Study on Effective Use of Aged Chestnut Woods as Furniture Materials

가구재로써 노령 밤나무재의 효율적 이용에 관한 연구

This study explored the development of wood furniture made of aged Castanea crenata Sieb. et Zucc, which has been largely planted in the southern area since 1960s and has hardly been used as furniture materials. First, the physical properties of the chestnut wood including specific gravity, stiffness, and shrinkage were compared with Zelkova serrata, Acer palmatum Thunb., Fagus crenata var. multinevis, Quercus, Tagayasan, Prunus serrulata var. spontanea, Juglans sinenis, Pteronrpus santalinus, Diospyros ebenum, and Fraxinus rhynchophylla, which have largely been used in manufacturing furniture. The chestnut wood had appropliate physical properties for wood furniture like other furniture woods. A piece of small table 50 cm in width, 50 cm in length and 60 cm in height by the chestnut tree was created for a current interior space. Since the diameter of the chestnut tree planted since 1960s is below around 30 cm, the top plate of the table had to be put together by an end-joint technique using a small strip. Finally, it is expected that this study will create a greate motivation for furniture designers, furniture studios and furniture companies in Korea to use the woods from the aged chestnut tree in developing furniture in the future.