Wood In Use 



THE WOOD FOR THE JOB 



R. P. A. JOHNSON, CHARLES E. VAN HAGAN 



BECAUSE WOOD is a part of 

 every home and because anybody 

 who can pull a saw or lift a hammer 

 can work with wood, a general knowl- 

 edge of its properties and uses will 

 come in handy to every person who 

 lives in a home. 



The first point in selection of mate- 

 rial for satisfactory performance de- 

 pends on the use of the right wood for 

 the right purpose. The man or wom- 

 an who intends to work with wood 

 has to determine what kind of service 

 he expects to get from the wood. Will 

 it be strength or hardness, or stiffness 

 or resistance to decay, or beauty or 

 some other property? 



The use requirements usually do in- 

 volve a combination of two or more, 

 and selection involves finding the wood 

 that has the best combination of the 

 desired properties. 



The species that have certain special 

 properties that cost more (such as re- 

 sistance to decay) should not be used 



Above: Building a prefabricated house 

 "The prospective buyer can learn a great 

 deal about quality if he watches the work- 

 men assemble a house." 



unless those properties are definitely 

 needed. For example : People often go 

 to considerable expense to get highly 

 decay- resistant wood for diving boards ; 

 they reason that the constant wetting 

 and drying of the board demands it. 

 Actually, however, the most important 

 item in a diving board is strength, for 

 most boards fail mechanically in a year 

 or two if they are in continuous use, 

 as at public beaches. The proper wood 

 for this use, then, would be compara- 

 tively inexpensive and strong, selected 

 with little regard to decay resistance. 



Similarly, it will be wasteful to pay a 

 premium price for wood with a beauti- 

 ful grain pattern, like walnut or ma- 

 hogany, for use in furniture that is to 

 be painted. An inexpensive wood with 

 equal or better painting characteristics 

 but with little figure (yellow-poplar, 

 for instance) would be a more logical 

 choice. There is no economy in paying 

 a high price for wood with a property 

 that is not used. 



Thus, wise use of wood in the home 

 requires consideration of the proper- 

 ties needed and a basic knowledge of 

 the main properties of the commercial 



615 



