Abstract
In the past craft and guild workers bought timber or standing trees locally and the quality required was based on carefully circumscribed tradition and local experience. This applied at the cutting edge of technology: to the building of cathedrals during the Middle Ages, to ship building from the sixteenth to nineteenth century, and to the railroads of America, especially to the art of bridge building, in the late nineteenth century. The guilds sought to exclude new materials, such as cast iron and reinforced concrete, on the grounds that they lacked a history of acceptable use. These newer materials were accepted only when it had been demonstrated that their properties were adequate. However, once they were proven, timber found itself at a disadvantage and had to do the same in order to retain a share of the market.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ASTM (1990a) Standard methods for testing small clear specimens of timber. Ann. Bk ASTM Stand., Vol. 04.09: Wood, ASTM D 143–83. Am. Soc. Test Mater., Philadelphia, Penn.
ASTM (1990b) Standard practice for establishing structural grades and related allowable properties for visually graded lumber. Ann. Bk ASTM Stand., Vol. 04.09: Wood, ASTM D 245–88. Am. Soc. Test Mater., Philadelphia, Penn.
Ansell, M.P. (1982) Acoustic emission from softwoods in tension. Wood Sci. Technol., 16, 35–8.
Banks, C.H. (1969) Spiral grain and its effect on the quality of South African timber. For. S. Afr., No. 10, pp. 27–33.
Bohannan, B. (1966) Effect of size on bending strength of wood members. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab. Res. Paper, FPL 56.
BSI (1986a) BS 373: Methods of testing small clear specimens of timber. Brit. Stand. Inst., London.
BSI (1986b) BS 1186 Part 1: Specification for timber. Brit. Stand. Inst., London.
BSI (1988a) BS 4169: British standard specification for manufacture of glued-laminated timber structural members. Brit. Stand. Inst., London.
BSI (1988b) BS 4978: British standard specification for softwood grades for structural use. Brit. Stand. Inst., London.
BSI (1991) BS 5268 Part 2: British standard structural use of timber: code of practice for permissible stress design, materials and workmanship. Brit. Stand. Inst., London.
Cown, D.J. (1992) New Zealand radiata pine and Douglas fir: suitability for processing. NZ Min. For., For. Res. Inst., Bull. 168.
Cown, DJ. and McConchie, D.L. (1983) Radiata pine wood properties survey (1977–1982). NZ Min. For., For. Res. Inst., Bull. 50.
Doyle, D.V. and Markwardt, L.J. (1966) Properties of southern pine in relation to strength grading of dimension lumber. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab. Res. Paper, FPL 64.
Doyle, D.V. and Markwardt, L.J. (1967) Tension parallel-to-grain properties of southern pine dimension lumber. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab. Res. Paper, FPL 84.
Gordon, J.E. (1973) The New Science of Strong Materials or Why You Don’t Fall Through The Floor, Penguin Books, Middlesex.
Gordon, J.E. (1978) Structures, or Why Things Don’t Fall Down, Plenum Press, London.
Harris, J.M. (1989) Spiral Grain and Wave Phenomena in Wood Formation, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Honeycutt, R.M., Skaar, C. and Simpson, W.T. (1985) Use of acoustic emissions to control drying rate of red oak. For. Prod. J., 35 (1), 48–50.
Johns, K. and Madsen, B. (1982) Duration of load effects in lumber. Part 1: a fracture mechanics approach. Can. J. Civ. Eng., 9 (3), 502–15.
Jokerst, R.W. (1981) Finger-jointed wood products. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab. Res. Paper, FPL 382.
Lavers, G.M. (1969) The strength properties of timbers. Princes Risborough Lab. Bull. 50, HMSO, London.
Leicester, R.H. (1988) Timber engineering standards for tropical countries. Proceedings of 1988 International Conference of Timber Engineers, Seattle, Vol. 1 For. Prod. Res. Soc, Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 177–85.
Mark, R.E. (1967) Cell Wall Mechanics of Tracheids, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven.
Madsen, B. (1975) Strength values for wood and limit states design. Can. J. Civ. Eng., 2 (3), 270–9.
Madsen, B. (1978) In-grade testing: problem analysis. For. Prod. J., 28 (4), 42–50.
Madsen, B. (1984a) A design code for contemporary timber engineering and its implications for international timber trade. Proceedings of Pacific Timber Engineering Conference, Auckland, May 1984, Vol. 3, pp. 950–71.
Madsen, B. (1984b) Moisture content effects in timber. Proceedings of Pacific Timber Engineering Conference, Auckland, May 1984, Vol. 3, pp. 786–90.
Madsen, B. (1984c) Duration of load effects in timber. Proceedings of Pacific Timber Engineering Conference, Auckland, May 1984, Vol. 3, pp. 821–31.
Madsen, B. and Buchanan, A.H. (1986) Size effect in timber explained by a modified weakest link theory. Can. J. Civ. Eng., 13 (2), 218–32.
Madsen, B. and Johns, K. (1982) Duration of load effects in lumber. Part III: code considerations. Can. J. Civ. Eng., 9 (3), 526–36.
Marra, G.G. (1975) The age of engineered wood. Unasylva, 27 (102), 2–9.
Meylan, B.A. and Probine, M.C. (1969) Microfibril angle as a parameter in timber quality assessment. For. Prod. J., 19 (4), 30–4.
NFPA (1990) National design specification for wood construction: supplement. Nat. For. Prod. Assoc., Washington, DC.
NHLA. (1991) An introduction to grading of hardwood lumber. Nat. Hardwood Lumber Assoc., Memphis, Tenn.
Patton-Mallory, M. (1988) Use of acoustic emission in evaluating failure processes of wood products. Proceedings of 1988 International Conference of Timber Engineers, Seattle, Vol. 2, For. Prod. Res. Soc, Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 596–600.
Reynolds, H.W. and Gatchell, C.J. (1982) New technology for low grade hardwood utilization: system 6. USDA For. Serv., Res. Paper, N E-504.
Serry, V. (1974) Uniform grading rules for building timber? Inst. Wood Sci., 6 (5), 6–12.
SAA (1986a) AS 2858: Timber — softwood — visually stress-graded for structural purposes. Stand. Assoc. Aust., Sydney.
SAA (1986b) AS 2878: Timber — classification into strength groups. Stand. Assoc. Aust., Sydney.
SAA (1988) AS 1720: Timber structures code, part 1: design methods. Stand. Assoc Aust., Sydney.
SANZ (1988) NZ 3631 New Zealand timber grading rules. Stand. Assoc NZ, Wellington.
Sunley, J.G. (1968) Grade stresses for structural timbers. For. Prod. Res. Bull. 47, HMSO, London.
TRADA (1974) Visual stress grading of timber. Timber Res. Dev. Assoc., High Wycombe, England.
USDA (1965) Western wood density survey — report no 1. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab. Res. Paper, FPL 27.
USDA (1987) Wood handbook: wood as an engineering material USDA For. Serv., Agric. Handbk. No. 72.
USDC (1990) American softwood lumber standard, PS-20–70. US Dep. Comm., Washington, DC.
Webster, C. (1978) Timber selection by properties: the species for the job. Part 1: windows, doors, cladding and flooring. Build. Res. Est. Rep., HMSO, London.
Webster, C, Taylor, V., and Brazier, J.D. (1984) Timber selection by properties: the species for the job. Vol. 2: Furniture. Build.Res. Est. Rep., HMSO, London.
Wood, L.W. (1951) Relation of strength of wood to duration of load. USDA For. Serv., For. Prod. Lab., Rep. No 1916.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 J.C.F. Walker
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Walker, J.C.F. (1993). Grading timber. In: Primary Wood Processing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8110-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8110-3_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-015-8112-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8110-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive