We thought we'd talk a little about Northern Yellow Birch, the type of wood that all Heywood-Wakefield furniture is built from. All our pieces are solid Northern Yellow Birch, because not only is it beautiful, it's also well suited to our
artisanal production practices and helps us be able to say—quite accurately—that all our furniture is built to last over 100 years.
We'd also like to point out that all our lumber comes from sustainable tree farms in the US. All our manufacturing is done here, too.
So, why Northern Yellow Birch?
Information About Northern Yellow Birch
As you can probably guess, Northern Yellow Birch is part of the birch tree family, which has more than 40 different species around the world. It grows abundantly in northeastern North America, including Canada and the Northeastern US, particularly the New England region. It's also sometimes called Golden Birch, with these names stemming—pun intended—from the color of the tree's bark.
The lumber itself varies from a light reddish brown to a creamy white coloration. It's close-grained, with an attractive straight or slightly wavy grain, and has a notably uniform texture. The wood is particularly cooperative when it comes to holding stain, too. Additionally, it doesn't have a noticeable odor like some woods. All these qualities are much appreciated by fine furniture manufacturers, as well as consumers.
Northern Yellow Birch lumber is also heavy, dense, and strong, which helps make for sturdy, durable furniture. This is also why it's used often for flooring, doors, and cabinets. As for some other characteristics that make it perfect for furniture making, it glues very well, takes nails and screws well, is relatively easy to work with using machines and handheld tools (including turning, or shaping), and has superb bending properties.
All in all, we think Northern Yellow Birch is a gorgeous, charming wood. Don't you?
