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0 pointsandirk2y ago0 comments

Is it super heavy? I've noticed weight often equals how long something will last in good condition, and old furniture is often way heavier and bulkier.

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nntwozz2y ago

That's because old furniture is usually made of heartwood and not the cheaper sapwood part of the tree; I like to call it cardboard furniture.

Same goes for old wooden windows etc. that can last a hundred years or more if properly taken care of.

"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it." — Boris 'The Blade' Yurinov

ghaff2y ago

>Same goes for old wooden windows etc. that can last a hundred years or more if properly taken care of.

The key may be the "properly taken care of" part (or they didn't buy crap at the time part).

I live in a greater than 200 year old house and all the older windows dating to whenever are complete crap compared to newer Andersens I've had installed.

RogerL2y ago

Survivorship bias. The cheap stuff doesn't last. "Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet..." - Wallace Stevens, 1922. "Deal" being cheap pine or other soft heartwood (in the poem he is trying to evoke a scene of poverty and maybe a bit of gaudiness). Not that buying old can't be an excellent strategy, it having survived either a long life, or perhaps it was just never used in which case all bets are off.

analog312y ago

Not the OP, but my family has a bunch of Danish teak furniture, as does my mom. The sofas are not super heavy. Cushions on a frame. You can see under it. Now, there's no bed inside. My mom's was re-upholstered once. Ours isn't old enough for that yet. We've re-upholstered the dining chairs a couple of times.

As for other pieces of furniture, e.g., cabinets and stuff, we bought them used from a place that combed estate sales in Denmark for furniture and sold it in the US. One attraction is that the old furniture is smaller, so it works in a smaller house.

jonah2y ago

I also have my grandparent's danish teak dressers and dining table and chairs as well as some various side tables, lamps, bed, etc. I've acquired elsewhere. The all look wonderful and I get a nice feeling of connection to my family whenever I grab some socks, or sit down to eat, etc.

byw2y ago

I owned a bunch of mid-century Danish/Swedish furnitures, and they're generally pretty light. They tend to have slimmer profiles for the "modern" appearance, so less material. Also solid wood tend to be lighter than engineered wood.

turkishmonky2y ago

I'd be careful equating heavy with quality - MDF is extremely heavy but not great for longevity.

jonah2y ago

As others mentioned, it's quite light. Here are some pictures I found online of ones similar one to mine:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/c9/50/a2c9506ff9f3d65541d5...

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrMM8Wa1DuU/UkRPE9INzeI/AAAAAAAAC...

I wrote my original post in haste - the cost was for doing the couch and a matching chair (same side-profile, just narrower.)

tasuki2y ago

I bought a used Nieri leather sofa recently for a seventh of the original price. It is supposed to be a solid high end sofa (or so the seller said; it was the most expensive sofa of the hundred they were selling), but is feather light. I was suspicious, but bought it anyway because I liked it. So far it has withstanded the kid jumping on it in various ways.

I wonder, is it even possible it's solidly made despite being very light?

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0 comments

nntwozz2y ago

That's because old furniture is usually made of heartwood and not the cheaper sapwood part of the tree; I like to call it cardboard furniture.

Same goes for old wooden windows etc. that can last a hundred years or more if properly taken care of.

"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it." — Boris 'The Blade' Yurinov

ghaff2y ago

>Same goes for old wooden windows etc. that can last a hundred years or more if properly taken care of.

The key may be the "properly taken care of" part (or they didn't buy crap at the time part).

I live in a greater than 200 year old house and all the older windows dating to whenever are complete crap compared to newer Andersens I've had installed.

RogerL2y ago

analog312y ago

jonah2y ago

byw2y ago

turkishmonky2y ago

I'd be careful equating heavy with quality - MDF is extremely heavy but not great for longevity.

jonah2y ago

As others mentioned, it's quite light. Here are some pictures I found online of ones similar one to mine:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/c9/50/a2c9506ff9f3d65541d5...

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrMM8Wa1DuU/UkRPE9INzeI/AAAAAAAAC...

I wrote my original post in haste - the cost was for doing the couch and a matching chair (same side-profile, just narrower.)

tasuki2y ago

I wonder, is it even possible it's solidly made despite being very light?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse