254 SELECTION OF FURNITURE

Seasoning of Wood. Lumber from the sawmill must be sea-
soned or dried until its moisture content is from 5 to 8 per cent
before it is suitable for furniture making. Natural air drying
usually reduces the moisture content to 15 per cent, after which
kiln drying completes the seasoning. Improper or inadequate dry-
ing is not evident when furniture is purchased, but warping and
shrinkage presently show. A reliable manufacturer will guarantee
the proper seasoning of his wood; merchants should give their
customers the same guarantees.

Plywood or Laminated Wood. In plywood construction
several layers of wood are glued over one another with adjacent
layers at right angles and are placed under heavy pressure. Ply-
wood is particularly useful for large surfaces and for curved planes.
Laminated wooden chairs of unusual and interesting form are
sometimes available. See page 61.

*Most of the furniture of today is made partly of plywood and
veneer, as it is more beautiful, more serviceable, and more eco-
nomical than solid wood; it also offers much better resistance to
changes caused by dry'air. A properly made plywood panel is
said to be 80 per cent stronger than solid wood. Plywood con-
struction may, however, be very unsatisfactory through inferior
workmanship, poor glue, or unseasoned wood.

Veneer. Freak logs and stumps having eccentric figure and
grain are cut up as thin as possible, so that the interesting figure
will not be wasted, and are used as veneering. A small amount of
veneer wood is produced by sawing and slicing, but nearly all is
made by rotary cutting. In this process the logs are first steamed
or boiled and then turned against a knife, a continuous sheet of
very thin wood being produced which is dried by air or heat.
This interesting wood is generally used for outside layers of ply-
wood; the inner layers are plain.

Solid Wood. Solid-wood construction has certain advantages
as well as disadvantages. Solid wood can be carved, and it can
be chipped or worn or planed down without showing other wood
underneath. It does not peel or blister, and there is no danger
from poor workmanship. Solid woods, however, may check or
split from the lack of humidity in our heated homes. This danger
is minimized by making a part like a table top of three adjoining
strips and sealing all the surfaces of the wood.