Just read that a lot of old growth maple in furniture is from trees cut down over 100 years ago

I was looking up wood history for a client and found a fact that really got me thinking. A report from a university in Michigan said a huge amount of the old growth maple we use for repairs or find in antiques was harvested before 1920. That means the wood in a lot of those classic pieces is from trees that started growing in the 1700s. It makes sense when you think about the tight grain, but seeing the actual timeline written out was a surprise. It changes how I look at sourcing replacement material for period work. Do you guys run into this when trying to match grain for restoration jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

keith9431mo ago

Yeah, that timeline is wild to see written out. I once spent a whole week trying to match a patch for a 19th century dresser, and the modern maple just looked... sad and puffy next to it. It really makes you feel like a detective, or maybe a failure, when you're staring at a board that's just wrong.

claire9991mo ago

That's the fun part for me.