West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-10-30
WEIGHING WOOD.
The strength of Various Kinds oT Wood ,
How To Estimate Lumber.

The strength OF Various Kinds oT Wood &,
How to Estimate Lumber.
How many people know the weight
OF common woods or their hardncssP
The hardest of all woods is the she'll
bark hickory; the least hard of woods
for ordinary use is wbito pine Next
below hickory comes oak and ash
i'm hardness. Cedar is not very hard.
Wild cherry comes about half way be-
tween hickory aud white pine. A cord
of hickory weighs over forty-four hun.
dred pounds, while a cord of white OAK
weighs but little over eighteen hundred
pounds suppose you are going to-
ship lumber ON the railroad whore they
may charge YOU so much per hundred
pounds; IL is important TO know ths
weight of the lumber YOU order For
every thousand feet of seasoned lumber
in ash you have 3, $50 pounds In oak
not much more. or 3.675 pounds.
Hickory. however hard. does not weigh
when seasoned aS much as pitch pine
or even maple. Suppose YOU build II
chimney aud want TO know the number
OF bricks 1t will take. II your chimney
is sixteen inches square and the huo
lN
bricks for every foot of height in the
chimney. The largest timbcrs required
in a house are tine sills. and these are
not often larger for ordinary houses
than seven inches by eight Posts To
correspond may run four inches
10y SIX the tic-beams run about
four by seven, and the raftnrs four by
five. A great many people do not
ia l,t,,, l,..t. i,,,
form. The basis of lumber is called
board measure. One foot I'm board
measure is a board one foot long. one
foot high or wide, and one inch thick.
Therefore one thousand feet of lumber
can be imagined to be n board an inch
thich and n foot wide and long, multi
piled by one thousand. Plank measure
il based upon board measure, and "A
plank differs from board i'm being OF
any width whatever. A board twenty
feet long and one foot wide will contain
twenty feet OF lumber, but plank two
inches wide and the same length as the
board will contain forty feet of lumber
When you come to howcd timber that
is sold by the solid cubic foot, and if
you look at such timber in the bDard
yard you will find it marked at the end
with the number of cubic feet in it, II
YOU require pieces Of timber twenty
feet long and two inches bv ter wide
and thick, such as mako girdcrs, only
thirty of them will make one thousand
feet Of lumber, board measure. So if
you are buying some Of the expensive
woods for hardwood joists, for exam
pic, which cost perhaps, $50 10 $50
thousand 4,
that sum for thirty joists, or, say,
- a piece. The stiffest lumber is
American oak. which Is 10 per cent
stliier than English oak; whereas in
strength IL is four per cent weaker, and
IN resistance is thirty-six per cent weak
or The most resisting American wood
IS beech, and il is also very strong but
for stiffness il counts below elm, or vel
low pine or arch. Stiffness is that
quality in girder, for example. which
makes II hold firm, however weak IL
may be or incapable Of standing a sud
den shock. Ia short, it is like stiffness
In a man, who may not bc able To- strike
out with his arm or resist being upset
The least stiff of our building woods Is
cedar, but it has a very high power of
resistance, greater than English oak or
g'i'bW plh'f HHllt III 0iTtHBiu ~ lhllh
very low among the woods.
Referring again 10 the weight OF lun
her, cubic foot OF water weighs over
siXty-two pounds. while = cubic foot OF
dry oak only weighs thirtv-nine pounds.
a cubic foot Of water weighs some five
pounds less than green oak II is the
water in the unscasoncd lumber which
makes the weight Dry mahogany
weighs only fifty-thrce pounds 20 the
cubic foot or about nine pounds less
than water This is manifest because
dry mahogany viii float in wator A
circular saw cutting lumber. If IL Is
twelve inches in diameter. revolves
three thousand times in minute. n rs
said that the rim Of a g rcuar saw tray
els two miles "a minute While water
weighs siy'y-two and q half pounds per
cubic foot and seasoned pine only
weighs half as much, brick weighs iust
twice rs much. If you want 10 build y
fence five board high. "a quarter Of n
mile long. 10 will take thirty-three hun
dred feet board measure. -G0th, t,1 GIN.
ciuUIfy E0ytltrfr