![]() ![]() The making of these panels, the forestry behind them and Old Woods overall efforts have been funded by the US Forest Service Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP), the Wood Innovations Grant of the Forest Products Lab, WERC and the Value Added Producer Program of the USDA (VAPG). From there, we’ve expanded to Single Seed Juniper, salvaged from arroyos, fence lines and science mandated thinning efforts, often on Tribal lands. Originally made of Salt Cedar harvested from the Galisteo Arroyo by Kewa forestry crews doing aquifer management work, removing the non-native species of Russian Olive and Salt Cedar in an effort to restore water flow to the arroyo. Actually, these lovely wall panels are part of a very much larger goal of scientific, well done, triple bottom line forestry and wild land management. Again, arid, competitive environments of the Southwest result in less pitch production and fewer pitch pockets in ponderosa pine.Īs the name implies, there are Tribal origins to this product. Ponderosa pine is well known for its small encased knots compared to other pines used in flooring and in particular, the ponderosa pine of the Southwest has fewer and smaller encased knots because of dense growing conditions.įinally, the presence of pitch pockets in wood will also decrease the durability of wood blocks. Encased knots are caused by dead branches, which are no longer growing and cease to cause a disruption of continuous grain. Inter-grown knots have more of an effect on durability, given that it is caused by a living branch that continues to grow along with the tree and thus causing a greater disruption of continuous grain. There are two main types of knots (inter-grown and encased) that affect durability. where ponderosa pine forests are notoriously dense and growth rates are extremely slow.Īnother factor affecting the durability of wood is the presence of knots. This extremely important in areas of the southwest U.S. Increases in growth rates usually result in decreased specific gravity and lower mechanical strength. Soft wood tree species, such as ponderosa pine, will fall above and below these figures dependant on growth rate. Also important to note is that these numbers represent an average for the species and standard deviations are not reported. ![]() According to The Handbook of Wood ponderosa pine can withstand weights 2,450 psi (green) and 5,320 psi (12% moisture). This weight is based on average maximum loadings across a range fork-lift models and using average surface areas of both three and four wheel fork-lift’s results in a mean of 75 psi when converted. Factory floors are frequently required to withstand pressures of 15,000 lbs or more. ![]() One setting that best presents the need for durability is in factory flooring. In the case of wood flooring, these properties determine not only the strength of the wood, but also how the wood shrinks and deforms with increases and decreases of moisture content.Īddressing the issue of durability of wood block floors requires an understanding of the function of the floor itself. Wood is known as an orthotropic material or it has unique and independent mechanical properties in the directions of three mutually perpendicular axes: longitudinal, radial, and tangential. The Handbook of Wood (2010), the authority on properties and mechanics of wood, offers a suite of information on wood strengths and shrinkage, but how does this apply to wood block flooring? But what are the specifics on minimum durability and maximum shrinkage? Unfortunately, the science for wood blocks just hasn’t been tested. Requirements include durability (particularly compression parallel to the grain) and the ability of the wood to hold its shape and size. Quality wood block flooring begins with selecting the right tree species. Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) wood block flooring. ![]()
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