Lumber, also known as wood, is used for various products. The term originated in the 1600s in America. Foresters evaluate trees before logging companies harvest them. Raw lumber can sit in sawmills for months before being processed into various products such as paper and chipboard. The wood can also be treated with chemicals to prevent decay and insect infestation.
Lumber is another name for wood, whether it is still standing in the form of trees or felled and made into planks for construction. Some people may also refer to it as lumber or distinguish between raw wood and lumber as cut wood packaged for commercial sale. The worldwide timber industry is huge and supplies wood for a variety of products, from paper to particle board.
People have been referring to lumber since at least the 7th century, although “lumber” is a relatively recent word, dating back to the settlement of America in the 1600s. Early citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony began referring to sawn planks as lumber, distinguishing them from raw wood that still had to be worked on before it could be used. Incidentally, “timbers” in nautical parlance are an important structural component of a ship’s framework.
Before timber is felled, it must be evaluated by foresters, who determine how valuable it is and whether or not it is safe to harvest. In many regions of the world, a harvesting plan must be submitted to a government agency, indicating intent to cut trees in a particular region. If the plan is approved, a logging company sends loggers and support staff to fell trees and prepare them for shipment to an offsite mill. In some cases, a mill may be installed in the forest if there is a lot of wood to process.
Sometimes, raw lumber sits for months in a sawmill before being processed. Some mills do this to ensure they have a supply of salable wood, while others simply have fallen so much that they can’t handle it all at once in the mill. During the winter off-season, when it is difficult and dangerous to work in the woods, this stash can be processed into boards, wood chips and other forest products. If left too long, the wood can start to rot, which most businesses try to avoid.
Depending on the size of a mill, wood products such as paper and chipboard can be made on site or the raw materials can be sent to other companies who buy them in bulk. Papermaking in particular is a dirty and messy process and some companies prefer to leave the dirty work to others. Once cut, the wood can also be treated with chemicals to make it resistant to decay and insect infestation, then it will be graded by quality and sold.
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