1. Characteristics of Wood and Squaring stock

2. Characteristics of Wood
Trees provide us with: · lumber
plywood
Paper
medical supplies and drugs
All trees are classified as either · hardwood
softwood
Deciduous trees (hardwoods) - shed their leaves at the end
of the growing season
Ex. Oak, maple, cherry, ash
Conifer trees (softwoods) have needles and cones
Ex. Pine, spruce, fir, cedar
All types of wood vary in color, strength, mass and grain pattern.

3. Parts of a Tree
Crown - Includes the leaves and the branches - Creates oxygen and food (sugar) by photosynthesis Trunk - provides support for the tree - transport nutrients and water from the roots to the crown - moves the food made by the leaves back down to all the branches and the rest of the tree Roots - gathers water and minerals from the soil

4. Structures of Wood
/Sapwood
Pith
= 1 year of growth
Pith

5. Cutting and Milling Lumber
1. Logs are cut into rough boards of various thickness, with the use of bandsaws or circular saw (depends on the facility and the price of the wood)
Edgers (cut width) and trimmer saws (cut length) cut boards to proper widths and lengths.
All the boards are then sorted, graded and dried.
Drying Lumber - green lumber is 50% water dried lumber is 7-10% water
Grading - the grade of the lumber depends on the amount of defects in the
wood
- In general, defects decrease the value of wood although some people like specific defects in wood and will pay extra money for it!
ex. Wormy butternut or Birdseye maple

6. Types of Warping in Lumber
As wood/lumber dries weird things happen!
BOW
CUP
TWIST
CROOK

7. Natural Defects in Wood
Pitch Pocket
Stains and wood rot
Worm/insect holes
Wane (bark)
Pith

8. Types of Wood Knots Dead Knot -will fall out
Live or Tight Knot – will not fall out
but may chip
Dead Knot -will fall out

9. Stock Thickness- measures the distance between the sides
Width measures the distance between the edges
Length measures the distance between the ends
- usually is measured the direction of the
grain
Why is it important that you know these term?
- common communications in the
classrooms and in industry
Lumber dimensions are always given in this order….
T x W x L ex. 2 x 4 x 8

10. But lumber dimensions are not what they seem!
2x4x8 is not 2” thick, 4” wide by 8’ long
It is 1 ½” thick, 3 ½”wide by 8’ long
Why? Because the wood needs to be dressed (smooth)
and true (square)
These are industry standards!
STOCK - any piece of wood or lumber -rough or dressed
  - or sheet goods
TRUE - a piece of stock that is dressed and has these
qualities
* all surfaces are flat
* all surfaces are smooth
* all edges are 90° to the faces
* all sides are parallel

11. How do we get dressed, true stock?
1. Cut to rough length - Radial Arm Saw
2. Joint one side and one edge - Jointer
3. Plane to finished thickness - Planer
4. Cut to finished width - Table Saw
Cut to finished length - Radial Arm Saw or Chop Saw
*trim off one end first and then cut to finished length

12. Radial Arm saw 1. Cut off all the end checks and defects (1” to 2”)
2. Measure the rough length (add 1” to finished length) with a tape measure and square a line with a pencil and a square
3. Cut to rough length, on the waste side of the line!
SAFETY RULES
Never cross your hands when cutting stock 
Knock scrap pieces away with a scrap piece of wood
Never use your hands!

13. Jointer Now we have a piece of stock that is cut to rough length!
Joint one side with the cup side down safer and less waste
* This will be called the ‘face side’
Joint one edge with the face side against the fence   
SAFETY RULES
Always push the stock all the way through until the guard snaps shut.
Never remove more than 1/16” in one pass
Always use a push stick when jointing face sides
Always use a push stick when cutting the face edge, if the stock width is less than the height of the fence
Never joint stock that is shorter than 16”

14. Planer
Our stock is now cut to rough length has one smooth side and a smooth edge!
1. Measure the thickness of the stock and subtract 1/8”
2. Set the height of the planer table, using the scale on the side of the planer
3. Plane to this thickness making sure the face side is down
4. Keep following steps 2-4 until you have reached desired thickness
SAFETY RULES
Do not remove more than 1/8” in one pass
Do not look directly into the planer
Do not reach into the planer to clear away the dust
-use the air line or hand broom
Keep your fingers on top of the stock, not underneath
Do not plane stock that is shorter than 16”

15. Table Saw Our stock is now cut to rough length and finished thickness!
1. Set the fence to the desired finished width - measure from the inside of the blade to the fence
2. Cut to the finished width
SAFETY RULES
Always use the safety guards whenever possible
Never use the miter gauge and the fence at the same time - causes KICK BACK
Do not stand directly behind the blade - kick back
Use a push stick when ripping stock that is less than 8” in width
Use a helper when ripping long pieces of stock
the helper should never pull the stock through the saw, only support the stock!
only the operator controls the rate of stock feed