What does free of heart mean in lumber?

In short, free of heart center is timber that is sawn to exclude the heart center of the tree (the growth rings at the center of the tree) and is best suited for those who are interested in stable, straight and strong timber.

What is Heart Center in wood?

FOHC means that the timber is cut completely outside of the pith, or “bullseye” of the growth rings.

What does FOHC mean?

Free of Heart Center (FOHC) – Lumber sawn to exclude the pith or heart center of a log. Glue Laminated (Glue Lam) – A process in which individual pieces of lumber or veneer are bonded together with an adhesive to make a single piece with the grain of each running parallel to the grain of each of the other pieces.

What is heart in timber?

Boxed heart wood includes the centre of the tree – this means that the beams will start to twist and crack quite quickly, especially when the building gets heated. Whilst cracks are a natural feature of timbers, you can expect quite unsightly and very deep cracking with such boxed heart wood.

What is #1 FOHC?

Ryan Wholesale, Inc. Free Of Heart Center (FOHC). This is the one specification that will give you the most stable, strong and beautiful timber for your project. FOHC means that the timber is cut completely outside of the pith, or “bullseye” of the growth rings.

What is a boxed heart?

Definition of boxed heart : a sawn timber enclosing within its faces the heart of a log.

What is boxed heart wood?

Most common is ‘boxed heart’ as the picture above shows where the beam is cut around the heart of the log. This has the advantage of staying reasonably straight and square throughout the drying process, although a slight disadvantage of having more drying fissures.

What is a shake in wood?

Shake: A shake is when the grain between the wood’s growth rings separates. Shakes can occur on the face of a board or below the surface. Split: A split is a crack in a piece of wood that goes all the way through the board.

What is boxed heart?

: a sawn timber enclosing within its faces the heart of a log.

What is the purpose of boxed heart timber conversion?

Boxed heart is the technique used when converting old timbers especially oak that has gone rotten in the middle. Tangential boards are the stronger boards when placed correctly and are principly used for beams and joists. These type of boards suffer from ‘cupping’ if not carefully seasoned, converted and used properly.

What causes checking in wood?

The Short Answer: Wood Checking Splits and cracks (known as wood checks in the industry) occur when wood shrinks as it dries. Wood shrinks roughly twice as much along with the growth rings (radially) as it does across the rings (tangentially). It is this uneven shrinkage that causes checks to develop.

Is pith the strongest part of the tree?

Not because it’s the strongest part of the tree. That’s malarky. The pith is the the twiggy center of the tree and will indeed split on you almost every time.