Flitches are wooden beams cut from trees, used in woodworking and construction. Braided beams sandwich a steel plate between two wooden beams for added strength. Rafters are sawn from pine logs, but quartering produces more uniform grain patterns. Veneers are thin slices of wood used for decorative purposes, cut from hardwoods with veneer machines. Sawing veneers is discouraged.
A flitch is a wooden beam cut from a tree. Some flitches are sawn into thinner pieces for use in various woodworking projects and many are cut with very sharp blades into extremely thin slices called veneer. Flitches are also used in construction to make fltch beams.
Braided beams are made by sandwiching a piece of steel, called a braid plate, between two beams, usually of some species of pine. This produces a very strong beam that can be used in areas where a long, unsupported beam is needed. The standards for making these beams are very strict and take into account not only the length, width and thickness of the wood and steel members used, but also the species of wood used. For example, a beam made of California redwood is slightly stronger than an identical beam made of lodgepole pine. This makes beam-beam construction very labor-intensive, however, and because of this, as more varieties of engineered lumber, such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL) became readily available in the late 20th century, the popularity of beam-beams increased. diminished.
The beams used to make the rafters are straight-sawn from pine logs; that is, the logs are simply sawn into long beams of equal thickness by cutting the log along its length. Plain sawdust, however, distorts the appearance of the wood grain, with some grain lines appearing widely spaced and others narrower. Woodworkers generally prefer more uniform grain patterns, however, and there are other ways to cut logs, such as quartering them around the center of the log, which will produce boards and veneers with more uniform grain patterns.
Veneers are very thin layers of wood, often no thicker than 1/8 inch (three millimeters), “peeled” by very sharp blades. Veneers are usually cut from hardwoods such as oak, cherry, maple or more exotic species. Adhered to the simpler pine wood used to build a cabinet or furniture case, they give the surface a more interesting or attractive look. Using a saw to cut veneers is discouraged by woodworkers both because the process blurs grain detail and because a great deal of wood is lost to the saw. Veneers are usually cut from the veneers by veneer machines, which pass their blades through the stationery veneers, shaving very thin slices.
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