Wood Description 7

Definition of Terms:
Weight: the number given to a wood is the average weight per cubic foot. The larger the number the denser and harder the wood is. The denser the wood the more brittle it becomes, making it harder to bend and carve. Advantages to hard woods are that finer detail can be achieved and the wood can be polished to an ultra smooth finish. Balsa has a weight of 8, Oak is about 45 and Ebony weights in at 80.
Figure: the term is often confused with grain. By definition, the figure of a wood refers to the pattern caused by color differences in the wood. The figure is also the pattern created by different types of grain.
Grain: is the direction in which the fibers of the wood are running. Types of grain are: straight, wavy, irregular, spiral, curly, interlocking and birds-eye. The fibers of interlocking grain have a weaved structure, thus making the wood strong and less apt to split and suitable for bending. Irregular grain is caused by an interruption in the growth of the tree by branches or crotches. For ship building irregular grain is used for natural curved members such as knees.
Texture: a woods' texture is directly related to the suitability for carving and the fineness of detail which can be achieved. Texture ranges from coarse to medium to fine and to ultra fine. In ship building, coarse and medium textured woods are suitable for heavy timbering such as hull framing and deck beams. Fine textured wood is used for planking, moldings, rails ect. Fine and ultra fine texture is for carving small fittings and delicate parts. Texture is also uniform or uneven. An uneven textured wood has different size cell cavities giving the wood hard and soft spots. When machining or carving a piece and it suddenly breaks, it is because you hit a large cell cavity or a soft spot. Uniform texture is like cutting a soft plastic like material.

	Maple Weight: 39 Grain: Maple has a wide variety of grain from straight to the exotic like Tiger Maple, birds-eye, fiddleback and a range of twisted and curly. Figure: all kind of wild patterns can be found from the grain. Straight grained Maple has very little figure. The color of the heartwood is a cream to a light reddish brown. The sapwood is mostly white with a tint of pink. Texture: very uniform and moderately fine. Properties: a tough strong wood. Cuts nice and clean, with excellent machining qualities. If too heavy of a cut is taken on a thickness sander the wood will burn. Maple will take a smooth polished surface. Carves sharp and clean with a knife but a little hard to work with using hand tools. Use: for hull timbering and planking also suitable for small fittings.
	Mopane Color: deep chocolate brown to almost black. Detail Description
	Osage Orange Weight: 56 Figure: is a bright yellow when freshly cut, changing to a golden tan or russet brown in time, with pale darker streaks. Texture: is fine and uniform. Properties: very heavy, hard, tough and resilient. The wood is quite pliable and elastic.It was used by the Indians as bows. Osage is somewhat difficult to work, but it produces a lustrous surface. A very stable wood with high strength characteristics. You would not want to pound nails into this wood, but it holds screws well and glues wells. Oil based finishes will accelerate the color change. The wood is available in small quantities due to the difficulty of logging it. The tree is armed with lots of nasty thorns from the trunk to the tips of the branches Use: a fine accent wood for railings, cap rails and general decorative work. It can be used for timbering and planking.
	Padauk Color: bright orange red. Detail Description
	Pau Marfin Weight: 55 Grain: straight. Figure: very little to no pattern from grain. Color range is from a light lemon yellow to a sulfur yellow. Texture: is medium and uniform. Properties: are hard, heavy and dense. The wood cuts and machines well. Finishes to a smooth lustrous surface. A little difficult to carve with a knife. Use: main use is for hull framing and timbering. Also used for trim, moldings and fittings. Suitable for masts and spars.

	Peroba (Pau Rosa) Weight: 48 Grain: straight to irregular. Figure: Peroba takes in a large group of timbers which range in color from a light creamy yellow to vibrant pink. Peroba Rosa has a marble appearance of yellows, pinks and streaks of light purple. Texture: slightly on the brittle side, it has a very hard, firm closed-grained texture. Properties: A very strong wood, a bit difficult to work with using hand tools, but easy to cut and machine. Takes on a marble like polish, glues easily. Use: main use is for framing and timbering, small fittings and turned items. Nice for trim work or accent planking.