April 2020 - Page 2 of 2 - www.woodhappiness.com

Wood exists on earth from day one and we have seperated it into 3 types , into 3 basic columns , in order to act with it and create woodworking projects , according ot the properties the wood has . We know more than 70.000 different kinds of wood and , we use around to 400 of these , to make our woodcrafts . See a post of mine , for all the basic types of wood you'll need for carpentry , HERE . The 3rd type of wood isn't natural and as old as the first 2 ones , but it's very useful too . These 3 types of wood are : 1)The "Soft" type of wood . 2) The "Hard" type of wood . 3) The Industrial - Engineered , type of wood . Let's see more closely these 3 types and why we seperate the wood , into these ones . 1) The " Soft" type of wood . We people commonly refere and it is the wood by the Coniferous trees . The trees with their leaves look like needles and they also produce cones . We call those trees with another name too , we call them " softwoods " or gymnosperms , using their botanic names . The "Soft wood " pieces have medium to low density , at around < 0.55 - 0.60 g/cm3 , exept some special pine kinds ( yellow pine ) . The coniferous trees have uniformity in their cell structure , a point that is diffrent to the "hard" wood type of trees/wood . In general the "soft" wood trees/wood have lower density than the "hard" types of wood , but this isn't an unbreakalbe "law" . We use the coniferous wood ( spruce , fir , pine , cedar , redwood cypress ) , mostly in the construction field . 2) The "hard" type of wood . The trees which they produce the "hard wood " , have wide - broad leaves , have no needles and they are the ones which produce seeds . We call these trees also , widetrees or broadleaves trees and their botanic name is angiosperms . The "hardwood" pieces have bigger desnity , bigger than 0.55 - 0.60 g/cm3 , except some special kinds ( willow tree , some balsa trees , poplar tree , okoume . ) The rythm of development during time , is different between the "soft" wood and the "hard" wood and the factors for this , are many . Climate , the forest's place , moisture , sun , forestry actions , lubrication , are some of them . These trees produce , wood with supreme beautiness "waters" . The bamboo , even if it isn't a tree , we have it this type of wood . It's a monocotyledonous and it belongs in the grass family of the flower plants . 3) The Industrial - Engineered type of wood . The industrial wood isn't a physical - natural wood , coming from the nature's trees , but it is created by us , the humans . We use chemical - heat and pressure procedures , to create engineered wood , to have the properties and behavior , we want . It's cheaper than the physical wood pieces and we can give to it , the exact properties we like , for the carpentry plan , we want to make . We all have heard the names MDF ( medium density fibreboard) , the HDF ( high density fibreboard ) , the OSB ( oriented strand board ) , the plywood , the chipboards , which all are used from millions across the world . ATTENTION : you should not confuse the engineered wood , with the cement + wood fibers mixed wood , you can find in the markets . It is another totally material . Sometimes , it's very difficult to identify the industrial wood form the real one , especially when the industrial is smoothened and painted very well . Of course if you see an transverse cut of the wood piece or its finish , you'll see the pressured fibers of it . I've written an article for the correct wood identification and quality's check , read it here . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wh9NYvfStk Plywood belongs ot the "family" of the MDF , HDF , OSB and Chipboards engineered wood . It has many benefits with the biggest one , being the dimensional stabilty( small expansion and shrinks ) it has . You can nail it to its edges with no problem , because it reduces the tendency of wood , while you "push it" , in its edges . It has two sides , the one is smoother than the other one . I've written a post of how can you nail a pin to a wood's edge , without torn it and you can read it , HERE . What are the 3 types of plywood ? Plywood has 3 types . a) The 3-ply plywood ( 2-3mm) . b) The 5-ply plywood ( 4mm) . c) Multi-ply plywood , for more heavy - duty and boating use ( 7+ layers is very strong ) . I've written an article - guide with all the known wood types existed in the planet , with many extra informations , about their properties and general behavior . You can read it , HERE . How wood is Classified ? Generally and mainly , the wood is classified for the level of the density its mass has ( soft or hard ) and the generic properties and specialized chracteristics it provides , to cover all the variety of needs . Secondly they follow many other factors that give to every type of wood more targeted characteristics for specific jobs . The soft types are used to a specific area of jobs , the hard types to their field and the engineered wood has a more wide range of uses , because it's totally built by humans which means that we can "load it" to any characteristic we like . The sea plywood is targeted and manufactured for the extreme salty conditions , that's why we make it so strong and long lasting , more than any other natural wood type . How to Identify the wood types ? The more close identification of the wood types , is a very tough and scientific process . The factors are so many making the identification job , very difficult and fluid . The density , the color , the shades of color , the differen shades inside of mass of wood , the texture of wood , the presence or not of resinous pipes , the growth rings , the types of the pores of wood , the microcrystals of the pores of wood , the smell , the gloss are some of the factors the professional use to identify wood . There are more !!!! Keep woodworking and gain happiness , from it .