Craftsman Series—Surfaces

Grades

Oregon Door meets or exceeds the highest quality standards set forth by the architectural flush wood door industry. There are two primary industry quality standards:

• Window & Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA I.S. 1-A)
• Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS) Quality Standards, sections 5 and 9

WDMA is the industry standard for door manufacturers, while AWS is more commonly used in specialty installations requiring doors to be blueprint matched with wall paneling and/or to blend with adjacent millwork. In most instances, WDMA requirements are most appropriate to assure consistent appearance amongst doors as usually architectural and commercial doors are not directly associated with panels or millwork.

AWS and WDMA set two aesthetic grades for architectural wood doors: custom and premium. Custom is the standard grade intended for high-quality work. This grade provides a well-defined degree of control over the workmanship, materials, and installation of a project.

Most Craftsman Series doors are premium grade. This grade is reserved for special projects or featured areas within a project. Premium grade doors are specified when the highest degree of control is required.

The difference between a custom and premium grade doors is the stile construction, veneer grade – adopted from HPVA panel veneer grading tables – and veneer assembly. Below is a simple comparison of the two grades:

It is important to note that AA grade veneer requires wider minimums for face components with plain sliced and rotary sliced flitches. Premium grade doors have a higher cost and more limited availability due to AA grade veneer, center balance, and wider flitch requirements.

When an aesthetic grade is not specified, custom grade is the default grade to be furnished. There is no difference in performance duty requirements for custom grade and premium grade doors.

Face Cut Options

• Plain Sliced or Flat Cut Veneer— This is the second most common cut. In this method, the log is repeatedly sliced parallel to the center. It’s the same way most boards are cut, just in much thinner layers. The veneer slices, or leaves, are kept in the same order in which they are cut and then reassembled with only a very gradual grain figure transition from one panel to another. The result is a veneer that looks like multiple boards, each with the typical arched or “cathedral” pattern in the grain that comes from cutting parallel to the growth rings.

• Quarter Sliced Veneer— In order to achieve veneer with a very straight grain, this cut is often specified. The quarter of a log is mounted on the vacuum flitch table so that the growth rings are perpendicular to the cutting blade. Quartered leaves are cut consecutively, are narrower than plain sliced, and are easily matched. This cut requires the largest diameter of logs. Quarter sliced oak is often sliced specifically for its appearance of a distinct flake marking – which is actually created by the veneer knife bisecting prominent radial patterns in the tree, called medullary rays.

• Rotary Cut Veneer— This is the most common cut. This veneer is created by spinning the log and peeling off a continuous sheet. Think of a roll of paper towels, and you get the idea. This is the least-expensive way to produce the veneer, and it can often be laid in one big sheet. Rotary-cut veneer has wild, random grain patterns.

• Rift Cut Veneer—If you’re after a more straight-grained look for your project, you may want to specify this method. It’s made by tilting the log to a slight angle, so that the slices are more perpendicular to the growth rings. Just like with the plain-sliced, the slices get laid out side by side, but the grain pattern shows up as fairly straight lines instead of as a repeating arches. You may even have to examine the veneer sheet closely to tell where the individual veneer slices begin and end. Only used with various types of oak, rift cut slices across the medullary ray cells to accentuate the vertical grain while minimizing flake. You should expect to pay more of a premium price for rift cut veneer because the process is more involved and creates more waste.

Veneer Match

Once the decorative veneer cutting method is specified, the type of match at the joint line must be specified. The way in which the individual cuts are placed next to each other during the fabrication of the veneer face affects the appearance of the doors.

Once the decorative veneer cutting method is specified, the type of match at the joint line must be specified. The way in which the individual cuts are placed next to each other during the fabrication of the veneer face affects the appearance of the doors.

• Book Match—The most commonly used match in the industry is where every other leaf of veneer is turned over, like the pages of a book. Thus the grain is mirrored in each adjacent leaf. The visual effect created is that veneer joints match, creating a symmetrical pattern. This type of matching yields maximum continuity of grain. When sequenced panels are specified, prominent characteristics will “ascend” or “descend” across the match as the leaves progress from panel to panel.
  

  

  Thus the grain is mirrored in each adjacent leaf. The visual effect created is that veneer joints match, creating a symmetrical pattern. This type of matching yields maximum continuity of grain. When sequenced panels are specified, prominent characteristics will “ascend” or “descend” across the match as the leaves progress from panel to panel.

  Book matching may be used with plain, quarter or rift sliced veneers. Because the “tight” and “loose” faces alternate in adjacent leaves, they reflect light and accept stain differently. This may yield a noticeable color variation, often called barber pole, in some species or flitches. These variations are not considered a manufacturing defect.

   

• Slip Match—Often used with quarter sliced and rift sliced veneers, this is the process in which a sequence of matching veneer leaves or consecutive sheets of veneer are slipped out one after the next, to form the face of a panel product. This results in all the same face sides being exposed. The visual effect shows a grain figure repeating, but joints do not show grain match.The lack of grain match at the joints with slip matching can be desirable. The relatively straight grain patterns of quartered and rift veneer generally produce pleasing results and a uniformity of color because all faces have the same light refraction. This is in contrast to book matching where alternating leaves are turned over.
• Random Match—Veneer leaves are placed next to each other in a random order and orientation and randomly spliced edge to edge, producing a “board-by-board” effect in many species. This produces a casual or rustic appearance, as though individual boards from a random pile were applied to the product. Conscious effort is made to mismatch grain at joints.
  Degrees of contrast and variation may change from panel to panel.
• End Match—Generally selected for doors with transoms, this match utilizes a single piece of veneer that runs from the bottom to the top of the door. At the transom, a close image is created by turning the veneer at the joint.
• Continuous Match—When a single piece of veneer is utilized for both the face of the door and the transom.

Veneer Assembly

The type of “assembly match,“ must be specified to obtain a desired appearance. Any sequence matching from opening to opening must be specified.

• Running Match—This match is the standard, unless otherwise specified. Running match is the non-symmetrical appearance on any single door face. Veneer pieces of unequal width are common. Each face is assembled from as many veneer pieces as necessary.
• Balance Match—Symmetrical appearance. Each face is assembled from an even or odd number of pieces of uniform width before trimming. This match reduces veneer yield.
• Center Balance Match—Symmetrical appearance. Each face is assembled from an even number of veneer pieces of uniform width before trimming. Thus, there is a veneer joint in the center of the panel. This match further reduces veneer yield.
• Pair Match—The way in which leaves of veneer are assembled for a pair of doors or a series of door pairs in the immediate vicinity.
• Set Match—The way in which the leaves of veneer are assembled for sets of doors hung adjacently.
• Blueprint Matched Panels and Components—Manufactured to the exact sizes the veneer manufacturer determines from the blueprints, clipping and matching each individual face to the project’s specific needs. Each face will be matched in sequence with adjacent panels, doors, transoms, and cabinet faces as needed to provide continuity.

Natural Variations

Wood is a product of nature; as such, each wood species has certain intrinsic and industry-acceptable characteristics, which can vary from tree to tree and flitch to flitch. Natural variations of the veneer and different cuts create unique textures, grains, figure, and color for each veneer piece and door.

In some cases, wood will accentuate and enhance a project design when used in its purest, or natural, state. These naturally occurring variations provide richness and uniqueness to each project design. All wood species can vary from flitch to flitch., and environmental factors such as climate and soil content can make each veneer species exhibit a range of colors and textures.

Certain wood species, such as natural maple and birch, can vary widely in color range. When specifying “natural” maple and birch, the veneer will contain unlimited amounts of sapwood (the light portion of the log) and/or heartwood (the dark portion of the log) unselected for color. They may contain many sapwood/ heartwood combinations, color streaks, spots, and color variation from almost white to very dark. To avoid these noticeable color and grain variations, select veneers must be specified. If a light colored veneer is preferred, specify select white (all sapwood) maple or birch. If a dark colored veneer is preferred, specify select red/brown (all heartwood), though availability of this selection may be limited.