Post by Steve KramerAnd then you would join the hundreds of others who buy exquisitely
carved furniture in SE Asia, ship it back to the States and to Europe
and watch it crack in a dozen places because the humidity level is so
different. Most of the furniture sold in SE Asia is made with wood that
isn't properly dried when it's being worked on. We bought a large
(300lbs) carved elephant two years ago, and even keeping it here in it's
original environment, it is beginning to show small cracks in the wood.
Not enough to ruin it's beauty, but if I brought it back to a US house
heated with a wood stove or electric heat, it would be little more than
dozens of pieces of carved kindling now.
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I see that chilly commented on the wood cracking too. I guess I'll
find out more about it as time goes on since my friends who lived
there had a 14 piece dining room suite shipped in from Sing....table,
chairs, buffet, cabinet and server table. That would truly suck if
they had problems with it.
Regardless, I'd like to mention a few things :
- I brought home 6 pieces from our 2001 trip. Our friends brought home
stuff too. None of it has cracked.
- I have a kitchen set and a TV / stereo table that were custom made
for me...ie I went to the carpenter and said "Make me this" and he
did. Both were made from oak. The kitchen table cracked. I found a
someone to repair it. The TV table is fine even though it takes just
as much abuse since it is close to the fireplace in the winter. The
kitchen table gets abused by the sun.
- My sis in law's kitchen set just cracked too. She had it repaired
without a big deal. The differences were that mine was custom made and
cracked on table surface. Hers was store-bought and cracked on the
leg.
- I think that most ppl fail to realize that wood is fluid. It was cut
from a living thing and therefore, it moves. It expands and contracts
no matter how much drying or prep was done to it. Most ppl don't want
to take the time to oil their wooden pieces. (I sure as hell don't.)
By oil, I mean just that and using a wood oil, not by using a
furniture polish that claims to have oil in it. I oil my kitchen set
maybe once or twice a year. I never oil my TV stereo and the TV is so
heavy that 2 strong ppl need to lift it so that I can dust underneath.
No cracks...yet.
- If you doubt that wood will always expand and contract (and thereby
sometimes crack), then you don't live in my house. I have a house that
changes between seasons. Some of my 6 panel doors will not close
completely depending on the season and the amount of humidity. And if
you live in my climate and someone tells you to buy Anderson Windows,
a very popular brand, tell them they are nuts. Ask them to speak to
the fact that the inside casing is wood and, as such, not efficient
with temperature extremes that we have in PA.
- Many wooden pieces increase in value and become more desirable with
some cracking, just the same as many metal pieces increase in value
with their patene.
So, IMHO, I would opt to purchase the unique piece of furniture from
Asia / Indonesia and hope that it doesn't crack. After all, there are
many antique pieces out from Asia / Indonesia that have withstood the
test of time. If my piece cracked, I'll hire a finish carpenter to
repair it just like I did with my kitchen table surface and my sis in
law did with her table leg. It wasn't expensive, it was fairly quick
and you have the piece back without being able to tell the crack in
most cases.