A Gloss on Gloss

According to Wikipedia, a gloss is: a brief summary of a word's meaning, equivalent to the dictionary entry of that word, but only a word or two in length.


Well this gloss is about gloss, as it pertains to factory finished timber veneer doors. Gloss is also defined here as a measurement of the light reflected from a surface.

Image: Light reflection intensity measured at set angles of incidence

While gloss in veneer finishes is a complex subject and one that would outstrip the capacity of this humble blog, perhaps a recent customer experience can help to bring gloss into focus for designers, spec writers and architects faced with veneer finishing specification.

Our corporate customer - the design leader at an international hotel chain - had a specific door design in mind and had signed off on the stain variants she wished to use for the doors. But the gloss was still undefined. We agreed to bring the gloss down, "about 20 per cent," from the sample we had submitted. I went back to my finishing contact and expressed the customer's desire, and some real concern for the way in which we could zero-in on her needs. Our finishing man suggested that the sample was at a reading of around 38 on the gloss meter and if we brought that down by 20 per cent we'd be in the Satin range.

Highest Gloss Reading
Semi-gloss: 35-50
Satin: 20-35
Matte: 10-20
Lowest Gloss Reading
Graphic: higher (High-gloss) and lower (Flat) are available, but these (S-G, Satin and Matte) are the most common gloss levels for architectural doors.

Our finishing expert went on to say that, "sheen differences of 10 points or less are almost impossible to see with the naked eye." We concluded that to help our customer make an informed and confident decision, we should produce their stain sample in the veneer species of their choice with both a Satin and a Matte finish. This would bring the gloss down to the level she sought and give her assurance that the finished product would be in the same gloss range as the sample she selected.

The process allowed us to help to quantify the aesthetic she had in her designer mind's eye - a tricky proposition.

It's rewarding to be able to have tools and expert advice needed to make some of the nebulous aspects of design more empirical. This is another reason why we believe that factory machining and finishing are the "crown jewels" of the architectural door business. The control and precision afforded manufacturers who run modern CAD systems is a way to deliver on customer requirements, particularly for multi-key properties where uniformity is at a premium.

That's it - I'm finished for now. - MJT