Why do solid wood office furniture need to leave shrinkage seams?

Expansion joints are a traditional processing technology of Chinese classical furniture. Anyone who knows something about mahogany furniture knows that a piece of pure mahogany furniture will inevitably retain the excellent production technology of traditional furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties - - Mortise and tenon structure, without using a single iron nail, the various parts of the furniture are assembled through the ingenious combination of mortise and tenon. Expansion joints are designed to prevent the furniture's frames or corner tenons from cracking when the wood shrinks or expands due to the influence of the external environment, causing the various parts of the furniture to loosen and prevent normal use. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the expansion joints on the surface of the original wood board.

Moreover, in order to reduce the deformation of the wood, the wood has a strict drying process before being made into office furniture. Some may take more than a month. In order to control quality, standardized manufacturers have different moisture contents in products sold to different regions. Even so, in order to prevent the furniture from deforming, expansion joints must be reserved.

Wood does not shrink much in the longitudinal direction. Generally, there is no need to leave expansion joints at the two ends. Some manufacturers leave seams on all sides, which looks relatively good. Because there are seams on the four sides, there are seams whether the furniture is wet or dry (the wood basically does not shrink longitudinally, leaving seams at both ends, and is less affected by the dryness and humidity of the air, and expansion joints always exist). There are also some manufacturers who do not leave expansion joints when making furniture. Not leaving any expansion joints does not necessarily mean that there are no expansion joints, because manufacturers are not absolutely sure about the drying of wood. Generally, the moisture content of wood is higher than the moisture content of air. In this way, even if no expansion joints are left during production, the furniture is finished. There will also be seams at the end, and quite a few pieces of furniture have seams regardless of wet or dry seasons, but the sizes are different.

In areas where the environmental humidity varies greatly throughout the year, expansion joints are a must. Different seasons, dryness and wetness of wood are related to whether and how much shrinkage joints should be left. The air humidity in the rainy season is high. Although the wood has been artificially dried, the wood will still absorb moisture during the furniture making process and increase in volume. Generally, there is no need to leave expansion joints. Even if they are not left, expansion joints will appear when the climate is dry in winter; in spring and The air is dry in winter. When making furniture from artificially dried wood, expansion joints are generally left. Otherwise, the large edges will swell when the humid summer arrives.

Finally, a reminder that expansion joints are the "self-protection system" of solid wood office furniture. There is no need to worry when the gap size is uneven. Most of them will return to their original appearance after seasonal changes.

Hope this helps you~