, so you need space to the left and right of the blade, and only as wide as the widest board you’re cutting. On the table saws, boards are oriented at right angles depending on whether you’re ripping or crosscutting. Thus, you need space in front and in back for ripping, and to the left and right as well for crosscutting. It seems to be easier to engineer and manufacture a table saw than a radial arm saw, which has more moving parts that must withstand large forces without deflection or play. It can therefore be argued that if you’re on a budget, a cheap table saw may work better for you than a cheap radial arm saw. Some people say the radial arm saw is more dangerous because the blade is exposed above the work surface, and because the blade’s location varies as the cut progresses. Angled crosscutting is particularly dangerous since the blade is now cutting where one normally holds the work. The spin direction of the blade tends to lift the work off of the table when ripping, and can pull the carriage into the work (resulting in binding of the saw or serious injury to a careless operator) in the crosscut position. So-called "safety-blades" have a shoulder in front of each tooth, thus limiting the amount of pull generated and reducing these tendencies. Some people say the table saw is more dangerous because you can’t see where the blade is like you can with the radial arm saw. On the other hand, the blade is always in the same spot on the table. The spin action of the table saw’s blade tends to keep the work down on the table, but it can also throw the work, and off-cuts, back at the operator. Both machines are very dangerous and should be treated with much respect. As with all tool buying decisions, you should consider your intended applications, both now and in the future. The general consensus is that if you’re building things like jungle gyms, house additions, or trim work (moldings), a radial arm saw may be best. If you’re building things like fine furniture or cabinets, a table saw may be a more appropriate choice. A number of people have reported that the addition of a motorized miter box to a table saw is a satisfying combination.

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Commercial Furnishings

Don Swank

2013-02-01 10:18:55

Q-Woodworking is a subject that many people it seems have an interest in…and perhaps more so today than ever before. I have read some of your articles on seating, types of wood and the vernacular used in the industry. Can you talk about the different joints one uses in woodworking?

A-Goodness, there are a lot of these, and different types are used for different projects. I had to do a little research on the Internet for some of this. One site I used that proved to be most helpful was at www.about.com. Wood joinery is one of the most basic concepts in woodworking. If one didn't have the ability to joint two pieces of wood together in a solid fashion, all woodworking pieces would be sculptures, carved out of a single piece of wood. However, with the many varied types of wood joinery, a woodworker has a number of different joints in his arsenal from which to choose, based upon the project. If you master these wood joinery concepts, you'll be well on your way to becoming a very accomplished woodworker. I have included different pictures of these types of joints that I found on the Internet, with the applicable numbers. 1. Basic Butt Joint There is no more basic wood joinery than the butt joint. A butt joint is nothing more than when one piece of wood butts into another (most often at a right angle, or square to the other board) and is fastened using mechanical fasteners. This type of joint is often used in wall framing on construction sites. 2. Mitered Butt Joint A mitered butt joint is basically the same as a basic butt joint, except that the two boards are joined at an angle (instead of square to one another). The advantage is that the mitered butt joint will not show any end grain, and as such is a bit more aesthetically pleasing. However, the mitered butt joint isn't all that strong. 3. Half-Lap Joint The half-lap joint is where half of each of the two boards being joined is removed, so that the two boards join together flush with one another. This type of wood joinery can obviously weaken the strength of the two adjoining boards, but also is a stronger joint than butt joints. There are a number of projects where this type of wood joint is quite desirable, in spite of its drawbacks. 4. Tongue and Groove Joint When joining two boards square to one another along a long edge, one can simply butt the joint together and hold it with fasteners. However, the tongue and groove joint is much stronger and provides more adjoining surface areas, which is particularly useful if you're going to glue the joint. 5. Mortise and Tenon Joint The mortise and tenon is a classic wood joinery method. These joints have been used since the early times of woodworking, and are still among the strongest and most elegant methods for joining wood. 6. Biscuit Joint Another method for joining boards along the edges (like the tongue and groove joint) is to cut slots and use beechwood wafers (known as biscuits) to hold the boards in place. This is a very useful modern woodworking joint, particularly for creating table tops, relying on glue and the swelling of the beechwood biscuit to hold the boards in place. 7. Pocket Joint The Pocket Joint is a type of wood joinery that involves cutting a slot and pre-drilling a pilot hole at an angle between two boards before connecting the two with a screw. This pre-drilling needs to be very accurate, so it is typically accomplished by use of a commercial jig. Pocket joints work great for cabinet face frames and other similar applications where a lot of strength is not needed. 8. Dado A dado is nothing more than a square-grooved slot in one board where another board will fit. Similar to tongue and groove joinery, this is a commonly-used wood joint for connecting plywood, such as building cabinetry. 9. Rabbet Another common wood joint used in cabinetry is the rabbet. A rabbet is essentially a dado cut along the edge of a board. Rabbets are often used at the back of cabinets and other similar assemblies for attaching the back to the sides of the box, adding a considerable amount of strength to the assembly. 10. Through Dovetail Joint Of all wood joinery methods, the through dovetail may be the most revered. A classic through dovetail is beautiful and very strong, and adds a touch of class to any piece. There are a few methods for creating through dovetails, from hand cutting to machining with a jig. 11. Half-Blind Dovetail Joint There are situations where a dovetail joint is the connection of choice, but both edges of the dovetails should not be visible. A perfect example is a drawer front, where you don't want to see the end of the through dovetail on the face of the drawer. For this type of joint, the best choice is a half-blind dovetail. 12. Sliding Dovetail A sliding dovetail is a versatile joint with a lot of possible uses. A good way to think of it is as a locking dado. 13. Box Joint Dovetail joints are beautiful and strong, but not always practical. A box joint is a simpler alternative to the dovetail joint.

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Commercial Furnishings

Don Swank

2013-01-02 14:18:30

Q-I have been reading your recent articles on the vernacular associated with commercial furnishings. I don’t know why someone hasn’t done this before. Can you go further in your explanation?

A-Thank you for your question. Last month we talked about the two main classifications of office furnishings being that of custom-made and ready-made, factory-made or pre-fabricated, plus the various types of wood, stains and fillers that are used for these items. This month we will continue with more of the same. But first, an answer to a question we received from last month’s article…”What does the term “casegoods” mean?” Casegoods is a term you will hear quite frequently in the commercial furnishings industry. It refers to furniture that is not upholstered and is made of wood. In a commercial setting, it would describe desks, credenzas, bookcases, file cabinets, etc., all of course made with hardwood. Now to go on… Q: How much does custom furniture cost over ready-made, factory-made or pre-fabricated furniture? A: The price of custom furniture is driven by a variety of factors including material selection, door style, finish, drawers, and the level of detail of the design. After an initial design consultation, you should always receive a no-obligation budgetary estimate for your custom job. Quite frequently people are surprised with the competiveness of the price between the two. Q: What are the benefits of 100% custom furniture? A: If you can dream it, it can be built. 100% custom furniture means that every piece is built specifically for you in any size, wood species, style, and finish desired. The finish can be matched with existing furniture, as well as style and design. Having furniture built for existing spaces and configurations is perhaps one of the most surprising differences for those who choose custom furniture. Additionally, since you can make custom furniture to any size, it is surprising what larger pieces will do to an existing room. They will make the room seem much larger. Q: You mentioned some of the woods that can be used in your last article. Can you expand on this? A: Yes. Most every custom manufacturer is able to offer all available wood species, engineered wood veneers and laminates for any type of commercial application. Hardwood species might include but not be limited to: Alder, Beech, Birch, Cherry, Hickory, Pine, Mahogany, Maple, Red Oak, White Oak, and Walnut. Finishes and fillers can be whatever you want them to be, providing the best in durability and strength for long lasting wear that won’t yellow. Most every custom manufacturer will tailor the finish to your exact specifications, whether new, formulated to match existing furniture, or duplicated to match a finish from a concept photo. Glazing, distressing and rubs can achieve about any style desired. Next month we will talk more about these stains, fillers and finishes of commercial furniture.