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What Is Wood ?

Found in the stems and roots of trees, wood is a hard and fibrous structural tissue. For thousands of years is has been used as both a fuel and a construction material.

Basically it is an organic matural composed of cellulose fibres which are embedded within a matrix of lignin and can withstand and resist compression.

Physical Propeties Of Wood

Growth rings

Wood comes from trees which increase in diameter as new woody layers are formed. This is known as secondary growth and is the result of cell division. Growth of trees can occur seasonally or annually and growth rings are formed.

Knots In Wood

A knot within wood is an imperfection. It will affect the proerty of the wood, mostly in a negative way. Within a knot you will notice the wood grain direction is different to the wood grain direction of the rest of the wood.

Knots are formed where the lower limbs of the tree die, but remain attached to the tree for a period of time. New layers of growth of the attached stem are not joined to the dead limb and grow around it.

Knots affect cracking and warping of wood and weaken wood making it less valuable for structural use.

Heartwood And Sapwood

Heartwood is wood that is more resistant to decay. It comes about through a naturally occuring chemical reaction. When heartwood is formed completely it is then dead.

Sapwood is younger wood and the outermost wood of the tree. It conducts water from the roots to the leaves of the tree.

All wood in any tree is first formed as sapwood.

Colour Of Wood

Heartwood and sapwood are different colours within a tree. In most case heartwood is darker in colour. Any abnormal colouring of wood is a usual indication of wood disease.

Water Content Of Wood

Water is found in trees in the cells, protplasmic contents of these cells and as free water in spaces and cell cavities. Water content in wood makes it softer and more pliable. Taking water out of wood will strengthen it.

Structure Of Wood

Wood is a material that is heterogeneous, cellular, hygroscopic and anisotropic. It is composed of cells which have cell walls composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and impregnated with lignin.

Earlywood And Latewood

Latewood is denser if it is formed early in a season. The cells will be very thick walled whilst the cell cavities are very small.

Hard And Soft Wood

Wood desnsity varies between different species of trees. Density of wood correlates with the strength of the wood.

Wood is generally classified as either hardwood or softwood.

Chemistry Of Wood

Apart from water there are 3 main components of wood. These are cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

Extractives Of Wood

The wood extractives are fatty acids, waxes, resin acids and terpenes.

Uses Of Wood

Fuel

Wood has been used as a fuel since the invention of fire.

Hardwood is preferred over softwood for fire because it burns longer and creates less smoke.

Construction

Ever since our species began build shelters and boats, wood has been an important construction material.

Wood Flooring

Wooden flooring looks nice, feels nice and is easy to keep clean.

Engineered Wood

Used in construction in forms such as chipboard, plywood and laminate flooring.

Furniture And Utensils

A perfect material for making furniture. Also used for tool handles and many other utensils.

Arts And Crafts

Used for carvings and many other different artistic mediums. Many instruments are created out of wood because it makes a difference to tone and resonant qualities.

Sports Equipment

Many types of sports equipment are constructed out of wood.

Moisture Meter Guide 2010                                                                                               Contact details:garnett65@hotmail.com

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Moisture Meter Guide

Wood Moisture Meter

The wood moisture meter is an essential instrument if you want to test the moisture content of wood. Wood moisture meters can cover a range of requirements in determining moisture content in such things as firewood, wood for Timber moisture meter

Need A Chainsaw For Firewood?

The petrol chainsaw is used to fell trees, as well as for pruning and cutting overgrowth. Tree surgeons favour the petrol chainsaw and use it for cutting away branches and foliage. The chainsaw

Orchid Moisture Meter

The orchid belongs to a widespread and very diverse family of flowering plants which have fragrant and colourful blooms. Orchids can be found in pretty much every habitat. Orchid moisture meter

Caravan Moisture Meter

Any caravan that is kept open to the elements all year round can become very susceptible to damp and damp related problems if proper precautions are not taken to prevent this. Caravan moisture meter

Garden Moisture Meter

The garden moisture meter helps any avid gardener to measure and monitor many different conditions to ensure that they can maintain healthy growing conditions for both indoor as well as outdoor plants. In order to have healthy thriving plants Soil moisture meter

Oak

There are about 600 species of the oak tree native to the Northern Hemisphere. They include decidious and evergreen Oak tree

Douglas Fir

The Douglas Fir, which is also known as the Oregon pine or Douglas spruce Douglas fir

Beech

The beech tree is a decidious tree and belongs to the fagaceae family. It is a native tree to Europe  Beech tree

Elm

Elm trees are deciduous and semi-deciduous and belong to the plant family Ulmaceae Elm tree

Hickory

Hickory is a tree from the genus Carya. This genus has 19 species Hickory tree

Maple

Pine

Which Is The Best Firewood?

It is a good and important question to ask. There are differences between how different types of firewoods burn. Best firewood

The maple tree has a family of its own, Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae family. Maple tree

Pines are conifer trees belonging to the genus Pinus. There are around about 125 species of the pine tree. Pine trees