In continuation with the ‘WOODINNOVATIONS’ series, Canadian Wood, the crown agency of the government of British Columbia (B.C.) hosted its latest webinar focused on ‘Furniture Applications for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces’. The session highlighted best practices in the solid wood furniture manufacturing space, while the speakers deep-dived into the best-suited Canadian Wood species for both indoor and outdoor applications that offer high versatility.
Canadian Wood has been consistently conducting such webinars with the objective to showcase the benefits of using wood for a variety of applications through its series ‘WOODINNOVATIONS’ – what’s new & what’s next. These monthly webinar sessions by Canadian Wood along with the woodworking industry colleagues have been covering a wide range of topics of significance to the wood industry, thus encouraging the use of certified wood from B.C. Canada. Additionally, through these webinars, the company has been actively promoting sustainable softwood and its five legally sourced species, namely Western hemlock, Douglas-fir, Yellow cedar, Western red cedar, and Spruce-pine-fir (SPF) as a sustainable raw material that could be used in various applications in India.
The webinar focussed on the science behind manufacturing wooden furniture. Industry experts viz. Mr. Bram Rouws (Bram Woodcrafting Studio, Mysuru), Mr. Manan Patel (Woodberry Enterprise LLP, Ahmedabad), and Mr. Samiir Wheaton (Wheaton’s Design Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur) shared their insights on creating wooden furniture for both indoor and outdoor use, different trends in design, best practices in solid wood furniture manufacturing while highlighting the proven suitability of Canadian wood species for making wooden furniture. The session was moderated by Dr. Jimmy Thomas – Business Development Manager, Canadian Wood.
Speaking about the wood furniture webinar, Mr. Pranesh Chibber, Country Director – Canadian Wood-
“India’s furniture industry is currently fragmented and is highly unorganized with micro players all over the place. However, it has great potential in becoming a global furniture hub, with the support of the government and the industry. Domestic demand for furniture is driven by the huge population living in urban cities as well as Tier 1-2 towns. In an effort to meet the demand through a fast-growing retail sector, India’s furniture market is seeing rapid growth. This growth will be further amplified in a post COVID world where sustainable wooden furniture applications will play a major role. The key factors that will drive the growth of the softwood industry include decent supply chain management, cost minimization, brand management, and the ability to customize furniture applications. Thus, it was a delight to host such an informative session on furniture applications through our “WOODINNOVATIONS” series and we look forward to hosting more.”
Speaking at the wood furniture webinar, Mr. Bram Rouws-
“While selecting wood for any project, there are multiple parameters that we take into consideration. For instance, in reference to flooring, it is important to store the products for 72 hours before installation. Generally, for solid wood furniture, the moisture content has to be between 8-14 percent. It is also important to acclimatize the wood before wood processing or manufacturing. Now, we have technologies to process it a little faster, but wood still remains accustomed when it reaches the premises. As Canadian Wood offers softwood, these are lightweight with good compression as well as resistance control towards all the structures. In our case, we manufacture any furniture with a machine using Canadian Wood species for outdoor applications too. In terms of price and sustainability, we choose Canadian Wood’s evergreen species.”
Similarly, Mr. Manan Patel, Consultant-
“In some of our door manufacturing projects, we have used Canadian timber and Yellow cedar. We found it best-suited for those projects. Also, for classical panels for kitchen designs, we have used Canadian Yellow cedar because of its light color that helps us to further tint them into different shapes and sizes. For other paneling, cladding, ceiling (underlay of a roof) projects we have used Canadian SPF (Spruce-pine-fir).”
Speaking on the nuances of working with wood, Mr. Samiir Wheaton-
“Location and acclimatization play an important role in wood manufacturing. Wood has a tendency of behaving differently in different areas and for different structures of furniture. Thus, the selection of specific wood species becomes imperative in terms of the grade of wood that we use, and from where the wood is coming from. We as designers are very careful of these parameters to further incorporate wood into practice. Considering all these aspects, we have had a very good experience using Canadian Wood species for developing furniture. Moreover, we use the fairly seasoned Cedar and Hemlock species. These softwoods are best suited for outdoor applications.”
About Canadian Wood
Forestry Innovation Consulting Pvt. Ltd. is a crown agency of the government of British Columbia (B.C.) – the westernmost province of Canada. It mandates promoting its woodworking products in offshore markets. It focuses on promoting five distinct wood species in India, namely: 1) Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF), 2) Western hemlock, 3) Douglas-fir, 4) Yellow cedar and 5) Western red cedar. These species have unique properties that make them suitable for a range of reman and structural applications. Canadian Wood lumber remains available duly seasoned, sized, and graded, almost ready-to-use across the country through a network of 41 stockists in all major towns.
Know more about Canadian Wood.
