Wood Guide

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Forest
To Final

Zero waste responsibility and time-honored craftsmanship create beautiful heirlooms from start to finish.

Quality in equals quality out. That’s why unique, quality heirloom furniture begins with a quality creation process. Every step developed and controlled to ensure the furniture you fall in love with today remains the furniture you’ll love for generations. From responsible selective harvest methods used by our own timber crews to ensure forest longevity, to our advanced, proprietary saw mills that minimize waste, our vertically-integrated manufacturing process ensures no detail is ever missed and every piece is built to exact specifications.

WOOD SHOWCASE

The same chair or table made from two different species of wood can look and feel drastically different. Variances in grain, tone and texture create character, personality and emotion. MAVIN offers nine beautiful choices of wood for dining furniture.

The Janka Scale represents the pressure (in pounds) that it takes to mar the kiln dried wood. A higher number means the wood surface is harder. MAVIN furniture is crafted from nine hardy species, ensuring generations of love and performance.

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GRAIN

The grain of each wood species, whether coarse or fine-grained, will show through the stain. Be sure to choose the type of wood with a grain that you love. We select boards for the best grain match but please remember that the tightness of the grain can vary greatly from board to board. The contrasting grain in boards bring more interest and character to your furniture.

mineral deposits

Mineral Deposits

These dots and streaks occur randomly throughout wood due to the tree storing minerals or sap. These do not diminish the strength or quality of the furniture, they only add to its uniqueness.

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End Grain

All of our pieces are solid wood. This means that the end grain will show. This crosscut surface is softer and soaks up more of the stain, giving it a darker appearance.

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Color Variation

Each board we use in every piece of furniture is unique. The natural variances of wood cause variations in the furniture, regardless of which finish is used.

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Maple

Its unique color, smooth grain and strength make maple a popular choice among woodworkers of all types. When left in its natural state, maple can completely brighten a room, and when stained, it looks equally gorgeous and will dress up to suit any style. Maple also tends to be a preferred hardwood when looking at durability factors. It will show small closed knots and slight mineral streaks that become greatly enhanced when a stain is applied. All of our tabletops and chair seats are constructed of hard maple.

A strong, fine-grained hardwood with an even texture.
Slight color variations add character to this straight grained wood.

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Mineral Streaks
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Small Closed Knots
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Varied Mineral Streaks
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Natural Wood Checks

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Quarter Sawn Oak

Quarter sawn oak is a more structurally sound hardwood than traditionally processed oak. It resists cupping, twisting, warping, moisture penetration and raised grain. One of the most sought after features of quarter sawn white oak is the flecks and the rays that appear on the face of the boards as a result of cutting along the growth rings. These flecks and rays can be quite dramatic and add a unique, striking quality to the wood.

Oak wood which has been cut on an angle to display a tighter grain pattern for a cleaner look.

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Slight Mineral Streaks
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Tighter Grain
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Small Natural Wood Checks

1260

Oak

Oak comes in a variety of hues, with a unique grain, which makes it one of the more recognizable species. A common choice, it has a long history of use around the home – dating back to pre-colonial times and remains every bit as prevalent today as it was then. Oak is a mainstay in traditional design, but its versatility allows modern pieces to come to life.

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Slight Mineral Streaks
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Small Closed Knots
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Small Closed Pin Knots
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Small Natural Wood Checks

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Rustic Oak

Featuring all the same qualities of traditional oak, it offers other characteristics such as natural knots, more prominent mineral streaks and natural wood checks. This hardwood can be significantly enhanced with stains to showcase traditional styles or put a twist on a fresh modern piece.

Boasts the same qualities as oak, but features many other natural characteristics such as knots, streaks and pits.

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Closed or Filled Knots
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Natural Wood Checks
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Pin Knots & Mineral Pits
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Textured Colorful Grain

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Walnut

The sapwood of walnut is cream colored, while the heartwood ranges from light brown to a dark, almost chocolate colored brown, sometimes with hints of purple and with dark streaks. Walnut sapwood can be darkened through a steaming process. Most walnut
wood has a straight grain, although wavy or curly grain does occur and can create a very beautiful effect.

A strong, durable hardwood with a mostly straight grain. Its deep tones inspire a feeling of luxury.

image of walnut wood
Colorful Woodgrain
image of walnut wood
Small Closed Knots
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Textured Grain Variations

950

Cherry

Harvested from cherry fruit trees, it is a hardwood famed for its durability and rich red/brown tones. Woodworkers highly prize cherry because of its smooth grain, flexibility and brilliant color. Over time, it will darken
with exposure to light and heat.

A moderately hard, yet very strong wood with a fine grain. Cherry darkens over time, enriching the furniture’s appearance each year.

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Slight Mineral Streaks
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Small Pits & Knots
image of cherry wood with unfilled mineral pits & pockets
Unfilled Mineral Pits & Pockets

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Rustic Cherry

Featuring white, brown and deep red colors with brown flecks, rustic cherry is a less refined version of traditional cherry. It boasts natural knots and pits throughout each board with fine satin-smooth texture and a circular grain. Over time, it will darken with exposure to light and heat.

Cherry wood without the uniform, fine grain. Boards with knots, streaks and pits are used, showing the natural beauty and character.

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Mineral Streaks
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Natural Knots
image of rustic cherry, natural wood checks
Natural Wood Checks
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Closed or Filled Knots
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Unfilled Mineral Pits & Gum Pockets

950

Wormy Maple

Sometimes referred to as ambrosia maple, wormy maple is a specific grade that is selected and sorted to showcase the color variations and mineral streaks caused by the ambrosia beetle. These beetles infest live maple trees, depositing their larvae that bore small “worm holes” and discolor the wood. The result is stunning. Colors and the flowing patterns vary significantly, from creamy white sapwood to beige or tan-colored heartwood, with dark brown streaks near small worm holes, no two boards are alike.

A cream-colored background with brown and greyish blue stripes. In most, or all of the streaks, there are tiny holes from beetle larvae burrowing into the wood.

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Sap Wood & Mineral Streaks
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Small Closed Knots
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Worm Holes
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Natural Wood Checks

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Elm

Its grey-white to light brown sapwood is very narrow while boasting a heartwood that is a vibrant red-brown to dark brown color. The grain can be straight but often is interlocked with a coarse texture.

Grey-white to light brown sapwood is very narrow while boasting a vibrant red-brown to dark brown heartwood. The grain can be straight but often is interlocked with a coarse texture.

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Colorful Grain
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Closed Natural Knots
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Grain Variations
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Textured Grain Variations

GLOSSARY

Wood will darken over time, offering more warmth and depth to furniture underneath the stain. Humidity, light, smoke and even heat and steam from cooking can accelerate the darkening of wood. The darkening effect of aging will be even more extreme when lighter stains are used.

Naturally occurring features that give wood some of its character.

Grain that is interrupted by a knot, but the board remains smooth and no wood is missing from the area.

The natural variances in wood that cause differences in furniture, regardless of the finish.

The crosscut surface of a board.

A dense wood t hat contains the presence of pores when viewed in a transverse section.

Mature wood that forms the spine of a tree.

Since wood naturally expands and contracts with age, temperature and humidity, it is possible for small cracks or lines to show at joints. This is normal and does not weaken the furniture when these appear.

Dense, round spots that form in wood at the base of a branch or twig.

Separation in wood fibers across the annual rings in a piece of wood.

Small droplets or deposits of a mineral or the tree’s sap.

The part of a tree that is isolated between the bark and the heartwood.

Long thin areas of wood darkened by the tree’s sap.

Tiny holes caused by ambrosia beetles worming their way through a living tree.