Wood and

W oo d
Products
Definition
WOOD
- The hard fibrous substance which composes
the body of a tree and its branches.
Technically, wood is known as Xylem.
Wood is the most common building material
because of the following properties:
• A strong material
• Has durability
• Light in weight
• Ease of fastening
• With artistic and natural beauty

Physical Properties
Strength
- ability of wood to resist stresses and strain.
Different wood varies materially in the
following manner:

• Wood is resistant to compression along

fibers.
• Stiffness – ability to resist bending
• Strength in tension – ability to resist in
lengthwise stresses
• Shearing strength – ability of the fibers to
resist rupture along or across the grain.
Moisture
• An important factor in the strength of
wood.
• Strength increases with the degree of
seasoning of wood
• Moisture content can be calculated using
the formula:

Moisture content= X 100

Weight
• Quality of heaviness
•Also an important consideration. Heavy
woods are generally strong, light woods are
usually weak.
Cleavability
• Resistance of wood to cleavage along the
grains
• Wood splits much more easily when wet
because moisture softens the fibers and
reduces adhesion across the grain

Flexibility and toughness

• Moisture content of wood influences
flexibility or its ability to bend
• Toughness refers to the combined
strength, shock resistance and pliability of
wood

Classification of Wood
• Mode of Growth
• Exogenous –outward growing trees
 which are the most preferred for
lumbering. e.g. pine, oak, mango, teak

• Endogenous – inside growing trees; less

preferred for lumbering because the center
core of its log is soft and brittle in character

2. Density
• Quality of the mass and volume of the
wood
• Softwood – conifers or evergreen

b) Hardwood – generally deciduous and has

broad leaves

3. Leaves
• Characteristics of the tree when it comes its
leaves are:
• Needle shaped
 • Broad shaped

4. Shades or Color of Wood

• White
• Yellow
• Orange
• Red
• Brown
• Black, etc.

5. Grain
• Straight grain
• Cross grain
• Fine grain
• Coarse grain

6. Nature of the surface when sawed

• Plain
• Grained
• Figured or marked
 Defects in Wood
Defects – irregularities found in wood

Common defects:
• Abnormal Growth are identified as:

• Heart Shakes – radial cracks originating at

the heart of the logs

• Wind Shakes or Cup Shakes

– cracks or breaks across the annual rings of
timber during its growth caused by excessive
bending of the tree due to wind.

• Knots – usually occurs at the starting point

of a limb or branch of the wood.

2. Due to Deterioration caused by:

• Dry Rot – the presence of moisture in wood
caused by fungi in seasoned wood

Seasoning of Lumber
Seasoning – drying of lumber
• Moisture has to be expelled thoroughly to
preserve the lumber from shrinkage or decay
• Experiments has proven that timber which
are immersed in water immediately after
being fallen and squared is less subject to
splitting and decay
• Soaking timber into liquid is the method of
seasoning practiced and adopted by the
ancient Roman builders

Methods adopted in seasoning of lumber:

Natural or Air Season –considered as one of the
 best methods although the period involved is
relatively longer
The process:
• Lumber is piled outdoor, its length is sloped
at about 10% of its length
• Lumber is piled in a well ventilated shed.
Each piece is properly and evenly spaced
from each other for free circulation of the
air around the lumber. The uniform
spacing is attained by using wooden or
bamboo stick inserted between each pieces
of lumber.

2. Artificial Seasoning – lumber is stacked

inside a drying kiln and then subjected to
steam and hot air under pressure.
- adopted for quick drying of wood
- considered quite inferior in wood quality as
compared to those that are dried by natural
seasoning method.
Kiln Drying – lumber is dried in a specially built
room or chamber.
- temperature, humidity and circulation of
air is controlled

Wood Decay and

Methods of Preservation
Wood does not decay naturally through age nor
will it decay if its is kept constantly dry or
continuously submerged in water.

The common causes of decay in wood are:

• Alternate moisture and dryness
• Fungi and molds
• Insects and worms
• Heat and confined air

Process of preserving wood:

• External Processing – accomplished by
coating the wood with preservative
chemicals that will penetrate the fibers.
• Internal Processes – a chemical compound
is impregnated at a specified pressure to
permeate the wood thoroughly.

Measuring Wood
Board Foot – one square foot of wood one inch
thick or 144 cubic inches. The formula for
finding a board foot is:
Board Foot =

Where: Thickness is in inches

Width is in inches
Length in Feet
Example: find the total board foot of 5 pieces
2” x 6” x 14’

Solution: Bd. Ft. =

= 70 bd. ft.

Note: One cubic meter of wood is equal to

423.67 bd. Ft.

Determining Board Foot in a Round Wood or

Log

Board Foot =

Where: D = The smaller diameter of the log

L = Length of the log in feet
4 and 16 are the slab reduction and
 allowance which are constant in the
formula

Lumber and Related

Products
The important wood related products for
commercial purposes are:
• Veneer and Plywood
- plywood is made by bonding together thin
layers of wood in a way that the grain of
each layer is at right angles to the grain of
each adjacent layer.

The different types of plywood:

• Soft plywood – the most common for
structural use.
• Hard plywood – are used for paneling and
finishing where usually only one face is with
 hardwood finish.
• Exterior or Marine plywood – is made for
external use.

2. Hardboard – pressed wood made from

woodchips which are exploded into fibers
with high pressure steam
- equally strong in all directions but brittle in
character and can resist warping.

• 3. Particle Boards – manufactured from

wood chips made from chips of wood or
sawdust. It is mixed with resin or glue (both
adhesives), then, under pressure and heat,
pressed into uniform sheets. Particle board is
used in building construction and furniture
making.