Solid oak versus oak dining table

birminghamuniv

Hi all,
I see some online sites selling dining tables. I am a bit confused as some sites say they are selling "solid oak dining tables" while other say "oak dining tables". My understanding is they are the same. Is that right?
Thanks

fishpond

solid Oak or Oak veneer?

Westminster

My sceptical side would read into that, that the 'oak dining tables' have an oak veneer over a cheaper wood.

birminghamuniv

Thanks for replies. I can distinguish between oak and oak veneer but have a look at these two links:

This says natural oak: http://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/furniture/country-cottage-natural-oak-and-painted-6ft-dining-table/7894.html

and this says solid oak: http://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/range/bevel-solid-oak/

They are from the same site so I am confused. Are they the same?

Paully232000

Is there a price difference between the 'solid oak' and 'oak'.
I would also think that one is all oak and the other is part oak, part some other, cheaper product.

birminghamuniv

I can't really compare because they are different items from different sites

oystercatcher

The first one is 'Natural Oak and Painted ' . It doesn't say what is painted and to my mind the painted part would be cheaper wood . You would need to enquire .

Grumpelstiltskin

There's a charity shop near me sells better quality tables for less than £50.


OK Second hand but what a price difference.

nidO

I think in this description specifically it just comes down to different wording.

Oakfurnitureland specifically state all over their site that they never use veneers or MDF/chipboard etc and only ever use hardwood, but are ambiguous as to whether every item is 100% oak, you might find that the products labelled "oak" rather than "solid oak" are a mix of oak and other hardwood.

AGT1234

Solid oak I would expect to be single pieces or multiple pieces joined together but if you cut through it there would only be one thickness of oak e.g. made from lots of oak planks. An Oak table I would still expect to be made from oak but could be laminated with different layers of the same wood (often better as it won't warp and crack unlike a big piece of solid wood) or it could be a cheaper version with just a laminate of different woods with an oak exterior veneer but I would expect the description to show that and you should be able to tell from the price.


Only benefit of a solid oak table would be that you could sand it back and resurface it, a nice oak laminate should have plenty of surface thickness that you could also take back if you wanted but veneer would be too thin to work on.


For buying new I would expect the price would tend to be nice oak laminated and matched to be the most expensive, to solid oak in the mid range and veneer at the cheaper end of the market.

AGT1234

Check where you are going to put the table and if it is going to be covered or you are going to use the wood surface. Solid wood is least tolerant to getting wet and direct sunlight (fade, warping, cracking etc.) while a nice laminate might only suffer surface fading that you could treat in the same circumstances. Varnished or painted surfaces are easier to look after than natural wood which needs oiling or waxing to keep it in good condition, the more sunlight, damp or heat the more it is likely to need treated.


P.S. there are lots of nicer quality hard wood products at other providers, I was never impressed with the workmanship of the products in the links posted (I do quite a bit of woodwork myself in my spare time). Expensive purchase so make sure you go and have a look at them in person and seeing as this is a moneysaving forum there are a lot of kitchen tables for sale second hand which can be made as good as new or better with a bit of sanding and some paint.