Woods

Timber grows all over the world but most commonly in the USA and the Far-East.

Soft woods:
fast growing
open grained (therefore weaker and splits easier)
cheaper
can produce long straight lenghs
are in supply all the time (evergreen )
Hardwoods:
slow growing (around 60-100 years)
generally more expensive
close grained (stronger)
bears fruit
The heart of the tree is called the pith, which is surrounded by the heartwood the heartwood is surrounded by sapwood that is still growing and that is coated in a final layer of bark. You can tell how old a tree is by looking at the annual rings.
Grain is the flow of trachieds. The tracheids are the cells in the wood. The lignin is the natural resin.
Woods have to be seasoned (controlled drying) to prevent cupping, bowing, or twisting. All wood is seasoned as it produces a higher quality material.
Examples of soft woods are:
· Scots pine
· spruce
· Douglas fur
Examples of hardwoods:
· Beech
· Oak
· Ash
· Mahogany
· Teak
· Balsa (odd one out)

I should never have bought! (should never have enen been manufactured!)

Plastic Cork-screw, just typing these words reminds me of the worst design in the history of mankind.

I was on a camping holiday in a remote part of Wales (its bad from the start) when we needed to open a bottle of wine for an evening meal. My forgetful parents had forgotten to pack one and because I was the youngest and most suggestible it was me that was sent to the campsite shop in search of a cork-screw. In the small shop that sold water, groceries and souvenirs I could only find one cork screw. It was overly expensive for what it is but I feel that because it was the only one, I could be charged extortionate rates- it cost me £5.10 when it probably cost 99p to manufacture.

This cork opening device was not aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. It was entirely made from light brown and cream plastic. (Apart from the screw.) Because it was plastic it had to be twice the size of a normal cork screw and would not fit into the hand with the ergonomic ease you would expect a similar device to have.

The metal screw was put into the plastic socket by heating up the metal and then putting it inside the hole and letting it expand as it cools. However the metal widget would twist and squeak which meant that it would not turn or dig into the cork.

The cheap design did not take into consideration that once you got the screw in you had to use the arms to lift the cork. When you did this the sides would bow outwards causing the cogs to disengage. You would then have to hold it in with the other hand to hold it together and pray that you could get the cork out.

You should not have to use this much effort just to open a bottle!

Plastic corks were yet another problem because they were too hard for the screw to penetrate. This is such a bad design if it doesn’t even do the job I bought it for!

Just to top it all off it breaks after opening three bottles. The effort that was put into twisting caused the joints to snap! Thank goodness for that!

If ever you have to buy a cork screw, heed my warning! DO NOT BUY A PLASTIC ONE!!!!


Lewis
The prince of cats