The quality of furniture is very dependent on the quality of materials used and the workmanship employed during the manufacturing process. Local furniture manufacturers must be aware of these facts and strive to improve the quality of their product in order to compete with imported furniture. Furniture must be of good quality otherwise their imperfections and defects will quickly show during usage. Further, these products are very expensive and consumers expect that they will get extensive usage from them, so the structural integrity of furniture must be sound to withstand continuous use.
The materials used in manufacturing furniture must be of an acceptable quality and meet certain important requirements which are set out in a Code of Practice for the Manufacture of furniture GCP 14:2005.
Quality
Certainly, in order to have quality finish products, quality raw materials must be used in the manufacture of the products. Therefore, all lumber and other materials should be free from rot, insect holes, open knots cracks and other common defects. It is often the practice of some unscrupulous manufacturers to use defective materials and use finishing materials to conceal these defects. Whenever this is done it is the end user/ consumer who looses because they have purchased a rapidly deteriorating or easily weakened pieces of furniture.
A good quality piece of wooden furniture must be made of sound lumber that satisfies the moisture requirements. Lumber must be bright i.e. free from discolouration, and it must be square edged and thoroughly seasoned.
Moisture Content
In Guyana, the lumber used for furniture manufacture is oftentimes air dried, but more and more, manufacturers are having their wood kiln dried. Wood used in furniture manufacture must meet stipulated moisture content to prevent splits, cracks, joint separations and warpage. The acceptable range for moisture content as set out in the Code of practice is between 8 and 12%.
Workmanship
Joints should be closely fitted. Dripping glue and fillers must not be evident. Doors should swing easily, drawers should run smoothly on draw slides, and interiors should be well sanded and finished. Spaces should be even and uniform.
Finish
All edges should be ‘broken’ and softened. There should be no pointed corners. The interiors of all storage furniture should be sanded smoothly and sealed against snags, to protect delicate fabrics. Good finish depends on thorough preparation of lumber.
All dents and defects should be removed before final sanding and all sharp edges must be sanded and molded.
Surfaces should have a three (3) coat finish. Each seal coat must be sanded.
Manufacturers and dealers of furniture should take the necessary steps to acquire the available furniture standards from the GNBS and familiarize themselves with the requirements therein, to ensure that good quality pieces of furniture are manufactured for sale to consumers.
For further information on this subject, please contact the Guyana National Bureau of Standards on Telephone Numbers: 219-0069, 219-0066 219-0065 or 219-0064.
