Wood Shop

Definition of wood:
The porous fibrous material that forms the main substance of the trunk or branches
of a tree or shrub is known as wood.

Uses of wood:
Wood is a highly versatile material and has a long history of use. Despite the
availability of alternative materials, wood remains preferred choice when it comes
to variety of things and applications. Here are only a few of many uses of wood:

1- Wood’s unique aesthetic appeal and character make it an absolute favourite for
furniture making and flooring.

2- Wood is one of the most important construction materials from the time
humans started constructing buildings and ships.

3- Wood is a popular material for artworks, most notably statues, sculptures, relief
carvings and a wide range of decorative objects.

4- Piano, violin, cello, drums, flute, guitar, double bass and a number of other
music instruments are made from wood.

5- A number of sports rely heavily on wooden sports equipment. Examples

include cricket, hockey, billiard, table tennis, baseball, etc
Types of trees:
 Endogenous trees
 Exogenous trees
 Endogenous trees:
. Endogenous trees, mainly in the monocotyledons (e.g. palms), grow by addition
of new material inwards.

 Exogenous trees:
Exogenous trees, which comprise the great majority of modern trees (all conifers,
and all broadleaf trees), grow by the addition of new wood outwards, immediately
under the bark.
Subdivision of trees:
 Broad-leaved trees:
A broad leaf tree is any tree which has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of
fruits. Broad-leaved trees are sometimes known as hardwoods.

 Needle-leaved trees:
A needle leaf tree is any tree which has scale like leaves and produces seeds in
woody cones.
Types of wood:
 Hard wood:
Hard wood comes from a deciduous tree which loses its leaves annually.
Hardwoods tend to be slower growing, and are therefore usually more dense.

 Soft wood:
Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. Softwood is the source
of about 80% of the world's production of timber, with traditional centers of
production being the Baltic region.
Properties of Hardwood:
1- Hardwood is not always harder than softwood. Balsa wood, which is
considered a hardwood, is a rather soft wood when compared to the hardness of
most softwoods. Other examples of hardwoods include oak, maple, walnut, ash
and poplar.

2- Most commercial hardwoods in the United States grow in the Midwest and
are used for making furniture because of the varied colors in the woods and
visible grain when worked.

3- Hardwood is also commonly used for floors, cabinets and doors.

Properties of Softwood:
1- Softwoods include pine, fir, redwood, cedar and hemlock. They grow
primarily in the Pacific Northwest and in the South of the United States. Due to
their faster growth, softwoods are lower in cost than hardwood.;

2-Despite their classification, softwood is still fairly hard and dense and is used
mostly for construction purposes.

3- Softwoods are usually found making up the framework of most houses,

though they are also useful in creating cabinetry and trim or other decorative
finishing touches.

Timber:
Timer is defined as a wooden beam or board used in building a house, ship, or
other structure.
Parts of Timber:
 Bark wood
 Sap wood
 Heart wood
 Pith
 Cambium layer

 Bark wood:
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants
with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the
tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It
overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark.
 Sap wood:
The newly formed outer wood located justinside the vascular cambium of
a tree trunk and active in the conduction ofwater. Sapwood is usually lig
hter in color than heartwood.

 Heart wood:
the older harder nonliving central wood of trees that is usually
darker, denser, less permeable, and more durable than the
surrounding sapwood.
 Pith:
A usually continuous central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of
most vascular plants that probably functions chiefly in storage. Pith
is also called medulla.

 Cambium layer:
A cylindrical layer of tissue in the stems and roots of many seed-bearing
plants, consisting of cells that divide rapidly to form new layers of
tissue. Cambium is a kind of meristem and is most active in woody
plants, where it lies between the bark and wood of the stem.
Defects of Timber:
 Cracks
 Knots
 Burls
 Coarse grain
 Upsets
 Wind Cracks

 Cracks:
With the changing weather wooden garden furniture is also prune to
change. Because timber is a natural product it is affected by the
environment and natural conditions that is exposed to much more than a
man made product would be. Particularly during summer it is assumed
that furniture is faulty or has defects, conclusion that is reached because
of the appearance of crack in timber.
  Knots:
When a tree grows, many of its branches fall and the stump of these
branches in the trunk is covered. In the sawn pieces of timber the stump
of fallen branches appear as knots. Knots are dark and hard pieces.
Grains are distorted in this portion.

 Burls:
Burl is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed
manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth
on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from
dormant buds.
 Coarse grain:
If the tree grows rapidly, the annual rings are widened, it is known
as coarsed grain timber. Such timber possesses less strength knots.

 Upsets:
This type of defect is due to excessive compression in the tree
when it was young. Upset is an injury by crushing. This is also
known as rupture.
  Wind Cracks:
These are the cracks on the outside of a log due to the shrinkage of
the exterior surface

Seasoning:
Wood drying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the
moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a
kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air
drying is the more traditional method.

Types of seasoning:
 Natural seasoning
 Artificial seasoning
 Natural Seasoning:
In natural seasoning When timber is felled, the sooner it is
removed from the forest the better; it should be removed to a dry
situation, and placed so that the air may circulate freely around
each piece, but it should not be exposed to the sun and wind.
Squared timber does not rift or split so much as that which is
round. After the trees have been allowed to dry slowly, and where
the size will allow of it, it is better to quarter them. When beams
are to be used the full size of the tree, it would be a good
preservative against splitting to bore them through from end to
end, as is done in a water-pipe. It is irregular drying which causes
timber to split, and this method would assist in drying the internal
part of the beam, without causing much loss of strength,

Types of Natural seasoning:

 Air seasoning
 Water seasoning
 Air seasoning:
Air seasoning is the method used with the timber stacked in the
open air. It requires the stack stable and safely with horizontal
spacing of at least 25mm and ends of boards should be sealed by
using a suitable sealer or cover.
  Water seasoning:
In water seasoning the timber is immersed in water as soon as it is cut
down and after it has remained about a fortnight in water, but not more, to take it
out, and dry it in an airy situation.
Evelyn directs, to "lay your boards a fortnight in water (if running the better, as at a
mill-pond head) and then setting them upright in the sun and wind, so as it may
pass freely through them, turning them daily; and, thus treated, even newly-sawn
boards will floor far better than those of a many years dry seasoning

Artificial seasoning:
Artificial seasoning of timber is developed nowadays, because
natural seasoning gives good results but takes more time By
artificial seasoning, timber is seasoned with in 4-5 days.

Types of Artificial seasoning:

 Kiln drying
 Chemical seasoning
 Electrical seasoning
Kiln drying:
In this method timber is subjected to hot air in air tight chamber.
The hot air circulates in between the timber logs and reduces the
moisture content. The temperature inside the chamber is raised
with the help of heating coils. When the required temperature is
obtained moisture content and relative humidity gets reduced and
timber gets seasoned. Even though it is costly process it will give
good results strength wise.

Types of Kiln drying:

 Progressive seasoning
 Compartmental seasoning

 Progressive seasoning:
A progressive Kiln has the stack on trolleys that
progressively travel through chambers that change the
conditions as it travels through the varying atmospheres. The
 advantage of this system , although much larger has a
continuous flow of seasoned timber coming off line

 Compartmental seasoning:
A compartment kiln is a single enclosed container or
building etc. The timber is stacked and the whole stack is
seasoned using a programme of settings until the whole
stack is reduced to the MC required.
 Chemical seasoning:
In case of chemical seasoning, timber is stored in suitable
salt solution for some time. The salt solution used has the
tendency to absorb water from the timber. So, the moisture
content is removed and then timber is allowed to drying. It
affects the strength of the timber.

Electrical seasoning:
In the method of electrical seasoning timber is subjected to high frequency
alternating currents. The resistance of timber against electricity is measured at
every interval of time. When the required resistance is reached seasoning, process
is stopped because resistance of timber increases by reducing moisture content in
it. It is also called as rapid seasoning and it is uneconomical.
 Wood Joints
Definition:
Joints can be designed to hold without the use of glue or fasteners; a
pinned mortise and tenon is an example of this. The method used for
joining wood will depend on the function, strength and quality of the
product. Wood joints can be made with screws, nails, glues and knock-
down components.

Types of Wood Joints

1- Butt joint:
A butt joint is a technique in which two pieces of wood are joined by
simply placing their ends together without any special shaping.The name
'butt joint' comes from the way the wood is joint together. The butt joint
is the simplest joint to make since it merely involves cutting the wood to
the appropriate length and butting them together.

2- Half-lap joint:
A half-lap joint is a technique of joining two pieces of material together
by overlapping them. A lap may be a full lap or half lap. In a full lap, no
material is removed from either of the members to be joined, resulting in
a joint which is the combined thickness of the two members.

3- Tongue and groove joint:

A strong joint, the tongue and groove joint is widely used for re-entrant
angles. Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together,
edge to edge, used mainly with wood.

4- Mortise and tenon joint:

The mortise and tenon joint has been used for thousands of years
by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood mainly when
the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90°. In its basic form it is both
simple and strong. Although there are many joint variations, the basic
mortise and tenon comprises two components: the mortise hole and the
tenon tongue The tenon is cut to fit the mortise hole exactly and usually
has shoulders that seat when the joint fully enters the mortise hole. The
joint may be glued, pinned, or wedged to lock it in place.

5- Biscuit joint:
A biscuit joiner (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used
to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular
saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite
edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels.

6- Dado joint:
A stopped dado ends before one or both of the cuts meets the edge of the
surface. Dados are often used to affix shelves to a bookcase carcase.
Combined with a rabbet (rebate) on an adjoining piece, they are used to
make the rabbet and dado joint, sometimes used in case goods.

7- Rabbet joint:
A rabbet (also known as a rebate in Britain) is a recess or groove cut into
the edge of a piece of machinable material, usually wood. When viewed
in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the
surface into which it is cut.
8- Dove tail joint:
A flaring tenon and a mortise into which it fits tightly making an
interlocking joint between two pieces that resists pulling apart in all
directions except one. dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a
joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking
joinery (carpentry) including furniture, cabinets, carcase construction, log
buildings and traditional timber framing.

Methods of wood working:

1- Planing:
Planing is a manufacturing process of material removal in which the
workpiece reciprocates against a stationary cutting tool producing a plane
or sculpted surface. Planing is analogous to shaping. The main difference
between these two processes is that in shaping the tool reciprocates
across the stationary workpiece. Planing motion is the opposite of
shaping. Both planing and shaping are rapidly being replaced by milling.
2- Cutting:
The methods of cutting wood are determined by the intended use,
appearance and stability of the wood. Just how a log is cut into lumber
has a large influence on the quality of the finished product. When a
sawyer saws a log, usually the goal is to obtain the largest volume of
usable wood in the shortest length of time. This results in mostly plane
sawn lumber that services the high volume wood industry. Quarter
sawing produces boards cut on the radius rather than on the tangent. It is
slower to produce at the sawmill but does result in a higher quality
product.

Assembling:
The process of assembling a project's wooden parts and subassemblies is
called joinery. It's among the most complex aspects of woodworking and
demands a thorough understanding of the properties of wood and
precision craftsmanship. It is also among the most rewarding processes,
turning a collection of what looks like miscellaneous pieces of wood into
a sturdy and attractive piece of furniture. The stronger and more durable
the joint, the more demanding the work will be. That's why woodworkers
decide early on what joints they'll use.

Sanding and Finishing of woof:

Sanding is one of the most important steps in wood finishing. A thorough
sanding is often what separates acceptable results from beautiful results.
Sand in the direction of the grain for a smooth, uniform finish and
remove all sanding dust using a vacuum, dry paint brush or cloth.
 Wood Working Tools

Loosening and Tightening tools:

1- Open-end-spanner:
This tool is used provide grip and mechanical advantage in
applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts

2- Ring spanner:
A spanner in which the jaws form a ring with internal serrations which fit
completely around a nut, usable in confined spaces.
 3- Saw:
Saw is a a hand tool for cutting wood or other materials, typically with a long, thin
serrated steel blade and operated using a backward and forward movement.

4- Tri square:
A try square is a woodworking or a metalworking tool used for marking and
measuring a piece of wood. The square refers to the tool's primary use of
measuring the accuracy of a right angle (90 degrees)

5- Rasp file :
A rasp is coarse form of file used for coarsely shaping wood or other material.
Typically a hand tool, it consists of a generally tapered rectangular, round, or half-
round sectioned bar of case hardened steel with distinct, individually cut teeth.

5- Planer:
A machine for cutting flat surfaces, having a cuttingtool supported by an overhead
frame beneath which the work slidesback and forth.

6- Hammer:

A hammer is a tool that delivers a blow (a sudden impact) to an object. Most

hammers are hand tools used to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break apart
objects.
Two of the important types of hammer are as follow:

Cross peen hammer:

Cross peen hammer consists of peen, face, eyehole and handle. It is generally used
in smithy shop for heavy work and spreading the hot material. This type of
hammer has peen across the handle.

Mallet (Wooden hammer):

A mallet is a kind of hammer, often made of rubber or sometimes wood. This type
of hammer has a relatively large head.

7- Screw driver:
A Screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, for turning (driving or
removing) screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, and a tip
that the user inserts into the screw head to turn it.
Pliers:
Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly. They are also useful for bending
and compressing a wide range of materials.

9- Nail plier:
Nail pulling pliers are part of the Crescent Code-Red family of renovation and
demolition tools. They allow the use to easily extract nails regardless of size.

10- Nose plier:

Nose pliers are both cutting and holding pliers used by artisans, jewellery
designers, network engineers and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and
snip wire. Their namesake long nose gives excellent control while the cutting edge
near the pliers' joint provides "one-tool" convenience.
11- Vernier caliper:
Vernier caliper is a linear measuring instrument consisting of a scaled rule with a
projecting arm at one end, to which is attached a sliding vernier with a projecting
arm that forms a jaw with the other projecting arm.

12- Screw guage:

The Screw gauge is an instrument used for measuring accurately the diameter of a
thin wire or the thickness of a sheet of metal.

13- Steel tape:

A flexible ruler which consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiber glass, or metal
strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common measuring tool.
14- Scale:
Scale is an instrument used in geometry, technical drawing, printing, engineering
and building to measure distances or to rule straight lines. It is a straight
edge which may also contain calibrated lines to measure distances.