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3.PhysicalProperties

Name Ash
Location NorthAmerica
Texture/Grain Coarse/Open
SpecificGravity 0.60
Hardness Hard
Strength Strong
T/RStability 7.3/4.9%

Guide
Woodworking
KnowHow
Wood&
Woodworking
Materials
Up

Hardwoods
&Softwoods
1.WoodBotany
2.Mechanical
Properties

3.PHYSICAL
PROPERTIES
(YOUAREHERE.)

hephysicalpropertiesofawoodspeciesarethosethataffectits
appearance,weight,feel,andsmell.Mostcraftsmenarent
especiallyconcernedaboutfeelandsmell,sincethesechange
considerablywhenyouapplyafinish.Butappearanceisparamount.
Weightcanalsobeimportantiftheprojectismeanttobemovedor
carried.ThechartofPhysicalPropertiesofWooddescribesthe
appearanceandweightofcommonspecies.

WOODCOLOR
Theuniquecolorofawoodspeciesisdeterminedbythechemical
extractivesembeddedinthecellwalls.Buttheinitialcoloroftheraw,
freshlycutwooddoesntremainunchanged.Thiscolordarkens
somewhatwhenyouapplyafinish,evenifthatfinishappearsclearand
colorless.Mostfinishesalsochangethehue,makingitmoreamber.
Craftsmendescribethisaswarmingupthewoodcolor.Inthechartof
PhysicalPropertiesofWood,youcanseehowcommonfinishesaffect
color.

4.HealthHazards

Unfortunately,whatyoucantseeisthatthewoodalsochangescolor
withage.Asthesurfaceofthewoodisexposedtoair,itslowlyoxidizes.
Somewoodsarephotosensitiveexposuretoultravioletlightaltersthe
6.Hardwoods& extractives.Bothreactionschangethewoodcoloratthesurface.This
SoftwoodsResources thinlayerofcolorchangedwood,sometimesonlyafewthousandthsof
aninchthick,isthepatina.
Down
5.Comparing&
ChoosingWoods

NorthAmerican
Hardwoods
NorthAmerican
Softwoods

Whenrestoringorrefinishingantiques,becarefulnottosandthroughthe
patina.Ifyoudo,thewoodmayappearblotchydarkerinsomeareas
thaninothers.

Cherryisaphotosensitivewood.Theescutcheon
thatonceadornedthischerrydrawerfront
blockedthelight.Consequently,thepatinawhere
theescutcheononcewasismuchlighterthanthe
surroundingwood.Thepatinaofmostwoods
growsdarkerwithage.However,intwospecies
walnutandmahoganyitgrowslighter.As
theyage,theirpatinabecomesasoftgraycolor.*

WorldWoods

WOODTEXTURE
Texturedependsonthesizeofthelongitudinalcells.Inhardwoods,this
Lookingfor referstothesizeofthefibersandthevesselelementsinsoftwoods,
something? itsthetracheids.Finetexturedwoodshavesmallcells,whilecoarse
woodshavelargerones.

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WOODGRAIN
Whenthevesselelementsinhardwoodsareslicedopen,theycreate
depressionscalledpores.Woodswithlargeporesthatareeasilyvisible
tothenakedeyearesaidtohaveanopengrain.Thosewithsmaller
pores,tosmalltoseeclearly,haveaclosedgrain.Note:Because
softwoodsdonothavevesselelements,thesetermsdon'tapply.For
practicalpurposessuchaspreparingandfinishingthesurface
softwoodgrainisclosed.

GRAINPATTERN
Thenormalorientationofthelongitudinalcellsdeterminesaspecies
characteristicgrainpattern.Therearefourcategories.
Instraightgrain,thelongitudinalcellsgrowfairlystraightand
paralleltotheaxisofthetrunk.
Inwavygrain,thecellsundulateinshort,evenwaves.This
sometimesproducescurlyfigure.
Inirregulargrain,thecellsundulatearoundknotsorinno
discerniblepattern.
Ininterlockedgrain,thecellsspiralaroundthetrunk,reversing
directioneveryfewgrowthrings.Thisproducesribbonfigure.

Redoak(top)hasextremelylargevessel
elementswhichformvisibleporeswhensliced
open.Thelonggrainsurfacesaresaidtohave
opengrain.ThevesselelementsofCherry
(middle)aremuchsmaller,theydonotform
visiblepores,andthesurfaceshaveclosed
grain.SouthernYellowPine(bottom)hasno
vesselelements,justanoccasionalresincanal.
Thegrainisneitheropenorclosed.*

WOODWEIGHT
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3.PhysicalProperties

Theweightofaspeciescanbegaugedfromitsspecificgravity.The
higherthespecificgravity,theheavierthewood.Tofiguretheprecise
weightofaboardfoot(11212inches)ofawood,multiplyits
specificgravitybytheweightofacubicfootofwater,62.5pounds,then
divideby12.Theweightofcherry,forexample,is2.6poundsperboard
foot:
0.5062.512=2.6
OutsideofNorthAmerica,woodissoldbythecubicmeterandweightis
calculatedinkilograms.Tofiguretheweightofaspecies,simplymultiply
thespecificgravityby1000.Cherryweighs500kilogramspercubic
meter.
0.50X1000=500

USINGTHECHART
ThechartofPhysicalPropertiesofWoodisdividedintothreeparts
NorthAmericanHardwoods,NorthAmericanSoftwoods,andWorld
Woods,orwoodsfromotherplacesthanNorthAmerica.Toaccessany
part,clickonthetitlebelow.Toseethepropertiesforanywoodspecies,
clickonitsname.

NorthAmericanHardwoods

Alder,Red
Ash
Aspen
Basswood
Beech
Birch,Yellow
Butternut
Cherry
Chestnut,Wormy
Elm,Red
Gum,Red
Hickory
Holly
Maple,Hard
Maple,Soft
Oak,Red
Oak,White
OsageOrange
Poplar,Yellow
Sassafras
Sycamore
Walnut
Willow

Thelonggrainsurfacesofsawnlumbermay
displayfourtypesofgrainpatterns.*

MoreTreeTrivia:

Thefattesttreeintheworldisthe"GreatBanyan"
intheIndiaBotanicalGardensnearKolkata.The
circumferenceofthemaintrunkis52feetandthe
crownshades4acres.Toexperiencewhatit's
liketobeunderaBanyantreelookingout,click
HERE.Unbelievablycool!

NorthAmericanSoftwoods
Cedar,AromaticRed
Cedar,Western,Red
Cypress
Fir,Douglas
Hemlock
Pine,EasternWhite
Pine,Ponderosa
Pine,Sugar
Pine,SouthernYellow
Redwood
Spruce,Sitka

WorldWoods(OtherThanNorthAmerica)
Balsa
Bocote
Bubinga
Cocobolo
Ebony,Gaboon
GoncoloAlves
Jelutong

Youcantapbirchtreesfortheirsapandmake
syrupmuchthesameasmapletrees.Birch
syrupiseasiertodigest,hasalowerglycemic
index,andishigherinnutrientsthanmaplesyrup.

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3.PhysicalProperties

Lacewood
Mahogany,African
Mahogany,Honduran
Mahogany,Philippine,Lauan
Paduak
Purpleheart
Rosewood,Bolivian
Rosewood,Honduran
Rosewood,Indian
Teak
Tulipwood
Wenge
Zebrawood

Theaverage2000squarefoothouserequires
16,000boardfeetoflumberand11,000square
feetofsheetmaterials.

Backtothetop
*Indicatesthatyoucanenlargeaphotobyclickingonit.Torevealtheinformationina"Superphoto,"firstenlargeitandthenmovethecursoroverit.

"Abundanttoalltheneedsofman,howpoortheworldwouldbewithoutwood."
EricSloaneinReverenceforWood

WoodandWoodworkingMaterials/HardwoodsandSoftwoods/PhysicalProperties,
partoftheWorkshopCompanion,essentialinformationaboutwood,woodwork,andwoodworking
necessarytowoodworkersandpractitionersofthewoodarts
tobecomecompetentcraftsmen.
ByNickEngler.

Copyright2009Bookworks,Inc.

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