Timber properties and processes | Design and technology

Starter quiz

Where are timbers sourced from?
- 'Trees' ✓
Timber can be categorised as:
- hardwood ✓
- beech
- softwood ✓
- manufactured boards ✓
- plywood
What advantages do manufactured boards have over natural timber?
- available in large sheets ✓
- heavy
- stable ✓
- easy to damage
- consistent quality ✓
Which of these are common defects in natural timber?
- split ✓
- twist ✓
- warp ✓
- knot ✓
- hole
Match the softwood to the description.
- pine
  
  ⇔
  
  Light colour, easy to work, used in internal construction. ✓
- spruce
  
  ⇔
  
  Even grain, used for internal construction and furniture. ✓
- larch
  
  ⇔
  
  Light colour with darker grain, used for exterior construction. ✓
Match the hardwood to the description.
- balsa
  
  ⇔
  
  Very soft and easy to work, often used for modelling. ✓
- mahogony
  
  ⇔
  
  Very close grain ideal for high quality furniture, brown/red colour. ✓
- oak
  
  ⇔
  
  Light to mid brown in colour, tough and durable used for floors. ✓
- beech
  
  ⇔
  
  Light colour, very close grain, used for kitchenware and tool handles. ✓

Exit quiz

Match the three stages of processing timber with their description.
- Felling
  
  ⇔
  
  Cut down and bark removed. ✓
- Conversion
  
  ⇔
  
  Cut into boards. ✓
- Seasoning
  
  ⇔
  
  Some of the moisture in timber is removed to around 10 - 20%. ✓
The Forestry Stewardship Council aims to ...
- ensure forests are for all and forever. ✓
- plant more trees.
- make sustainable furniture.
- manage when trees can be cut down.
Why is beech suitable for kitchen utensils?
- It's from coniferous trees.
- It's a hardwood.
- It's a softwood.
- It's non-porous. ✓
- It's antibacterial. ✓
What kind of manufacturing process is wood turning?
- 'Wasting process' ✓
Wood turning creates ...
- square sided shapes.
- cylindrical shapes. ✓
- curved shapes.
- triangular shapes.
Which are methods of wood turning?
- bowl ✓
- round
- between centres ✓
- spindle

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

There are three main stages in the sourcing of timber: felling, seasoning and conversion.
There is an environmental impact to extracting and processing timber.
Beech is relatively non-porous, with a close grain and antibacterial properties.
Wood turning is suitable for creating cylindrical shapes in timber.

Common misconception

All timbers are sustainable.

Timber can be a sustainable material if sourced from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier. FSC forests are managed to strict environmental, social, and ecological standards.

Keywords

Non-porous - liquid or air can not pass through
Timber conversion - cut into boards
Timber seasoning - moisture content reduced
Lathe - material turns around an axis, tools are pressed against this to remove material
Felling - the process of cutting trees down and removing the bark