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MATERIALS

We build exclusively with native American timbers; Cherry, Maple, Oak and Poplar. The premium grade of lumber we use requires a minimum board width of six inches. These boards give the furniture the look of an antique made from the wide timbers of a virgin forest. The grain flows in beautiful patterns that don't exist in furniture made from narrow strips of wood This premium grade lumber is often not available. When it is, we buy as much as we can and stockpile it. In addition to the lumber we buy, we cut timber on our own land. Recently we selectively harvested 250,000 board feet, mostly Poplar. We use Poplar like 18th century cabinetmakers did, as a secondary wood for drawer sides, cupboard backs and shelves. Tempering tradition with practicality, we use birch plywood in applications where it performs better than solid wood. These uses include drawer bottoms, adjustable shelves for entertainment centers, and the backs of pieces that aren't seen.

Selecting Lumber

American Black Cherry

All of the Cherry lumber we use comes from West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. The region grows the finest Cherry lumber in the world. This incredible wood is a pale salmon color when freshly cut and if left unstained will, with exposure to sunlight, turn a dark reddish brown over time. The grain is some of the most beautiful of any wood. From a woodworkers viewpoint it is almost the perfect wood. It accepts stain remarkably well. It is hard enough to not dent easily and to hold crisp details, yet it soft enough to not get black burn marks when worked with modern power tools. Of course because of all these things it is highly sought after and commands a high price. In recent years prices have been pushed even higher by a fast growing export market, mostly to Asia. As prices have risen many manufactures have switched to Cherry veneer and to making substitutions with lesser woods stained a Cherry color. At Samuel S. Case we are committed to building furniture from solid Cherry lumber.

Maple and Tiger Maple

While there are those that make every inch of a piece in Tiger Maple, Mr. Case prefers a more restrained approach. At Samuel S. Case we use Tiger Maple as an accent wood on pieces that are primarily plain Maple. Generally the areas where we use Tiger Maple are headboards, drawer fronts, raised panels, and Table tops.

About Tiger Maple

Maple Maple trees fall into two broad categories. Soft Maple and Hard Maple. These terms are quite misleading because soft Maple is not really soft. It is soft only in comparison to Hard or Rock Maple. Soft Maple is harder than Cherry and most other woods. The other common name for Soft Maple is Red Maple.

When Hard Maple has highly figured boards it is usually Birds Eye Maple which is really lots of very small knots.

When Soft Maple has highly figured wood it is usually Tiger Maple. Named because of its likeness to a Tiger’s stripes. It is sometimes called fiddle back Maple because for centuries it has been used to make violins. It is also sometimes called curly Maple. However, this is not correct as curly Maple is a different type of figuring. Tiger figuring is stripes that go across the grain. Curly figuring is “S” shaped lines that run parallel to the grain. Sometimes boards will have both Curly and Tiger figuring.

Some people say that Tiger is a result of the grain not being parallel to the log so that it is end gain showing on the face of the board. This seems to make sense, but it may or may not be true. Mostly no one knows what makes wood figured. It is one of life's mysteries.

Tiger Maple is sold by small specialty lumber dealers. They sometimes purchase it from the mainstream lumber industry who consider it a defect and cull it out. In some cases loggers can tell by looking at the outside of a log that it will have Tiger figure and will sell these logs to the specialty dealers directly.

The supply of Tiger Maple is small and availability can be sporadic. The quality of figured wood is a subjective matter that requires a relationship of trust between the lumber dealer and the furniture maker. These factors are all reasons that the mainstream furniture industry does not use Tiger Maple. Also, using highly figured wood to make furniture requires sorting and repositioning the boards and making judgments and decisions during the building process. The larger factories prefer to treat every board the same so that production is fast and lower skilled workers can be utilized.