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.
Fungal alteration caused by basidiomycetes. In the final stages of development of presents light in color and results in a fibrous surface appearance. The enzymatic hydrolysis activity of the fungi responsible for the attack, predominantly affects the lignin component of the cell wall, resulting in structural damage as a result of which the wood break appears deformed and jagged.
Small white or brown pits or spots visible on the surface of a piece of softwood caused by the a fungus (from the genus Phellinus or Fomes) and already developed in the standing tree. In general the piece with white specks are no more subject to rot.
Wood species Scientific name: Sorbus aria (L.) Crantz. It is also traded under the name “Alisier” or “Pero selvatico”. Origin: Europe, western Asia, western North Africa, Japan.
Solid biofuel obtained by mechanically compressing biomass in order to increase its density and shape it into desired size and shape (e.g., pellets and briquettes).
Small solid wood element with smooth edges and a rectangular shape.
Dimension perpendicular to the length of a product. In the plywood standard, since by convention the length of the panel corresponds to the dimension parallel to the grain of its face, the width is measured perpendicular to the grain of the panel, regardless of the size of the latter.
Wood species See “wild olive”.
Wood species Scientific name: Olea europaea L., including the variety oleaster DC. Origin: Mediterranean basin
Wood species Scientific name: Salix sp.p. Origin: Europe, western Asia, southern Siberia, northern Africa, western, central and northern Asia, northern America.
Specialized winch worker.
Machinery for lifting or pulling bodies. It consists of one or more drums driven by a motor and equipped with brakes. One or more ropes (mainline, skyline, auxiliary, hauling) are wound on the two drums respectively. It normally constitutes the driving station of a yarder. “Windlass” is the winch carried or semi-carried by a tractor and driven by the power take-off, or equipped with a self-contained motor. It is used for trawl bunching.
See “winch”.
Operational condition in which the tractor and/or winch stands still and the load is pulled toward it by the winch rope.
Extraction system by which lumber is dragged with butts resting on top of a vehicle. The towing vehicle is not stressed by rearing.
Breakdown or uprooting of one or more trees caused by the action of strong winds.
Sound caused by sudden separation, or splitting, of wood due to internal stresses during felling or processing.
Portion of a pallet protruding from joists or blocks, prepared for lifting by crane.
Rope consisting of a central core called the core, usually formed of grease-impregnated hemp or steel wire, around which are wound six (or more) spiroidal ropes, called wire ropes in this case.
A term used to indicate that two adjacent veneers that compose the coating of a panel are not significantly different from each other in terms of grain characteristics, pattern, color, and other decorative effects.
Craftsman involved in woodturning.
Material consisting of lignin and cellulose placed between the pith and the bark in a tree or shrub. The French and German terms also translate the Italian term ‘legname’. Lignified materials from bamboo, cork, rattan, palm trees and other monocotyledons cannot be consodered as “wood “.
Commodities like round wood, sawn wood, wood chips and wood residues, with or without bark, with the exclusion of wood packing material, processed wood material, and bamboo and rattan products.
Untreated, sharp-edged wooden blocks forming flooring elements for indoor use. They are arranged individually in such a way that the end-grain portion serves as the utilisation surface of the paved area.
Particleboard made of chips and other wood processing residues (and not specially prepared particles) mixed with an adhesive. Note: The Italian trade name “pannello truciolare” includes all those that are properly particleboard.
Elements derived from any subdivision of a log and which, by gluing, can be assembled into a new wood-based product. The dimensions can vary from that of a sawn timber to that of wood flour with a variety of intermediate elements (laths, veneers, wood wool, particles, fiber bundles).
Material made of thin sliced veneers glued (generally with polyurethane adhesive) to cotton fabric for use in the fashion, design and gift sectors.
A combination of resin and strands, shreds or wood flour that is used to fill openings in wood and provide a smooth, durable surface.
Assembly of wooden elements laid on the primary structure or sub-floor.
Tiny woody fragments obtained by the action of a grinding wheel. In size, appearance and consistency they appear similar to cereal flour. It is used as a filler in the formulation of putty and adhesives or combined with specific chemical compounds (e.g. polypropylene) to make mouldable and shaped panels under hot pressing.
Assortment for charcoal production.
Wood or wood products other than paper products, which are used to support, protect, or transport a commodity (including dunnage).
A set of several boards or panels connected in such a way as to form a plane in order to make a cladding.
In a pallet, an element with a rectangular, square or circular base that separates the lower level from the upper level.
Material made by hot extrusion, combining wood flour or natural wood fibres, polymers (generally PVA) and additives.
The technique of preventing the alteration and destruction of wood by living organisms (especially fungi, insects, and teredines) and by fire through the application of antiseptics and fire retardants. Note: Protective measures can be divided into (a) treatments that provide temporary protection to recently felled timbers against damage by insects, fungi, or both; (b) treatments of round or sawn timbers before they are put in place; (c) treatments of timbers in place before attack has occurred; and (d) curative treatments to timbers in place that have already been attacked.
Treatment of wood with suitable substance or mixture of chemicals for the purpose of protecting it from attack by xylophagous organisms. Preservative application (which can be preventive or curative) involves surface (brush or spray), immersion, deep impregnation or fumigation treatments
Product for the protection of wood in the form of a paste that can be spread or smeared on wood surfaces.
Set of technical and commercial operations related to the procurement of wood for the wood industry, including marking trees and stands, purchasing stumps and timber, and harvesting.
Wood fibres separated by mechanical and chemical processes intended for the manufacture of paper, textiles and other cellulose products.
Part of the radius internal to the cambium.
Set of operations aimed at determining the wood species constituting an artefact or parts of it.
Storage of timber for more or less long periods.
Elongated piece of sawn timber having a thickness smaller than 40 mm (but not less than 10 mm) and a width greater than 80 mm.
Arrangement of the different types of woody cells in relation to a model or anatomical scheme typical of the taxon (mostly at the level of the botanical genus).
The study of the structure, identification, as well as the chemical, physical and mechanical properties, defects, uses and processing methods of wood.
Rigid coating consisting of a wood-based panel with a top layer of wood veneer and possibly a backing layer.
Rigid floor covering consisting of a wood-based panel on which a wood veneer is placed.
Urocerus gigas and other insects of the family Siricidae (order Hymenoptera) NOTE 1: Females are equipped with long ovipositors that can penetrate solid wood, especially debilitated, dying and freshly felled trees, in which the eggs are laid. NOTE 2: The damage consists of round holes densely filled with resin. The holes have a circular cross-section and a diameter of up to 8 mm.
Long, thin wood particle, usually curled, produced by the action of cutting and tearing a knife parallel to the grain. It is generally used in packaging or in the manufacture of insulation boards. It can also be made from waste paper.
Products intended for structural or non-structural uses resulting from the recomposition of unitary elements of various sizes and shapes (sawings, laths, plies, chips, wood wool, fibers) performed under pressure by the action of an adhesive that must show a resistance equal to or greater than that of wood. This group of panels includes in particular plywood, solid wood panels, particle board (including waferboard, flakeboard, OSB and chipboard), wood wool and cement panels, fibreboard (including MDF), cement-bonded panel and cement-bonded particleboard. Other synonyms are “Recomposed panels” and “Composites”.
Product with at least 75 per cent of the total weight consisting of wood or wood components.
Work that consists of removing material from wood with appropriate tools to obtain hollow or relief work.
Those who practise the art of engraving on wooden surfaces.
Thin strips of wood (similar to spaghetti) that are generally used in the production of wood-cement insulation boards.
Group of trees growing more or less densely on a given area generally smaller than that of a forest. According to ISTAT (Central Statistical Institute), these are areas larger than 0.5 hectares, at least 50 % covered by tree vegetation.
Similar in shape to traditional bricks, they are prefabricated modules for the block construction (by overlapping and interlocking) of wooden structure buildings or other modular systems.
Any beetle that attacks wood, particularly the larval stage. NOTE: this is the term most commonly used to describe the attack by the common furniture beetle.
Biomass from trees, shrubs, and bushes.
Botanical species characterized by lignified tissues (the term includes tree and shrub species).
Set of operations that a worker or team of workers, with the necessary equipment, performs and which can be grouped under a single definition.
An expression of the potential of a machine or system of machines under the conditions provided by the work organization. It is measured in units of volume, weight, or number of product or area worked in the unit of time (usually per hour or per day).
It expresses the potential of a man, team, machine or set of machines under the conditions provided by the work organization. It is measured in units of worked product per hour or day of work.
Degree of the ease and smoothness of the cut that can be achieved with hand or machine tools.
General characteristics of the environment in which a timber assortment or derived material is placed (thermo-hygrometric variations, type and duration of loads, risk of biological attack). Three service classes are defined in Eurocode 5, which reflect the most frequently encountered operating conditions in buildings.
Properties of an adhesive that influence or dictate certain application modes to the adhesives to be bonded and to the assembly before pressing. Examples of these include viscosity, duration of use, allowable assembly time, curing time and temperature, and so on.
Face that, by adopting a certain classification, is judged to be worse than the other face.
Operation that consists of manufacturing, by means of sheet packs, plywoods with more or less complex sweeps.
Insect of the family Anobiidae. Commonly known as the “Death watch beetle,” it occurs exclusively in wood that has already been attacked by fungi. It is of significant importance in hardwoods used in old building structures in most of Europe.
Xylem, also called sieve or wood, is the main mechanical tissue and conductor of water from the roots to the crown. It is produced from the cambium inward into the plant.
Cell produced inward from a fusiform cambial initial. Undergoes further periclinal division before differentiating into a xylem cell.
Parenchyma present in wood. Generally in two types: axial and radial (ray parenchyma).
Crustaceans of the genera Limnoria and Chelura that dig tunnels into submerged wood in the sea. The attack begins at the outer surface and continues inward as the outer part is removed by wave motion. The wood takes on a characteristic spongy appearance. They cause severe damage to marine structures (piers, jetties, etc.).
Crustacean mollusks of the Teredinidae family. They dig tunnels in submerged wood in the sea. The tunnels are lined with limestone and penetrate into the interior of the wood. They cause severe damage to marine structures (docks, piers, etc.).
Animal or plant organism that draws its nourishment from wood.
A yarder in which the winch for the rope(s) is installed on a skid frame without a drum for the supporting rope. The skid frame can self-displace by dragging through its own winch.
A yarder formed by a skyline (logging route) on which a carriage slides, pulled or braked by a hauling rope and, if necessary, a pull and/or auxiliary rope driven by a winch. The carriage can retrieve loads at any point below the line and also at some lateral distance. The system can be single span, where there are no intermediate supports, or multi-span.
Specialist worker in ropeway work.
A generic term referring to a transport system in which timber is moved by hanging from a supporting rope stretched between two points.
Wood species Scientific name: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach. Origin: Pacific coasts of North America, from Alaska to Oregon.
Wood species Scientific name: Eribroma oblonga (Mast.) Bod. ATIBT nomenclature: Eyong. Origin: Australia, coltivated in Europe.
Wood species Scientific name: Taxus baccata L.
Ratio of the product obtained to the raw material used expressed as a percentage. For example, the volume in finished product obtainable from the processing of a trunk (or log) which is generally referred to as the volume expressed in the typical unit of measurement for that particular product (e.g.: cubic meters or square meters) per cubic meters of processed roundwood.
Hand tool used for moving logs. It consists of a long, strong wooden handle with a curved iron on top.
Wood species Scientific name: Microberlinia brazzavillensis A. Chèv. e Microberlinia bisulcata A. Chèv. (= Brachystegia fleuriana A. Chèv.).
In forest road layout, it represents the line according to which the road surface intersects the ground.