‘Wood warps.’ If you’re looking for a new dining table, there’s a good chance you’ve read this somewhere or maybe you’ve heard it from an experienced furniture store employee. Wood does indeed warp and that can affect the dining table.
But what does this actually mean, what do we do at Table du Sud to counteract this effect, and what can you do from your home? In this blog we take a deeper dive, so you know exactly what it's like.
What does warping mean?
Whether it’s about oak, walnut, or tree trunk: wood is a natural product. This means that wood can warp, even if extreme measures are taken to prevent it. The warping of wood means that cracks can occur or that the wood takes on a slightly different shape because it will expand, for example.
The question then naturally becomes: when will wood start warping? Wood starts to warp when the environment changes. Think of rapidly changing temperatures and high or low humidity.
Stop warping
To counteract warping, it’s important to create an environment that is as stable as possible. The nice thing about the whole story is that a living room, kitchen, or dining room is often very stable to begin with. Humidity plays by far the largest role when it comes to wood warping. We recommend a humidity between 50% and 60%. At this humidity, the wood will not or hardly warp, so that your wooden furniture remains in perfect condition. Tip: did you know that we also sell humidity meters? With a hygrometer you can be up to date at a moment’s notice.
The warping of wood in our workshop
That stable environment you have at home is ideal for a natural product such as wood. That’s why it rarely happens that a dining table at your home suddenly cracks or deforms. Regulating the climate in a large workshop is another story. This is something we are working on day and night, so to speak, because the wood is really of vital importance, not only for us, but also for you as a customer.
Naturally, our goal is to keep the workshop operating in optimal condition. This is not self-evident and that’s why we have taken measures in 2022 to optimise the climate. In the past, due to the commissioning of new machines, we had to deal with extremely dry air, which caused the humidity to drop below 50%. We moistened the workshop by hand so that the quality of the wood was maintained. We have now installed automatic nebulisers in our workshop that immediately spring into action when the humidity drops below the lower limit. Often, our nebulisers will jump into action several times a day! This has basically taken our concerns away. Now we know for certain that we can keep on keeping on in a spacious workshop with excellent humidity!
Wood also has a relatively short stay in our workshop. This is because we work without stock. We only get to work when we have received an order because we provide pure customisation. This is called make to order and contributes to the efficient use of our available space.
All materials
As you undoubtedly know, our furniture is not only for sale in oak. We’re proud to be able to offer you multiple materials. Our professionals work with various materials such as Suar, Fenix, marble, and ceramics on a daily basis, all to realise the most beautiful furniture. Be inspired by the properties of these materials, you just might discover a nice option for your home! One thing is certain: we love to work in our workshop in Heeze to offer you a beautiful piece of furniture.
Want to know more about the workshop?
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