The Mechanical Properties of Wood: Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber TestingRecord, Samuel J. (Samuel James)
Science
The Mechanical Properties of Wood: Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber Testing
Record, Samuel J. (Samuel James)
Wood; Wood -- Testing
A local defect somewhat similar in effect to cup shake is known
as _rind gall_. If the cambium layer is exposed by the removal
of the entire bark or rind it will die. Subsequent growth over
the damaged portion does not cohere with the wood previously
formed by the old cambium. The defect resulting is termed rind
gall. The most common causes of it are fire, gnawing, blazing,
chipping, sun scald, lightning, and abrasions.
_Heart break_ is a term applied to areas of compression failure
along the grain found in occasional logs. Sometimes these breaks
are invisible until the wood is manufactured into the finished
article. The occurrence of this defect is mostly limited to the
dense hardwoods, such as hickory and to heavy tropical species.
It is the source of considerable loss in the fancy veneer
industry, as the veneer from valuable logs so affected drops to
pieces.
The cause of heart break is not positively known. It is highly
probable, however, that when the tree is felled the trunk
strikes across a rock or another log, and the impact causes
actual failure in the log as in a beam.
_Resin_ or _pitch pockets_ are of common occurrence in the wood
of larch, spruce, fir, and especially of longleaf and other hard
pines. They are due to accumulations of resin in openings
between adjacent layers of growth. They are more frequent in
trees growing alone than in those of dense stands. The pockets
are usually a few inches in greatest dimension and affect only
one or two growth layers. They are hidden until exposed by the
saw, rendering it impossible to cut lumber with reference to
their position. Often several boards are damaged by a single
pocket. In grading lumber, pitch pockets are classified as
small, standard, and large, depending upon their width and
length.
INSECT INJURIES[37]
[Footnote 37: For detailed information regarding insect
injuries, the reader is referred to the various publications of
the U.S. Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D.C.]
The larvæ of many insects are destructive to wood. Some attack
the wood of living trees, others only that of felled or
converted material. Every hole breaks the continuity of the
fibres and impairs the strength, and if there are very many of
them the material may be ruined for all purposes where strength
is required.
Some of the most common insects attacking the wood of living
trees are the oak timber worm, the chestnut timber worm,
carpenter worms, ambrosia beetles, the locust borer, turpentine
beetles and turpentine borers, and the white pine weevil.
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