Veneered blockboard is a complex structure made up of a number of different layers.

The core consists of three layers of spruce which is a strong, relatively fast growing species. The 3-layer spruce board is a high quality, multi-layer glued solid wood board. It consists of two individual top layers and a middle layer with a vertical grain course. The individual layers consist of solid wood lamellas. The lamellas are glued lengthwise and crosswise and the layers are glued crosswise. This structure of lamellas with the grain direction offset by 90 degrees provides excellent mechanical stability preventing excess warp and making the structure much more stable than solid wood. The thickness of the core is 22mm.

The board is then finished with 0.6mm European Oak veneer top and bottom. This furniture grade veneer gives a beautiful, smooth finish without the cost of solid wood.  

Total thickness is 23mm.

Once the laminated ply sheet is delivered to our Gostand factory we have to cut it to standard sizes. To do this we use a CNC router with polycrystaline diamond cutters to cut the bigger sheet into small desk-tops. This process is highly repeatable and well controlled to a tolerance of +/-0.1mm.

Once this process is finished we are left with a board the correct size however the edges still need some extra treatment to bring them up to furniture grade.  

There are two options on protecting the top:

1. Unprotected. This means the wood is exposed and is more likely to stain if something is dripped on it. For example a coffee ring. However it does give the benefit of being lighter in colour and also when you touch the top you are touching real wood.

2. Oiled with a premium grade 10% satin furniture oil. One coat. This will protect the top to an extent however care should be taken with liquids. The reason we prefer furniture oil to laquer is that it has a more natural feel and colour. It is also less prone to discolouration. After 1-2 years the desk-top may need to be re-oiled depending on the amount of use it gets and the environment it is in.

Pretty simple.

1. Unprotected. Keep it clean and dry. If you need to wipe it use a damp cloth with a mild degergent. You can sand the desk but you only have 0.3mm of veneer on it so be careful if doing so.

2. Oiled. Keep it clean and dry. If you need to wipe it use a damp cloth with a mild degergent. You can re-oil the desk if required. We would advise against any heavy sanding on a specific area of the desk to avoid colour patches.

Being essentially wood the top will not have good impact resistance to the edges and corners specifically. So be careful. Also be mindful not to drop any heavy objects onto the top which will likely dent it.

The answer for this desk-top structure and technology is simple. Being entirely composed of wood from sustainable sources it is highly environmentally friendly.

Being well made the top if looked after should last for a lifetime. This is important given the resources that have gone into making it. At end of life it can be chipped and live again as chipboard or particle board.