That’s why the Architectural Flush Door Section of the National Wood Window and Door Manufacturers Association developed this information. Its designed as a primer on veneer matching methods, cutting options and color selection.
We hope you will find this guide helpful. It was originally prepared for the 190,000-plus readers of our magazine Window & Door Specifier. For more information about the magazine and other WDMA literature, refer to Resources. From video tapes to industry standards, WDMA has the information you need to help ensure that your door and window visions become reality.
Knowing the Basics of Cutting, Matching and Coloring
are Keys to Specifying
You are specifying architectural wood flush doors for your latest project. How can you be sure that you get exactly what you’re looking for in terms of color, grain and quality? A thorough knowledge of veneers, how they’re cut and how they are matched can ensure that you get what you want. Appearance is a primary consideration. (After all, the reason you chose a wood door in the first place was because of its beauty, wasn’t it?) The selection of the proper veneer not only depends on species, but a number of other considerations as well. Each species has its own distinctive characteristics. And within each species, no two trees offer exactly the same grain pattern or color.
These veneer examples are typical of grain and color variations found within "A" grade plain sliced natural birch. However, even these do not represent the wide range possible.
The beauty of veneer is in the natural variations of texture, grain, figure and color.
A closeup shows typical grain patterns
found in plain sliced natural birch veneers.
For example, in the so-called "natural" grades of some wood species---particularly ash, birch and maple---both heartwood and sapwood make up the veneer. The color contrast between heartwood and sapwood in these species produces marked differences in the finished veneer.
This reference to the appearance, grades an associated terminology of the more common hardwood veneers used in architectural wood flush doors will enable you to choose door and face veneers with confidence.
(Editor’s note: Although the examples shown herein deal with birch, the sapwood/heartwood effect is equally apparent in ash and maple veneers.)
Veneer Cutting Can Change Appearance
The way in which a log is cut, in relation to the annual growth rings, determines the appearance of a veneer. The beauty of veneer is in the natural variations of texture, grain, figure, color and the way it is assembled on a door face. Faces reflect the natural variations in grain inherent in the species and cut. The illustrations shown herein are representative, though grains and pattern will vary.
A rotary cut follows the log’s annual growth rings, thus providing a general bold, random appearance.
A plain sliced (also called flat cut), is sliced parallel to a line through the center of the log, Cathedral and straight grain patterns are the result. Individual pieces of veneer are kept in the order in which they are sliced, resulting in a natural grain progression when assembled as veneer faces.
Quarter cutting produces a series of stripes.
These stripes vary in width from species to species. The way a log is cut, in relation to the annual growth rings, determines the appearance of veneer. Faces will have the natural variations in grain inherent in the species and cut. Natural variations of veneer grain and pattern will vary from these illustrations.
