Genuine Mahogany carves very well and is one of the prime furniture species for period reproduction styles.
Furniture makers have always been our customers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, furniture was the primary use of our hardwoods. Today the landscape has changed a bit, but the furniture maker’s quest for high quality has not. We at J. Gibson McIlvain are intimately acquainted with the lumber needs of the furniture making industry.
The way in which lumber is sawn can be a major factor in how it is used in the furniture piece. For example, in building legs for a desk or table, most prefer to have rift sawn lumber for a grain that is consistently straight down the leg. Stability is a concern, but a more important consideration is how the lumber will move once locked into place in the final piece. Therefore, we often use quartersawn and flat sawn lumber to compensate.
We also understand that the furniture maker pays much attention to the grain pattern and color of the wood to see how it will be represented in the final product. We know that many times, furniture makers would prefer to build the entire piece from one log or one board for consistency.
Cherry is a classic furniture wood that is easy to work and ages to a beautiful warm tone.
The team at J. Gibson McIlvain is aware of the challenges facing you as a furniture maker and can work with you to select the right stock for your masterpiece. Because the style of furniture is only limited by the creator’s imagination, it is necessary for you to find a lumber dealer with a wide variety of species, thicknesses, and specific grain patterns to accommodate your every need.
The real benefit to furniture makers in doing business with J. Gibson McIlvain involves the NHLA grading systems that were first devised with furniture makers in mind. Because we service so many other industries with varying quality and size needs, we are able to provide higher quality material in greater selections than most distributors. For instance, our flooring and millwork customers demand longer clear faces than FAS grades demand, so when you buy lumber from us you often receive much clearer boards than the typical FAS grade would dictate.
