Product Overview
Our Engineered Oak handrails and base rails are specifically designed to reduce the cost and wastage of typical solid white oak timber. These Oak Handrails and Baserails featured a glue-laminated core made from multiple pieces of white oak. This laminated (or engineered) core provides significant strength and stability to the wood, with the glue joints actually coming out stronger than a solid piece of timber, thanks to the addition of glue and the lack of knots, etc.
With solid oak machined goods, such as handrails and base rails, Careful selection of the correct piece is very important. Whilst our team has decades (if not a century) of combined experience working with oak, it is still crucial that the piece selected is kiln-dried to the correct level to reduce cracking and splitting. While solid timber might sound appealing, finding a single piece of timber the correct size without flaws is becoming increasingly difficult. Using smaller, less desirable pieces of oak for the core reduces cost, and typically smaller pieces are free from defects.
Our Engineered Oak stair parts all feature a "Solid Outer Face". Simply put, there is a solid piece of real oak timber glued onto the face of the core before machining. The thickness can vary from around 3mm, up to around 10mm thick in some machined goods. This outer face runs the full length in a single peice, so no length joints would be visible. This solid outer face ensures that over the years, these can be sanded and refinished without the risk of burning through the veneer. As handrails are prone to wear and tear in everyday life, thin veneer faces can be burnt through from normal use. This solid outer face is designed for the rough and tumble of everyday life at home.
The only downside to this material is the joints. There will always be a joint where the solid outer faces meet, and there is no getting around this. Although we always choose the best quality, with the best grain matching and a quality tight joint, there will always be a joint.
Under normal circumstances, this would not be noticeable unless you inspect the rail up close, but in the interest of transparency, we like to be honest. Once installed, and finished with your desired wood finish, most people would not even notice that this wasn't a solid piece of timber. However, if you are the type of person with an eye for fine detail, we do hand-make a traditional solid American white oak handrail in our joinery that we would be happy to show you.
Is this the same as veneered timber?
Its a similar concept, but significantly improved. Veneered timber is usually made from a softwood core, with a very thin veneer of oak. Veneer can be less than 1mm thick in some cases, and with daily use, this can wear down, and even burn through the veneer fairly quickly. ** Veneer Burn Through is where the veneer is worn away, revealing the core underneath **. Our solid outer faces are made from solid timber, not veneer.
Can this be finished like solid oak?
Yes. The outer faces are made from solid oak, so they can be treated in exactly the same way. We would advise (as with solid wood) to test any finish on an off-cut, or in a hidden area before full application.
