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CHAPTER 2

SELECTING AND BUYING SUITABLE WOOD

The Beginner’s Experience

Thcrc is nothing likc a piece of deal (technically a parcicular size of plank of pine (Pinus sylvestris), sprucc (Ab i es alba) or fir (Picea abies)) for teaching che direction of thc grain and thc importance of sharp cools. A wood likc iroko (Cblorophora excelsa) or a knot ty piece of yew (Taxus baccata) will develop strcngth in hand and arm and awareness of sudden changes in che grain. LimÄ™ (Tilia vulgaris) is too easy for rhe person who will carve whatcvcr happcns, bul does givc confidence to che less committed, who might be put offby a tricky or hard wood. Incidenrally, deal, iroko and 101011)' yew arc not recommended for serious carving.

The Way a Tree Grows

Bcfore considering the choice of wood it is worrh looking ac the way the materiaÅ‚ is madÄ™ and its relevant, particular strengths and weaknesses. It is worch noting that no cwo piecesof wood, even from the same trcc, let alone from the same spccies, will be identical, so any remarks about wood appearancc and behaviour are inevirably generaÅ‚.

Grain and Sap Circulation Because a trcc grows upwards to the light and has co bear an enormous weight of branchcs, particularly when laden with fruit, snów or wet leaves, and has co endure both sudden and gradual wind stress, the main direction of thc elements of which it is composed follows the linÄ™ of the scem or branch. This is known as thc grain. These elements, severally or cogether, have rhrec main functions: to provide a means for sap movement up the tree, to providc storage of food in the form of starch, and to provide strcngth (Fig 2.1).

The sap returns down the tree in the layer berween the wood and thc bark, known as phloem or bast. LimÄ™ has great quantities of bast which used to be commercially valuable as a

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