Wood
From WikiWOOD
Wood comes from trees and shrubs of all shapes and sizes. Wood is the fibrous, hard material under the bark.
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Categories of wood
Wood has two classifications:
- Hardwood is from trees that have leaves. Some examples are walnut, cherry, hickory, and white oak, etc.
- Softwood is from trees that have needles and cones. Some examples are spruce, redwood, white pine, and southern yellow pine.
In most cases hardwoods are harder than softwoods, but there are some exceptions. Balsa is a hardwood but its very light in weight and is very soft. Southern yellow pine is a softwood but is as hard as red oak.
Structure of wood
The term figure in wood refers to naturally occurring decorative patterns, caused by either normal growth structures or abnormal tissue orientation.
Annual rings are concentric growth rings added yearly to growing trees that are visible on the end grain portions of cut logs.
Properties of wood
Wood has many properties which affect its workability, functionality and beauty.
Drying wood
When a tree is first felled it has a high moisture content, and the wood is said to be green. Sometimes the wood is worked while it is in this state (green woodworking), but more often the wood is dried to stabilise its dimensions before it is worked.
Wood can be allowed to dry, or season, by exposing it to natural atmospheric conditions in the open air. This is termed air drying and may take months or years. Alternatively it may be dried in a kiln. Air drying green wood preserves subtle colours and delicate highlights in the timber that are usually destroyed by kiln drying.
Before drying, endgrain and high figured areas are sometimes coated to reduce any checking.
Species of wood
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