A simple and accessible tool for understanding the fundamental terms related to wood. From the meaning of sapwood and heartwood to the characteristics of texture, grain, and density. A useful resource for professionals, citizens, and students who want to familiarize themselves with the language of the sector.
Wood heavily altered by fungal attacks.
Sawn timber that has not undergone any other processing. it meets the permissible deviations prescribed.
Timber (excluding fuelwood) partially prepared for uses where no special requirements are needed.
Wood that has not been processed.
Presence of obstacles on the ground (large stones, rocks, holes, rock jumps, ditches, etc.) that make it difficult for humans to pass, vehicles to move, and for the sliding and skidding of the material.
Wrinkling of the surface, mostly localised, due to irregularities in the wood structure or a processing defect. This also includes so-called ‘ginning’ sometimes visible on plies obtained by peeling and slicing, which contrasts with the smooth, regular appearance of the neighbouring surface.
Knot in which the ratio of the maximum dimension to the minimum dimension is less than 1.5.
Felled, headed and limbed plant. It may or may not be depeatised.
Operation prior to rotary cutting in which the peeling lathe removes the protrusions and reduces the log into a cylinder.
See “empty cell process”.
See “drying defect”.
Wood species Scientific name: Juniperus sabina L. (Sabina vulgaris Ant.).
Absence of unacceptable risks.
Boots with non-slip lug sole, toe cap with anti-crush and anti-cut reinforcement, and possibly metacarpal protection.
Reductive coefficient of average values of mechanical properties, to be used for calculation in structural engineering.
Work garment for cut-resistant protection during chainsaw use.
Small portion taken from a product for the purpose of exemplifying its characteristics.
A subset of data extracted from a population to represent it.
A material sample, measuring instrument, reference material or measuring system intended to define, make, preserve or reproduce a unit or one or more known values of a quantity to be transmitted for comparison to other measuring instruments (e.g. 1 kg sample mass, sample tally block, etc.).
Paper with abrasive surface (possibly of different grits) generally used for sanding wooden semi-finished products.
Machinery used for sanding wood or wood-derived materials. There are various models (disc, belt or drum sander).
See “sander”.
Very fine wood particles produced during the sanding operation
Finishing operation performed either by machine or manually, with the aim of giving smooth surfaces to parts of wood or panels through the use of an abrasive sheet, disc or belt (disc, belt or drum sander). In the case of wood-based panels, it is the final stage of the production process and it is generally performed whenever the aesthetics of the faces are particularly important.
See “sanding”.
Localised absence of an outer sheet of plywood caused by excessive sanding that highlights the gluing plane (and/or the underlying sheet). In previous versions of the UNI standards for plywood, the term “throughout” was used to describe this processing defect. Sanding defects can also occur with other types of semi-finished products and wood-based panels and in this case they lead to thickness irregularities.
A layered construction consisting of high-strength plywood faces (also known as ‘skins’) bonded to a core of low-density material such as a foam board or honeycomb board structure.
A process carried out on freshly felled trees or logs, in which the sap is displaced using an aqueous solution of wood preservative. NOTE: The Boucherie process is an example of this process.
Wood species Scientific name: Entandrophragma cylindricum Sprague. ATIBT nomenclature: Sapelli. Origin: West Africa.
Physiologically active peripheral portion (also contains living cells and conducts sap) of the wood of a standing tree that is often distinguished from the central heartwood portion by its generally lighter colour and greater susceptibility to attack by biodegradation agents. The parenchymatous cells of the sapwood contain abundant reserve substances of a sugary nature. However, the sapwood portion is often removed during debarking or during the manufacturing of semi-finished products.
Fungal decay of the wood developed in the sapwood portion.
Tree whose heartwood and sapwood are uniformly clear and without any marked differences in color or moisture content.
Machinery with chip removal used for sawing wood. Depending on the models and cutting procedures, there are: – circular saws (formed by a steel disc fitted with teeth along the outer perimeter); – band saws (in which the blade is placed under tension between two flywheels, one of which is motorized); – reciprocating multi-blade saws (in which a set of parallel blades is placed in tension on a slightly inclined frame moved alternately in a vertical direction); – chain saws (formed by a moving chain around a guide bar). In the case of larger sawing plants, the log is fixed on a carriage that guides it against the saw blade, then performs a back-and-forth movement and repositioning of the workpiece according to the processing thickness.
The axle on which the blade of a circular saw is installed. The term may also include the axle mounts, bearings, etc.
The part of a circular saw that emerges from the bench or worked piece of wood.
All wood material in the state in which it results from sawing. In the timber trade, this is the quality of timber in boards of ordinary size when no grading is required.
Supporting device that operates above and/or below the cut to prevent deflection and ensure accuracy of cut with narrow- and narrow-track saws.
The plane in which the blade of a saw must move within the piece of wood.
Logs or standing trees suitable for providing sawn timber.
In sawing machines without a carriage, it is the table (work table) on which the wood is sawn.
Very small wood particles (usually less than 2 mm) produced by the cutting and tearing action of a saw’s teeth. Differs from chips produced by planer and moulder.
Mechanical action by which, by means of special cutting systems with saws with sharp blades, roundwood or other woody assortments (top end logs, slash, cull) can be reduced into semi-finished products of various sizes and shapes (beam, sawn timber, lath).
Irregularity of a semi-finished product surface formed during sawing.
Log intended for sawing.
Industrial establishment where logs are sawn and processed into commercial assortments. The term includes both the buildings and machinery required for its operation.
Veneer produced from the sawing of a log.
Sawmill operator.
Board used to support people and materials during the construction or restoration of a building. It commonly has the following dimensions: thickness: 50-60 mm width: 220-250 mm length: 4000 mm
Temporary or stable structure, mostly made of wood, placed to support works under construction (masonry or excavation).
Descriptive term for the scale-shaped pattern formed in cross section by the rays and regularly spaced bands or lines of axial parenchyma. The latter are distinctly narrower than the rays.
Plate with multiple elongated and parallel perforations. The remnants of the plate between the openings are called bars.
Elongated or linear pits arranged in scalariform series.
Determination of the volume or weight of an individual or lot of woody assortments. It is usually measured by applying appropriate formulas (called ‘dendrometric’).
A system that uses optical, laser, or other components to determine electronically the size, profile, or externally visible defects in a trunk, log, flitch, sawn, or ply. The data are then generally processed by a computer that determines optimal processing yields.
See “scantling”.
Sawn timber with a square cross-section usually with a side of 5 or 10 cm.
Incomplete linings or occasional parenchymal cells around vessels.
Surface cut partially or completely covered by the tree during growth.
Carving of inclined surfaces with possible “teeth” to increase adhesion for butt jointing.
Jointing system consisting of cutting (milling or sawing) the edges and/or ends of a semi-finished product in a complementary and inclined way along the thickness of the workpiece in order to achieve a regular fit and a greater surface area for subsequent gluing. The scarf length must be between 5 and 12 times the thickness of the semi-finished product.
See “scarf joint”.
See “scarf joint”.
A implements generally transported by tractors that allows even very tenacious soils to be cut without tipping the tractor. The working organ consists of one or more steel tines mounted on a horizontal crossbar.
It originates from the cracking of the cell wall and develops due to degeneration of surrounding tissues.
It is formed by the separation of elements of a tissue due to the splitting of the common cell wall between adjacent cells.
Small plant, usually up to one year old, formed from cuttings of a tree plant capable of vegetative propagation.
A platform installed on a leg system equipped with a scissor-like movement that allows the platform to raise and lower automatically or manually. Typically used to align panels as they are stacked or moved.
Mechanical element not distinctly prosenchymatic, but with thick secondary walls, often lignified. It also commonly lacks a protoplast at maturity. It is also called a “sclerotic cell.” Note: Sclereids vary in shape from polyhedral to oblong and are often branched. The type commonly found in wood and bark is the brechisclereid or stone cell. Such cells are often described as sclerotic, e.g., “ray sclerotic cells.”
Tylosis with an exceptionally thick, layered, lignified wall and branching punctuation. Similar to a stony cell.
Incision or linear ridge transverse to the grain. It is due to the binding of the sheeter blade or pressure bar.
Wood species Scientific name: Pinus sylvestris L.
Plywood in which the face and/or the back have been made smooth by a mechanical sander.
They are used for fastening structural wood panels when nails do not provide sufficient holding force.
A product, very similar to Oriented Strand Lumber, developed in Australia in the late 1980s. Timber obtained from thinnings in fast-growing artificial plantations is used as raw material. The particles obtained by milling the logs between rotating rollers are then treated with adhesive to obtain a mat. The latter is then pressed and finally sectioned to obtain structural elements of the specified dimensions.
Log obtained from the trunk in an intermediate position between the basal log and the head log.
