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1. Wood
 Wood is a raw material of plant origin.
 It is mainly composed of two
substances:
 Cellulose fibres:
they are long threads along the trunk
or straw of plants.
Lignin: it is the substance that wraps
cellulose fibres. Only trunks contain
lignin. It makes wood hard and rigid.

 Other substances: resins, oils, sugars,

pigments, oils, sugars, caoutchouc, etc.
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 Wood lies under the bark of trees and bushes.
 These are the layers that can be seen on a trunk
cross-section.
Outer layer that protects from outside
attacks. It is not used except for cork

Thin, transparent layer of living

cells, where growth takes place.

Young rings. Used to for artistic

woodwork. Whitish color.

Old rings. Most resistant, driest

and darkest part. Best part for
structures or for building.

Central part of the trunk. Not

very resistant. Generally not
used.
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1.1 Obtaining wood
1. Logging and pruning:

• Trees are cut off at the

base of the trunk.
(Logging)

• Then the branches are cut

off. (Pruning)

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2. Transport:
• Huge machines are used to lift the logs (trunks without
roots nor branches) and stack them up on trucks.
• Then they are taken to a sawmill by road, rail, sea or
rivers. Sometimes they are just thrown on a river and
just let them be dragged by the water.

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3. Stripping the bark:
• The bark stripping machine has rollers
with teeth that remove bark as they
turn around.

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4. Cutting the logs
• Logs are cut into planks with different
thickness. It is impossible to get planks all
the same because logs are cylindrical.

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5. Drying:
• Planks must be dried up. If not, humidity can warp
them. To do so, planks are stacked, separated one
from each other to let air flow..

Natural drying: in the open Forced drying: by flowing hot

air. It's cheaper, but also air. It is used in humid
slower. climates. It is faster, but also
more expensive.
Sometimes, both methods are used: first natural drying and
later forced drying to completely remove humidity. 8
6. Planing
• Planer machines eliminate any roughs and
make smooth sheets of wood.

Hand planer Planer machine

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 2. CLASSIFYING WOOD
For technical purposes we classify wood into two
types: hardwoods and softwoods:

Hardwood usually comes from

deciduous trees

• They grow slowly and have thick,

compact, resistant trunks.
• They contain little resin.
• They are in many colours.
• Fruit trees are usually hardwood
trees: cherry tree, walnut tree, apple
tree, chestnut tree…

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 Softwood is usually obtained from conifer
trees. conifers(their fruits are cone shaped),
non-deciduous trees
 They grow quickly, so their rings are not
easily distinguished.
 They contain a lot of resin.
 They are usually pale-coloured.
 They are less resistant than hardwood.
 They are light and easy to work with.

Cone shaped fruits

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3. Derivatives of wood
Derivatives of wood are taken from sheets, shavings, chips or
fibres of wood, glued together with synthetic resins.
Derivatives include engineered wood and cellulose materials.
3.1. Engineered wood
Plywood
Formed by gluing together thin sheets of
wood.

Chipboard
Made with wood shavings and chips
glued together.

Fibreboard
Fibres come from grinding chips. This
produces tiny wood threads that are glued
together. 12
3.2. Cellulose materials
• These are made from cellulose of wood. They include paper,
cardboard and silk paper.
• Wood is pulped and mixed with water and chemicals to make
a cellulose paste.
• This paste is compressed and made into layers with a machine
so that it turns into sheets.

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4. Properties of wood
 Wood is a good electricity isolator (electric current
cannot flow through it) and a good thermal isolator (heat
cannot flow through it).

 But it is not an acoustic isolator: it lets sound through it.

 It has a low density, so it floats on water.

 It is not waterproof , so it must be protected from rain.

 It is resistant: it resists great forces.

 It is flexible: it can be bent without breaking.

 It is tough: it can be hit once and again without breaking.

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Ecological properties of wood
 It is renewable: nature produces
wood permanently.

 It is biodegradable: it naturally
decomposes and disappears
along time.

 It is recyclable: it can be grinded

and turned into engineered
wood, paper or cardboard.
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