UNIT 3: WOOD

1. Composition
Wood is a raw vegetable material.
It comes from trunks of trees and bushes.
Its composed of:
Cellulosed fibres
Lignin: it makes rigid and hard.

Vocabulary
screw: tornillo
nail: clavo
insulation: aislamiento
emit: arrojar

PARTS

Bark (exterior layer): It

protects the plant from external
attack.

Cambium: a thin transparent

layer.

Sapwood: not very strong,

used for soft wood.

Heartwood: very strong, hard

and dry. It keeps the trunk vertical.
Used for all types of woodworking.

Pith (center of the wood): very

weak, not generally not used.
Physical properties
Properties
Hardness

Density

Electrical
insulation
Thermical
insulation

Characteristics
Wood is hard, but can be penetrated by objects such as screws or
nails.

Wood is less dense than water, so it floats.

Dry wood provides good electrical insulations.

Wood provides good thermal insulation, but it burns easily.

Porosity

Wood can absorb or emit liquids or gases because it has tiny holes,
called pores.

Mechanical
resistance

Wood has good mechanical resistance against the forces of traction,

compression or bending.

Colours and grain

Wood has a variety of colours and grains.

HOW TO PROCESS THE WOOD

The process starts with the
extraction of the log from the forest
and finishes with the production of
planks (used to make objects).
1. Cutting and pruning
The trees are cut down with
chainsaws and the branches are
then cut off.
2. Transport
The logs are transported by road,
rail or water to their destination.
3. Removing the bark
This happens at the sawmill. A
chain of rollers with metal teeth turns and removes the
bark.

pruning: poda

4. Sawing

chainsaws: motosierras

The logs are cut into planks or boards that are cut parallel
to the center of the log.

sawmill: aserradero

5. Drying
The wood is dried under pressure so that it doesnt warp
Dry wood last longer and is lighter*.
6. Planing
The wood is planed to make it smooth and flat. Also, it
gives a good finish.
TYPES OF WOOD

chain: cadena
rollers: rodillos
warp: deformarse
smooth: lisa
flat: plana
deciduous: de hoja caduca
resin: resina

Hardwood
Deciduous trees
They grow slowly and have thick trunks.
They contain little resin.
Many different colours.
Compact.
Resistant

*Be carefully, lighter can be used for mechero, ms ligero o ms claro! In this case, its the
second option.

Type
Beech
Characteristics Heavy and easy to
work with. Not
very resistant to
damp.
Uses
Furniture, floors,
chair, frames and
legs, handles,
toys, matches,
rods.

Oak
Heavy, very hard
and resistant.

beech: haya
oak: roble
damp: humedad

Solid furnitures,
doors, windows,
floors, parquets,
boats, barrels.

furniture: muebles
legs: patas
handles: manijas
matches: cerillas

Softwood
Conifers
They grow quickly and have clear annual rings.
The wood is resinous.
Light-coloured
Light (ligera) and easy to work.
Less resistant

rods: varillas
barrels: barriles
resinous: resinosa
light-coloured: de colores
claros
white fir: abeto blanco

Type
Characteristics

Uses

Pine
Resistant to
changes in
temperature.
Easy to work
with and
resinous.
Furniture, boats,
electricity
posts, floors.

White fir
Elastic, resinous
and not very
resistant to bad
weather
because it is
attacked by
fungus.
Building, boats,
simple
furniture,
carpentery,
boxes, paper.

fungus: hongos
electricity posts: torre de alta
tensin
wood chips: astillas

PREFABRICATED WOOD (more in Cenlits book Tecnologas I)

This wood doesnt come directly from the logs, but from wood sheets, chips and leftover that
are compressed and glued together.

Advantages
Easy to work with.
Different sizes and finishes.
Not attacked by parasites.
More ecological because theyre made of letfovers.
Cheaper

DERIVATES OF THE WOOD

Cellulose materials:
PAPER:
Wood is pulped and mixed with water and
chemical products to make cellulose paste.
This is compressed and rolled out by a
machine until it becomes a sheet of paper.
1. cut
2. remove the bark
3. grind the wood 4. make cellulose paste
5. wash and bleach 6. liquid paste
7. press with rollers 8. smooth with rollers
9. suction to remove water
10. dry without rollers 11. roll up and cut

rolled out: desplegado

grind: moler
bleach: blanquear
roll up: enrollar
card: cartulina
cork: corcho
rot: pudrirse
ceillings: techos
rubber: caucho

lyre: arpa
CARDBOARD
It is made of two ways:
By hardening a thick sheet of paper paste.
By sticking a thick sheet of paper paste.
TISSUE PAPER
Very thin sheets of paper.
CARD:
More resistant than paper, but more flexible than cardboard.
CORK:
Its obtained from the bark of the cork oak every 9 years.
Its elastic, light (ligero), waterproof and it doesnt rot with humidity.
Its an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator.
Used for:
covering floors, ceilings and walls.
corks for bottles.
bulletin boards.
RUBBER:
Its comes from a tree called hevea brasiliens (rubber tree).
A cut is made in the bark and the latex is obtained.
The rubber is vulcanized to give hardness and resistance.
Its used to get processed rubber, waterproof coats or lyres.