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P van Rijckevorsel
 
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Default ### micro-FAQ on wood # 009

1. Some Frequently Asked Questions on wood:

Q: A Softwood is a soft wood and a Hardwood is a hard wood. Right?
A: False. A softwood is the wood of a conifer (or a Ginkgo), a hardwood is
the wood of a dicot tree. The hardest hardwood is some three times as hard
as the hardest softwood, but the hardest softwood is some four times as hard
as the softest hardwood. The softest woods in the world are hardwoods.

Q: A Conifer, that is the same thing as a Gymnosperm. Right?
A: Not quite: there are four groups of Gymnosperms, of which the Conifers
(with some six hundred species) are the biggest and most important. Ginkgo
(one species) is another. The other two groups don't yield anything that
could be regarded as timber.

Q: A wood with "cedar" in the name will surely be a softwood. Right?
A: False: "cedar" is a word that does not mean anything except a wood with a
certain type of fragrance (if that). Going only by frequency, "cedar" in the
US most often will be "Western Redcedar" (Thuja plicata), followed at some
distance by "Eastern Redcedar" (Juniperus virginiana) also marketed as
"Aromatic Cedar" [these are both softwoods]. A "cedar" from Central America
will usually be a Cedrela species; from SE Asia usually a Toona species
[these are both hardwoods]. Etc, etc[list goes on at considerable length].

Q: "Cherry" is the wood from the Cherry tree. Right?
A: Not really. The tree that cherries grow on does yield a classic wood,
called cherry, but this has always been fairly rare (these days cherry trees
are planted in a stunted form for pickability of the fruit). There is a US
timber tree ("Black Cherry", more or less closely related) that yields a
look-alike wood almost as good, and certainly a lot more available. This is
called cherry for convenience.

Q: "Brazilian Cherry "is a kind of cherry. Right?
A: False. The nearest wellknown relative of "Brazilian Cherry" (Hymenaea),
more properly known as "Red Locust" or "Jatoba" will be "Honey Locust"
(Gleditsia). A (much) more distant relative is "Black or Yellow Locust"
(Robinia).

Q: "Yellow Locust" is entirely different from "Black Locust". Right?
A: They are pretty much the same. Most books will say they are the same.
Nobody seems to know for sure if they are exactly the same.

Q: "Yellow Oak" is something entirely different from "Black Oak". Right?
A: False. They are exactly the same. It is a Red Oak, a prefered firewood.

Q: White Oak has tyloses and Red Oak doesn't. Right?
A: False: White Oak has tyloses (in its heartwood), Red Oak may or may not
have.

Q: A Live Oak is an oak that has not been cut down yet. Right?
A: False. There are three categories of genuine Oak (Quercus), found all
over the Northern Hemisphe White Oaks, Red Oaks and Live Oaks. The woods
of these three are not closely comparable in any respect. Characters that
are shared by all three woods are prominent rays and a dendritic arrangement
of pores. All in all there are some 400 species of genuine Oak. In addition
there are any number of woods called Oak, for whatever reason strikes the
fancy of a wood trader.

Q: "Phillipine Mahogany" is mahogany from the Philippines. Right?
A: False. It may or may not be from the Philippines, but it won't be
Mahogany, ever.

Q: "Honduras Mahogany" is mahogany from Honduras. Right?
A: Depends. It could be, but usually is not (from Honduras, that is).

Q: "African Mahogany" is mahogany from Africa. Right?
A: Just about. The wood of Khaya is from tropical Africa and is usually
assumed to be a Mahogany.

Q: "Rhodesian Teak" is teak from Rhodesia. Right?
A: False. Baikiaea plurijuga is not teak, but a member of the Pea family. It
grows in several countries of which one used to be called Rhodesia.

Q: "Nigerian Teak" is teak from Nigeria. Right?
A: Right. Plantation grown. Not that anybody would want to use it.

Q: "Java Teak" is teak from Java. Right?
A: Right. Plantation-grown, from the days the Dutch were there.

Q: Teak is a really hard wood. Right?
A: Depends. Teak (Tectona grandis, family Labiatae) varies from soft as
butter and pale yellow to fairly hard and dark brown. Depends on provenance.

Q: Steel is stronger than wood. Right?
A: Depends. A piece of steel of a certain size will almost always be
stronger as a piece of wood the same size. A steel rod of a particular
length and mass as compared to a similarly sized rod of wood ...

+ + +

2. A handful of useful sites dealing with wood:

FPL:
- intro-page of the Forest Products Laboratory:
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/

- technical properties of wood
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/techmenu.html
including two downloadable books on US-woods

- the FPL "Wood Handbook. Wood as an engineering material"
(downloadable):
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FP.../fplgtr113.htm

- common and scientific names of wood
(best database around, with a fairly low level of error):
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/CommNames2000.html
[apparently off-line more often than not, and usually reports:
"The system has encountered an error that was logged"]

OTHER SOURCES:
- "The American Woods" (pictures):
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archives/forestry/hough/

- lots of pictures (fun), but short on accuracy and real information
full version (slow):
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...indextotal.htm
small version (faster):
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...pics/index.htm

- for a more extensive link-page see:
http://www.nehosoc.nl/paginalinks.htm

- availability of wood (US)
http://www.woodfinder.com/

+ + +

3. BOOKS:
Good entry-level books on wood are
"Good Wood Handbook" by Albert Jackson & David Day (cheapest and best)
"Woodworker's Guide to Wood" by Rick Peters (passing grades)

An intermediate level book:
"Harvesting Urban Timber" by Sam Sherrill

Adult books on wood are
"Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley
"Identifying Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley

For those not shying away from a thick book:
"Holzatlas" by Rudi Wagenfuhr




  #2   Report Post  
Hoyt Weathers
 
Posts: n/a
Default ### micro-FAQ on wood # 009

Wasn't this posted here once before?

P van Rijckevorsel wrote:

1. Some Frequently Asked Questions on wood:

Q: A Softwood is a soft wood and a Hardwood is a hard wood. Right?
A: False. A softwood is the wood of a conifer (or a Ginkgo), a hardwood is
the wood of a dicot tree. The hardest hardwood is some three times as hard
as the hardest softwood, but the hardest softwood is some four times as hard
as the softest hardwood. The softest woods in the world are hardwoods.

Q: A Conifer, that is the same thing as a Gymnosperm. Right?
A: Not quite: there are four groups of Gymnosperms, of which the Conifers
(with some six hundred species) are the biggest and most important. Ginkgo
(one species) is another. The other two groups don't yield anything that
could be regarded as timber.

Q: A wood with "cedar" in the name will surely be a softwood. Right?
A: False: "cedar" is a word that does not mean anything except a wood with a
certain type of fragrance (if that). Going only by frequency, "cedar" in the
US most often will be "Western Redcedar" (Thuja plicata), followed at some
distance by "Eastern Redcedar" (Juniperus virginiana) also marketed as
"Aromatic Cedar" [these are both softwoods]. A "cedar" from Central America
will usually be a Cedrela species; from SE Asia usually a Toona species
[these are both hardwoods]. Etc, etc[list goes on at considerable length].

Q: "Cherry" is the wood from the Cherry tree. Right?
A: Not really. The tree that cherries grow on does yield a classic wood,
called cherry, but this has always been fairly rare (these days cherry trees
are planted in a stunted form for pickability of the fruit). There is a US
timber tree ("Black Cherry", more or less closely related) that yields a
look-alike wood almost as good, and certainly a lot more available. This is
called cherry for convenience.

Q: "Brazilian Cherry "is a kind of cherry. Right?
A: False. The nearest wellknown relative of "Brazilian Cherry" (Hymenaea),
more properly known as "Red Locust" or "Jatoba" will be "Honey Locust"
(Gleditsia). A (much) more distant relative is "Black or Yellow Locust"
(Robinia).

Q: "Yellow Locust" is entirely different from "Black Locust". Right?
A: They are pretty much the same. Most books will say they are the same.
Nobody seems to know for sure if they are exactly the same.

Q: "Yellow Oak" is something entirely different from "Black Oak". Right?
A: False. They are exactly the same. It is a Red Oak, a prefered firewood.

Q: White Oak has tyloses and Red Oak doesn't. Right?
A: False: White Oak has tyloses (in its heartwood), Red Oak may or may not
have.

Q: A Live Oak is an oak that has not been cut down yet. Right?
A: False. There are three categories of genuine Oak (Quercus), found all
over the Northern Hemisphe White Oaks, Red Oaks and Live Oaks. The woods
of these three are not closely comparable in any respect. Characters that
are shared by all three woods are prominent rays and a dendritic arrangement
of pores. All in all there are some 400 species of genuine Oak. In addition
there are any number of woods called Oak, for whatever reason strikes the
fancy of a wood trader.

Q: "Phillipine Mahogany" is mahogany from the Philippines. Right?
A: False. It may or may not be from the Philippines, but it won't be
Mahogany, ever.

Q: "Honduras Mahogany" is mahogany from Honduras. Right?
A: Depends. It could be, but usually is not (from Honduras, that is).

Q: "African Mahogany" is mahogany from Africa. Right?
A: Just about. The wood of Khaya is from tropical Africa and is usually
assumed to be a Mahogany.

Q: "Rhodesian Teak" is teak from Rhodesia. Right?
A: False. Baikiaea plurijuga is not teak, but a member of the Pea family. It
grows in several countries of which one used to be called Rhodesia.

Q: "Nigerian Teak" is teak from Nigeria. Right?
A: Right. Plantation grown. Not that anybody would want to use it.

Q: "Java Teak" is teak from Java. Right?
A: Right. Plantation-grown, from the days the Dutch were there.

Q: Teak is a really hard wood. Right?
A: Depends. Teak (Tectona grandis, family Labiatae) varies from soft as
butter and pale yellow to fairly hard and dark brown. Depends on provenance.

Q: Steel is stronger than wood. Right?
A: Depends. A piece of steel of a certain size will almost always be
stronger as a piece of wood the same size. A steel rod of a particular
length and mass as compared to a similarly sized rod of wood ...

+ + +

2. A handful of useful sites dealing with wood:

FPL:
- intro-page of the Forest Products Laboratory:
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/

- technical properties of wood
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/techmenu.html
including two downloadable books on US-woods

- the FPL "Wood Handbook. Wood as an engineering material"
(downloadable):
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FP.../fplgtr113.htm

- common and scientific names of wood
(best database around, with a fairly low level of error):
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/CommNames2000.html
[apparently off-line more often than not, and usually reports:
"The system has encountered an error that was logged"]

OTHER SOURCES:
- "The American Woods" (pictures):
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archives/forestry/hough/

- lots of pictures (fun), but short on accuracy and real information
full version (slow):
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...indextotal.htm
small version (faster):
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...pics/index.htm

- for a more extensive link-page see:
http://www.nehosoc.nl/paginalinks.htm

- availability of wood (US)
http://www.woodfinder.com/

+ + +

3. BOOKS:
Good entry-level books on wood are
"Good Wood Handbook" by Albert Jackson & David Day (cheapest and best)
"Woodworker's Guide to Wood" by Rick Peters (passing grades)

An intermediate level book:
"Harvesting Urban Timber" by Sam Sherrill

Adult books on wood are
"Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley
"Identifying Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley

For those not shying away from a thick book:
"Holzatlas" by Rudi Wagenfuhr


  #3   Report Post  
LRod
 
Posts: n/a
Default ### micro-FAQ on wood # 009

On Sun, 09 May 2004 15:02:30 -0500, Hoyt Weathers
wrote:

Wasn't this posted here once before?


To me it doesn't matter if it was, because I didn't see it. Now I've
seen it and saved it. I hope it gets posted again sometime so someone
else who hasn't yet seen it will.


- -
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net
  #4   Report Post  
P van Rijckevorsel
 
Posts: n/a
Default ### micro-FAQ on wood # 009

Hoyt Weathers schreef
Wasn't this posted here once before?


+ + +
Yep, # 001 to #008; next time it will be # 010
PvR


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