Wood is produced naturally as trees grow.

Trees grow taller and increase in thickness (girth) each year by adding an annual ring. The new growth of the tree is known as sapwood (which is moist and living) and is not much use for constructional work. The inner cells of the tree is known as heartwood and is hard and compact. This provides strength and support to the tree and is ideal for construction material.

Annual Rings Once a tree is felled it is cut into logs, these logs are then sliced along their length and is known as Timber. It cannot be use as it is wet and contains a lot of sap. To make the timber useful it needs to be seasoned this reduces moisture to between 10 & 20%. To season timber it is stacked so that air can travel between each piece (can take 1-2 years), or can be dried artificially by placing in a kiln (can take around 10 weeks)

Timber drying in a kiln

Heartwood

Timber drying Naturally

Softwoods are woods obtained from evergreen coniferous trees. These trees are relatively fast growing. Because the heartwood is porous, it is less dense. Therefore softwoods are relatively easy to cut and shape.

Red Cedar is light and soft but weak. Useful for garden sheds and garden furniture

Redwood
Redwood works well with hand tools (frames and joints in building construction, outdoor use)

Red Cedar

Spruce fairly strong and resist splitting (violin and guitar bellies)

Norway Spruce

Douglas Fir fairly strong, durable and fairly water resistant (outdoor products, gates, ladders & door frames)

Douglas Fir

Pitch Pine

Parana pine fairly strong but not very durable (internal joinery such as stair cases, furniture and toilet roll holders)

Parana Pine

Yellow Cedar

Yew

Yew tough, hard and durable (interior and exterior joinery, furniture)

Yellow Cedar easy to use because of straight grain and lack of knots (interior and exterior joinery, furniture)

Hardwoods are generally obtained from broad leaved deciduous trees. These trees tend to grow more slowly than coniferous trees Hardwoods are denser than softwoods. Therefore most hardwoods are more difficult to shape and cut than softwoods.

Maple

Beech Hard and strong but can warp (used in indoor and outdoor furniture, mallets and handles)

Beech

Maple fairly hard wearing, used with hand tools, glues well (internal joinery, musical instruments, butchers blocks)

Ash Teak
Ash Tough and flexible (handles and sports equipment)

Teak Durable and resists decay but can be hard to glue due to oil in the timber (used in outdoor furniture, quality indoor furniture and boats)

Oak

Elm

Oak Strong, heavy and durable (Good quality external; furniture, buildings, fittings, handles)

Elm Tough and durable, but can warp (Garden and indoor furniture)

Obeche

Obeche Soft, light and durable (toys and gun stocks)

Mahogany Hard and strong, but can warp (Indoor furniture & Door panels)

Mahogany

Jelutong
Jelutong Soft and can break easily (modelling & industrial patterns)

Afrormosia
Afrormosia Durable and saws, planes and glues well (Interior and exterior joinery and furniture, boat building)

American Walnut Tough, strong and moderately durable (Interior joinery and furniture)

Balsa American Walnut

Balsa Soft and light, sands and glues well (Model making)

Manufactured Timbers have been developed to suit particular needs. Chipboard was developed in Germany in the 1940s when natural timber was in short supply. Plywood was developed in the late 19th Century to provide craftsmen a large panel size which was strong and easy to work with. Today there is a large range of manufactured timbers which may be classed as laminated boards, particle boards and fibreboards.

Plywood Is the most common laminated board. It can be moulded to make curved surfaces and a decorative veneer can be added. A melamine (plastic) surface can make the board useful as a kitchen worktop. Plywood is commonly used in the building industry which utilises it strength and versatility.

Plywood

Blockboard

Laminboard
Blockboard and Laminboard are types of plywood. Instead of having alternate layers of veneers, their centres are made from strips of solid timber.

Particle Boards are made from small chips or flakes of wood bonded together by high pressure to make a reconstituted board. These chips are taken from off cuts, poor quality or left over wood after timber has been made. Chipboard is the most common and flakeboards or waferboards use large shavings that overlap each other which improves tensile strength. Chipboards can also be laminated and is often used for kitchen work surfaces. A big problem, however is when wet the board will swell and rot.

Laminated Chipboard Chipboard

Flakeboard Cross section of Flakeboard

fibreboards are made from timber fibres. These fibres are reassembled to make a stable material. Hardboard is a high density fibreboard made by pressing wet fibres at a high temperature. The natural resins of the fibres act as an adhesive, bonding them together. This is used for drawer bottoms and backs. Medium boards come in two grades (LM) used for pinboards (sometimes called sundealer) and high density (HM) is used to make panels. Medium Density Fibreboards (MDF) is made by adding resin and wax fibres and drying before pressing takes place. It can be used for modeling and making moulds because of its smooth surface. MDF is often used instead of natural timber.

Hardboard
Medium Density Fibreboard