Materials for Woodwork

Lesson Objective

To be able to:

Identify sources and properties of wood commonly used in Zimbabwe.

Felling, conversion (two methods) seasoning of timber as practised in Zimbabwe.

Identifying hardwood and softwood.

Tools of woodwork

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Historical Introduction:

Wood is a natural material. Wood and stone were the first materials that man used.

Wood is used to light a fire, to make weapons, to build houses, etc. Some of these things are used today.

Bark: the outer trunks part. It is a protector of the trunk..

Medullary Rays: they are cracks from the center outwards.

Medulla: the inner trunks part.

Heartwood: the best quality part.

Sapwood: part of the trunk with life. It s the youngest part of the wood. Its colour is light. It has a lot of sap.

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Cut down the trees

Transport

Clean the branches and the bark

Cut the wood

Dry it

Distribution

Life rings let us know tree s age. The clearest rings belong to spring and the darkest ones belong to autumn.

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Obtaining Wood We can extract wood from a tree that is not too young or too old, it depends on the different species. In Zimbabwe, we get white wood for furniture from Eastern Highlands Tree Plantations or the hard dark wood from Mopani Trees.

To extract wood we follow these steps:

To Cut Trees. W

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d The tools to cut trees were the axe and the hand saw. The tools used today are the chainsaw and big machines that cut and raise the trunk quickly.

The trees are cut in the winter, because they have less sap.

not destory our Forest

Cut Trees. Mutasa, Eastern Highlands before

Mutasa, Eastern Highlands NOW

It is necessary to plant trees again to have wood in the future. This prevents deforestation.

Tree Planting

NOT

Cleaning the trunks

Today, the trunks are transported by big lorries.

Before, the trunks were transported by the rivers flow.

Transportation

First the trees are cut down and then the branches and the bark are cut.

To cut the wood

The tools to cut the wood are: traditionally circular saws and today big electrical machines or machines with engines.

The trunks go to the sawmill. Here the worker marks the lines to cut the wood. This woodcutter makes planks, boards, beams, etc.