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.
Institution that performs conformity certification. It may carry out inspection and testing activities directly or engage other parties under its own responsibility.
Act by which an independent third party declares that, with reasonable reliability, a particular product or service conforms to a specific standard or technical rule. A distinction is made between “product certification,” “system certification” and “certification of skills”. Certification has greater or lesser value depending on the trustworthiness and accreditation of the certifying body.
Certification by an independent third party that a certain person is qualified to work proficiently in a certain field. For example: inspectors of company quality systems, welders, non-destructive testing technicians, etc.
A system having its own procedural or managerial rules, which performs conformity certification.
Fungus belonging to the Ascomycetes. It causes soft rot to particularly moist softwood and hardwoods in cooling towers, in contact with soil, etc.
Chainsaw cutting element: a cutting tool composed of drag links, teeth and side links held together by rivets. It is supported and guided by the bar.
A device installed on chainsaws to stop or block the movement of the chain. It is manually or automatically activated when a kickback occurs.
The totality of all custodial changes that occur in the supply chain of forest products and their derivatives
Property of the result of a measurement consisting in being able to relate it to appropriate samples, usually national or international, through an unbroken chain of comparisons (called ‘chain of reference’).
In the chainsaw, a device that affects the guide bar so that the chain tension can be adjusted.
Chain saw with two-stroke internal combustion engine (more rarely with electric or compressed air motor). It is operated by one or two men and used in agricultural and forestry work for felling, delimbing, and cutting stems and branches.
Specialized worker in the use of chainsaws.
Crystalliferous cell divided into compartments by septa.
Localised crack occurring in only a part of the thickness of the veneer.
It corresponds to the value of the fifth percentile of the data population and, for stiffness also the average value, derived from the results of tests of 300 s duration with specimens under equilibrium humidity conditions (resulting from a temperature of 20° C and a relative humidity of 65%).
Strength and stiffness value that a wood-based product show against the main mechanical stresses (bending, tension, compression and shear). It is generally expressed as the lower 5th percentile of the results obtained under unified test conditions. In other words, it is a value that has a prescribed probability of not being reached in a hypothetical unlimited series of tests, i.e., a fractile of the examined property distribution. Such a value is called “lower” or “higher” if the prescribed value is less than or greater than 0.50, respectively. Characteristic values have been defined identically for all building materials, and some wood-based products (particularly plywood) have been found to have quite an advantage over solid wood by virtue of better homogeneity and structural efficiency. The use of characteristic values instead of allowable stresses allows for better dimensioning of wood structures than in the past when heavy safety coefficients were applied to all wood-based materials.
Solid, black, friable residue from the wood pyrolysis process.
Checks occurring parallel to the grain of sliced veneers and sometimes in thick veneers as a result of the slashing action of the knife. The cracks are formed on the surface of the sheet that is in contact with the cutting edge originating the “open” side and the opposite side, the “closed” side.
Straight, short and shallow split.
Crustacean that attacks wood submerged in the sea.
Degradation of wood caused by the action of chemical agents, for example certain acids or bases, oxidising agents, etc.
Molecular union involving covalent bonds and the formation of new chemical entities.
Alteration in the colour of the wood, usually brown, due to surface concentration or alterations in the composition of wood extractives. In some cases it occurs during seasoning.
Debarking made easier by applying chemicals to the standing plant by ring-barking.
Treatment with a chemical preservative of wood through a pressure process according to an official technical specification.
Wood species Scientific name: Prunus avium L. Origin: Europe (excluding the northern part). Other cherry woods of commercial interest are the ‘American Cherry’ (Prunus serotina L.), which is imported from the United States, and ‘Visciolo’ (or Marasco) obtained from Prunus cerasus L.
Mark on the curved surface of thin-barked hardwood. It indicates the presence of a singularity, usually a knot.
Wood particles produced through the fragmentation process. Note: Particle size is defined according to intended use: pulp, panel, or fuel.
Marks or grooves on finished wood due to chip encrustation on a planer blade or any other moving or rotating part on the surface.
Machinery used for chip screening.
Operation through which, by vibration, rotation, or combined motion, a cluster of particles is directed through a series of multiple apertures in order to separate those of a given size from their larger or smaller fractions.
Wood detachment from below the finished surface.
See “chipped grain”.
See “chipper”.
A machine used for chipping wood. It can be used with entire trees or with wood off-cuts. Depending on the model and operating devices, the following machines are used: – disc chippers (with knives installed on a rotating disc): – drum chippers (with knives installed on a rotating drum); – ring chippers (in which a ring with axially aligned knives is peripherally assembled to a cylindrical structure in which a series of concentric hammers, rotating in the opposite direction, force the material against the edges of the knives).
Mechanical action by which, by means of special rotary knife cutting systems, roundwood or other woody assortments (top end logs, slash, cull) can be reduced into particles of specific size that can be used in paper production or in the panel industry.
See “chipping”.
Anglicism used in Italy for the Italian term “particelle.” However it is incorrect; the correct expression would be “chips.”
Wood reduced to flakes or chips.
Anglicism used in Italy for the italian word “particelle.”
Pieces of wood of various sizes and shapes (splinters, flakes, chips) produced mechanically mostly by chipping (for energy production or some types of wood-based panels). In italian they are also called “Cips,” in a misnomer of English.They take different names depending on their size and mode of production (Flake, Strand, Wafer, Sliver, etc.).
Sharp, wedge-shaped tool used for cutting or shaping wood.
Piece of steel cable or chain that is looped around the butt of one or more logs or trees. It is equipped with an attachment device to secure them to the rope for dragging, hauling, or lifting.
Connecting device suitable for supporting or anchoring equipment. It is made of synthetic fibers or piece of steel rope with loops at the ends or closed in a loop.
See “choker”
See “choker”.
Shaped steel element, sliding on the rope (for bunching) and on the choke cable (for tightening the load), to which the other end of the choke cable is easily attached.
See “choker”.
Fungi, usually Ascomycetes and Imperfect fungi, which cause changes in wood color resulting in predominantly esthetic damage.
A component of the veneer peeling machine to which, by special jaws, the heads of the log are tightly fastened in order to rotate it against the cutting edge and thus produce veneer. Some veneer peeler models may not have chucks, but rather other systems used to produce log rotations (e.g., a set of multiple motorized rollers).
In slidind extraction, it is a polyethylene or metal paddy segment. In forest road network, it is a small channel made of wood, steel or concrete that is set up transversely to the road axis in order to collect surface run-off water and convey it off the road surface.
A stiproad consisting of a conduit or channel, made of various materials ( soil, stones, timber, metal, polyethylene), along which timber flows from the forest to the road using the force of gravity.
See “circular saw”.
A sawing machine on whose shaft is installed a disc blade, which is a circular steel plate with cutting teeth on its circumference.
Conditioned air, at a selected and controlled temperature and relative humidity, which circulates in the drying cell through the timber stacks.
CITES is a convention that regulates international trade in endangered fauna and flora, ensuring that it is not a threat to their existence. Some wildlife species are subject to legal trade, but others require permits for transport across borders.
Distinction of wood assortments into quality classes defined according to either their surface appearance (Anglo-Saxons in this case use the term “grade”) or their mechanical strength and stiffness characteristics (Anglo-Saxons in this case use the term “class”). Depending on the reference standard, classification generally involves the use of letters, acronyms or numbers.
Complete removal of bark and any traces of branches.
Intermediate cuttings carried out during the regeneration stage in order to encourage the development of young stands.
Term generally used to indicate the distance between the inner surfaces of the bearings of a sample tested for bending. The same term also denotes the distance between the plates of a press in which a load or assembly is inserted to receive pressure and accomplish bonding. The value of this opening determines the maximum thickness of the mat or packet of plies that can be consolidated.
The distance between one face of a saw blade and the wood wall that limits the saw line on the same side of the blade.
Operation that consists in releasing goods from customs, paying the relevant amount and fulfilling the required documentary formalities.
1) In the case of a rotary saw blade or the tooth of a circular saw, it is the angle (in the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation) formed by the cutting direction (tangent to the cutting circle) and the rake sharpening (on the rake face) if it is a rotary cutting iron, or by the rake face of a tooth in the case of a circular saw blade. (2) In the case of a bandsaw or reciprocating saw blade or orthogonal cutting iron, it is the angle measured in the plane of the blade in the case of a saw, or in the plane perpendicular to the faces of a cutting iron, formed: (a) in the case of saws, by the surface generated by the cutting motion and the back of the tooth; (b) in the case of peeling blades, by the bevel and a plane tangent to the peeled log at the level of the cutting edge of the blade; (c) for other orthogonal irons, by the generated surface and the stripping bevel.
Professional figure involved in forest planting, care and maintenance activities related to silviculture and forest utilisation.
A machine for splitting small logs in a longitudinal direction. Tt is generally used for the production of firewood.
Instrument for direct measurement of angles of elevation or depression or the tangent of these angles relative to the horizon. It corresponds to the slope expressed in %.
Veneer with at least one edge cut straight and perpendicular to the veneer surface.
Machinery used for veneer clipping. Depending on the models and cutting patterns, there are: – tilting clippers; – vertical reciprocating motion clippers; – rotative clippers (single or double blade).
Tool similar to scissors used for felling, depeeling and pruning. According to the mode of operation, they can be mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic.
See “assembly time”.
Surface that allows the complete filling of the open vessels of coarse-pored hardwood. The coating film therefore effectively conceals the porous structure of the wood.
Any ingredient (other than an active ingredient) contained in a wood preservation product.
Texture characterised by the presence of relatively large cells and/or large or irregular growth rings.
Equipment for applying paint, varnish, or other finishing to wood material or an adhesive mixture to the surface of plies. It is usually described according to the method of application: coating, electrostatic, roller coating, misting.
Material in liquid, paste or powder form that produces a protective and/or decorative film when applied to a substrate.
Wood species Scientific name: Dalbergia sp.p. (D. retusa Hemsl.) Origin: Coastal zone of Central America, towards the Pacific.