Manufacturers today use veneers for the same reasons.
Birch veneers over hardwood solids.
That hardwood layer covers the lower quality wood base such as cheaper wood mdf or particleboard creating the look of solid wood furniture with a lighter core.
The thin sheets of wood are overlaid over a thicker backing and used for things like making furniture counters cabinetry and so forth.
Solid wood is lumber that has been harvested and fashioned into solid slabs unlike plywood and mdf which are made by pressing together.
The veneer layer is usually less than 1 8 inch thick.
Around 1900 highly prized quarter sawn or tiger oak was often veneered over regular cut solid oak.
Travis is right from a floor layers perspective but from a cabinet furniture maker it is different.
Solid wood veneers and medium density fiberboard mdf.
My advice is to use unibond 800 and vacuum press the veneer to mdf their is no other wood product more stable than mdf to veneer over.
When birch plywood veneers are used to build cabinets another species of hardwood is often used as a substitute for solid birch on the face frames and drawer fronts.
However veneers are often used for high end furniture pieces and can be more costly than solid wood.
However i am converned for the weight of the project.
Many people mistakenly assume that veneered furniture is inferior to or cheaper than solid wood.
Often people shopping for furniture are uncertain about the difference between wood veneers and solid wood.
A solid will be anything over say a 1 4 inch thick while a veneer will be a 1 32 or less that you would glue ont.
Typically veneer is bonded or glued with adhesive to a cheaper surface that is hidden below.
Another good choice is finnish as in the country of finland plywood not baltic birch.
Once again it depends on context.
The difference between today s furniture and that manufactured in the first half of the 20th century is the core over which the veneer is placed.
Beginning in the 1800 s veneer was employed to make valuable woods like mahogany or walnut go farther by gluing them to less prized species like maple or birch.
A less expensive wood or particle board can often be found underneath.
Finnish plywood is more stable than baltic plywood.
This practice allows furniture makers to design and build beautiful pieces at a lower cost.
Birch veneer is a wood product made from birch trees.
Veneers in general are made by sawing slicing or shaving wood into very thin sheets.
Because the global furniture market can be overwhelming it is easy for shoppers to become confused or otherwise misguided into misunderstanding a few terms.