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What should I look for when wood shrinks?

Wood Shrinkage

Wood shrinks across the grain. If a round table top is perfectly round when measured in 2 dimensions, it's new. If the table is old, there should be a difference of about one-eighth inch per foot. Marquetry also tends to contract irregularly, usually sinking below the rest of the surface. If a piece with marquetry has a perfectly smooth surface, the marquetry was probably added later to add flash or "tart up" the object, as dealers like to say.

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