Materials for Woodwork

Lesson Objective
To be able to: Identify sources and properties of wood commonly used in Zimbabwe. Felling, conversion (two methods) seasoning of timber as practised in Zimbabwe. Identifying hardwood and softwood. Tools of woodwork

Historical Introduction:

Wood

Wood is a natural material. Wood and stone were the first materials that man used. Wood is used to light a fire, to make weapons, to build houses, etc.

Some of these things are used today.

The Trees Trunk

Sapwood: part of the trunk with life. Its the youngest part of the wood. Its colour is light. It has a lot of sap. Heartwood: the best quality part.

Wood

Medullary Rays: they are cracks from the center outwards.

Bark: the outer trunks part. It is a protector of the trunk.. Medulla: the inner trunks part.

Obtaining Wood
We can extract wood from a tree that is not too young or too old, it depends on the different species. In Zimbabwe, we get white wood for furniture from Eastern Highlands Tree Plantations or the hard dark wood from Lupanes Mopani Trees. To extract wood we follow these steps:

Wood

Life rings let us know trees age. The clearest rings belong to spring and the darkest ones belong to autumn.

Cut down the trees

Clean the branches and the bark

Transport

Cut the wood

Dry it Distribution

To Cut Trees.
The trees are cut in the winter, because they have less sap. The tools to cut trees were the axe and the hand saw. The tools used today are the chainsaw and big machines that cut and raise the trunk quickly.

Wood

Dont Cut Trees.

Mutasa, Eastern Highlands before

Lets not destory our Forest Mutasa, Eastern Highlands NOW

Tree Planting It is necessary to plant trees again to have wood in the future. This prevents deforestation.

NOT

Cleaning the trunks

First the trees are cut down and then the branches and the bark are cut.

Transportation
Before, the trunks were transported by the rivers flow.

Today, the trunks are transported by big lorries.

To cut the wood

The trunks go to the sawmill. Here the worker marks the lines to cut the wood. This woodcutter makes planks, boards, beams, etc.

The tools to cut the wood are: traditionally circular saws and today big electrical machines or machines with engines.

Drying the wood

After cutting the wood, Its necesary to dry in order to evaporate the sap and the water. The wood is stacked to allow air to flow. It is faster with hot air.

The distribution of wood

The cured wood is taken to the factories.

Properties of wood
The wood is hygroscopic. The wood is a bad conductor of electricity and heat. So the wood is a good insulator. Most wood has medium density (<1000 Kg/m3),except some like the ebony and other tropical wood. There is very soft wood like that of poplar trees or balsa and very hard like oak or ebony. The wood has good mechanical endurance in parallel direction to the fibres and less mechanical resistance in perpendicular direction to the fibres.

Durability: there is wood that is very resistant to fungus and parasites like walnut, mahogany and there is other wood less durable like pines and eucalyptus.

Types of wood:
The most common classification of wood is : Soft wood: resinous and evergreen trees, they are easy to work with (pine, fir, poplar) Hard wood: deciduous trees like oak , walnut, ebony,

Wood

Wood Derivatives

Artificial Boards:

Wood

Cheaper than natural wood. Completely flat and smooth. Bigger size than natural wood. Will not rot and its termite resistant. Plywoods: Made with wood sheets with perpendicular fibers and are stuck together. These boards always have an uneven number of sheets.

Wood Derivatives
Chipboards: Made with glued and pressed wood shavings. We can paste plastic or natural wood sheets together to get a best finish quality.

Wood
Fiber Boards: We can get them from wood fibers pressed together by high pressure and glued by synthetic resin (DM) or natural resin (tablex).

Wood Derivatives

Paper:

Wood

Resistant Enduring Hygroscopic Light Heat insulator Electric insulator.

Cardboard:

Obtained from a thick sheet of pulp paper. Light and resistant. Used in packaging.

Woodworking
To measure and to mark

To fix

To cut

Wood

To split

To drill

To smooth

To finish

Woodworking Tools:
To measure and to mark Compass Flexometer Square

Wood

To fix Vise, bar clamp and C-clamp.

Woodworking : Tools
To cut
Hand Tools: Rip saw, backsaw and hacksaw.

Wood

Power Tools: circular saw, jigsaw and table saw.

Woodworking : Tools
Wood Machining Woodturning

Wood

Gouges

Router/Milling Machine

Router bits to mill

Woodworking : Tools
To smooth Rasps: with different sections.

Wood

Sandpaper

Electric sander

Woodworking : Tools
To drill

Wood

Hand drill

Wood auger

Drill bits Electric drill

Woodworking: Tools
To split
Hammer

Nailing

Wood
Screwing

Screws

Screwdrivers

Powered screwdriver

Woodworking : Tools
To split Gluing

Wood
Paste

Woodworking : Tools
Finishing

Wood

Waxing

Varnishing

Painting