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Do you live in a humid environment, such as near a body
of water, or in a
basement apartment? If your kitchen cabinets are made
of pine, you may be familiar with the flexible nature
of wood. Maybe you returned to your home one warm, humid
night from a fun weekend with friends, and saw that your cabinet
doors were completely warped and unable to close. As
odd as it sounds, it does happen. This is because all
wood types have a certain amount of elasticity when put
under stress. Of course, various factors are involved, including:
the type of wood and its moisture content, as well as
the amount of stress that is inflicted upon it.
The
elasticity of wood is something that humans have known about and
leveraged for thousands of years, as can readily be
verified by the wondrous creations of our ancestors,
including, wooden wheels, elaborate battle ships such as Spanish
Galleons and countless architectural works. However,
it wasn’t until the 17th Century that there was scientific
insight into the definitive properties of this mystery.
An English physicist named Robert Hooke developed a theory, which
subsequently became Hooke's law that stated that the
amount by which a
material body is deformed is linearly related to
the force causing the deformation. In layman terms,
this means that stress applied to a material translates to a proportional strain
on this material. Increase the stress and a certain amount of strain
will permanently deform the wood. Because there are many different
types
of wood, each with varying degrees of moisture content
and density, under
Hooke’s Law, some will break while others will bend.
Green,
moist woods such as Pine and Douglas fir, which can hold a high
amount of moisture, have much more malleable properties.
Harder, dryer woods, such as Oak and Ebony, will sooner
break than bend. For this reason, knowledgeable cabinetmakers
always choose harder woods such as Maple, Oak and Cherry for their
projects. This ensures the integrity of their finished product,
regardless of the customer’s domestic environment. Before
you buy your new cabinets, or embark on a new woodworking
project, make sure you know your woods. Here is a quick reference
list that you can refer to:
Soft Woods:
- Pine
-
Douglas Fir
- Redwood
- Spruce
- Poplar
- Cedar
Medium Woods:
- Beech
- Walnut
- Rosewood
- Ash
- Chestnut
Hard Woods:
- Mahogany
- Ebony
- Cherry
- Maple
- Oak
- Teak
- Hickory
Copyright
© Harold German, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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