Fake Dark Acacia Bedframe?

[davyjcrow]

Hello,

First time post, and a bit of a strange one.. I'm wondering if anybody on here can help me determine if my newly purchased "dark acacia" bedframe is in fact fake and made from a cheaper wood dressed up to look like dark acacia!

Backstory: I bought the bedframe from a well known retail chain and I think they had it made to order and shipped from the far east. On unpacking and assembly, I noticed a few things that gave me cause for suspicion and not being a woodworking expert I'd welcome your opinions:

1. The wood seems heavily lacquered with a dark orangey/red lacquer. Where the lacquer is not fully applied or somehow scratched the wood appears quite light in colour underneath (see photo below); the pictures that I have found of dark acacia on the internet don't seem to look like this:

2. There is what seems to be black marker pen on most of the edges of the wood. I believe it's marker pen because it stops around 1/2cm from the edges where you would not be able to fit a pen tip any further up. Also you can see a couple of areas where they have messed up with the pen. Is applying marker pen to edges a recognised practice in furniture making? I've never seen it before. Could it be to disguise thiner lacquer (and therefore lighter colour) on the edges of the wood?

As I mentioned, I'm far from being an expert when it comes to wood and woodworking but something seems fishy to me with this bedstead. I want to be reasonably sure that my suspicions have good ground before accusing the retailer of supplying a counterfeit product! Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

Regards
David

 

[beech1948]

I have no specialist knowledge to help you but:
1. I doubt anyone here could give you an authoritive identification only best guess. Acacia is not common in the UK
2. As soon as you approach the vendor they will become defensive
3. The vendor will require you to have a more certain identification possibly backed up by someone who is seen as an Acacia expert; that is expert in the legal sense.

I don't know where you can get this advice from perhaps someone here can help.

Al

 

[undergroundhunter]

The "marker pen" is still poor quality I would ask for a refund based on that alone. Did you see one in the flesh before ordering?

Matt

 

[Spindle]

Hi

'Dark acacia' in this sense sounds more like a description of the finish than the material it is made from - never come across dark acacia as a wood identity.

My guess is you could be on a loser here unless you did not see before you bought.

Regards Mick

 

[paul saunders]

Is the black line on all the "seen" edges, it looks to me as if it has been done as a "feature" rather than as a disguise. As to whether the wood is acacia or not I can't help.

 

[baysider]

Id have to say that I'd be willing to bet good money the 'dark acacia' refers to the lacquer finish which they have obviously tried to emphasise with some sort of spirit based touch up pen on the exposed corners to mask the shrink back of the lacquer on the long edges and corners. From the fish tail jointing on the frame I reckon you'd find you have a mixture of timbers within the piece, all coated with a tinted lacquer to provide a uniform finish.
A similar practice of mixing timbers and tinting to match has long been professional common practice within the furniture industry when it comes to mass produced furniture. I'm guessing the factory that made this utilises a semi automated production line where the custom element comes from being able to stretch sizes to give a pseudo bespoke offering to the end user.
The touch up pen / darkening of the corners is rather poorly done to be honest. I have used such professional touch up pens to repair/mask scratches on furniture before myself, however, no attempt has been made here to even remotely match the colour. And usually these pens are for repair as opposed to production.
Hope this offers some insight.