Technical/Shipping Terms

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="29088e63.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I><B>TeakMarket.com/TeakMarket Company, Ltd. (Thailand)</B></I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>    </B><B> |   </B></FONT><B> </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TeakMarket.com/TeakMarket Company, Ltd. 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Us</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="lumber Type">lumber Type</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Solid Teak Wood Doors">Solid Teak Wood Doors</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Solid Teak Wood Furniture">Solid Teak Wood Furniture</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teak Art Panels">Teak Art Panels</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Handicrafts">Handicrafts</A></div> <div> <B>Technical/Shipping Terms</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Associates Friends">Associates & Friends</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Technical/Shipping Terms</I></div> <div> Obviously, a significant characteristic in deciding which wood to purchase is the visual beauty of the wood.  But in the purchase of lumber products, there are other considerations.</div> <bR> <div> Hardness:</div> <div> In thinking about hardness one might consider the specific gravity of the wood and this is a common measure in the lumber business.  Specific Gravity measures the density of a substance.  Most woods have a specific gravity less than one, that is, they are lighter than water.  As such, they float in water.  Some woods have a specific gravity greater than one, they do not float.  </div> <bR> <div> Ponderosa Pine, which many people are familiar with, is considered a soft wood and has a specific gravity measure of about 0.46.  Medium Heavy woods would include the Honduras Mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla), 0.51 and the Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophylla) 0.50.  <B>Teak falls into the category of a Heavy Wood with a specific gravity of 0.63.</B>  Other woods in this category would be the Pecan (Carya illnoensis) 0.72 and the Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis) 0.69.</div> <bR> <div> Very Heavy Woods would include the Eastern Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) 0.80 and the Englemann Oak (Quercus engelmannii) 0.94.  <B>Pyinkado </B><B>(Xylia Xylocarpa) </B><B>is considered a Very Heavy Wood 0.80</B>.  Woods that sink, frequently called Ironwoods, would include Ebony (Diospyros ebenum) 1.12 and Desert Ironwood (Olneya tesota) 1.15.</div> <bR> <div> Although the specific gravity is a reasonable measure of hardness, it is really only an indirect test.  It measures density and the test relies on the apparently reasonable relationship that high density implies high degree of hardness.  </div> <bR> <div> <I>There is a direct test of hardness which is used in the lumber business, it is called the Janka Hardness test.</I>  This test specifically measures the force required to take a 0.444 inch steel ball and cause that to dent the wood at one half the diameter of the steel ball.  Why must the steel ball measure 0.444 inches, well, I am not familiar with the history of this test.  I only know that now it is a uniform AND DIRECT test of hardness.  If you want to know the ability of a wood type to withstand any denting from the wear and tear of use, this is THE direct test.  Most flooring experts will say that, for interior wood floors, the Janka Hardness measure should be greater than 1,000.  <B>Teak's Janka Hardness measure is around 1,150 but Pyinkado's Janka hardness measure is 2,275. </B> Although teak is an excellent choice for outdoor decking (because it is resilient to environmental factors) there are harder woods that can be chosen for indoor flooring.  Of course, some customers simply want the look of teak.  After all, it is a beautiful wood and it is also an acceptable medium for flooring as the Janka Hardness is greater than 1,000.</div> <bR> <div> The good characteristic about all of our primary wood types is that they are all acceptable candidates for an indoor flooring application.  Any of these wood types will last a long time.  So, if you are going to be looking at these floors for many years, pick a lumber type that visually appeals to you.  Although some are harder than others, they are all acceptable.  Pick the one you like!</div> <bR> <div> In the pages that discuss the individual wood types, we do provide the specific gravity and the Janka Hardness measure whenever we can acquire this information from a reliable source, most often from the USDA Forest Service.  You can access the website of the USDA Forest Service for additional technical information concerning lumber types.  Even reliable sources do not always provide the same measurement.  Either of these measures can be affected by the age of the wood, the dryness, the specific location in the tree that the wood comes from (whether from the middle of the trunk (the older rings, the heartwood) or from the outer rings (the younger rings)  The point is that these measures provide guidance in determining the hardness of a type of wood, they are not intended to be absolute measures for all samples of wood within a species.</div> <bR> <div> Drying:</div> <div> Freshly cut wood is generally considered to be “green”.  This is not a term describing the color; it simply means that the moisture content is greater than 20%.  As wood dries, it may have a tendency to degrade and <IMG SRC="3d82ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">warp, especially if it dries in an environment that has no controls.  Most degrade and warping occurs as wood dries from its green state to a moisture content of 19-20%.  After it reaches 19% MC, some degrade/worping may occur with additional drying but only a relatively small amount.</div> <bR> <div> Much of the lumber used in Asia is air dried before use.  If the lumber is stacked properly, the constraints of the stacking can minimize any warping during the drying process.  However, air drying is a slow and imprecise process.</div> <bR> <div> Many lumber processing facilities in SE Asia are equipped with Kiln Drying facilities.  On the outside, these might look like large metal buildings.  However, they do provide a controlled environment for drying lumber.  Kiln drying is a quicker and more precise method for drying lumber.  Dried lumber tends to behave better in construction applications however, there is a price.  <IMG SRC="27d2c8f0.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="143" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">First, the process itself adds cost to the product.  Secondly, as the drying is done at a quicker pace, some of the lumber might split during the drying process.  As an example, when taking 1,000 cubic feet of Pyinkado and drying it from fresh cut to a moisture content of 12-15%, roughly 3-4% of the lumber will split during the drying process becoming unusable.  As a result, 1,000 cubic feet of green Pyinkado will result in around 960-970 cubic feet of KD Pyinkado.</div> <bR> <div> Our prices generally include Drying to Moisture Content (MC) of 14% for general lumber and 10% or less for furniture and doors.  Most of the readily available lumber is Air Dried but Kiln Dried lumber is sometimes readily available and, if it is not readily available, we can generally arrange for kiln drying at an additional charge, if desired.  Additional drying will required a small surcharge. Obviously, we do not provide kiln drying services for log or squared log purchases.  Generally we will not export "green" lumber.</div> <bR> <div> OTHER TERMINOLOGY</div> <div> Processed Lumber and shipping terminology</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="704" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> S4S</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Smooth 4 sides.  Lumber can be S1S, S2S, S3S or S4S</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> T&G</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Tongue and Groove - usually for flooring wood</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 41 WIDTH="88"><div> OFC</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> One Face Clear - normal specification for flooring lumber where only one side will show.  This side should be free of insect borings and the like.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> KD</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Kiln Dried</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> MC</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Moisture Content </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> CF</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Cubic Foot, a common measurement for processed lumber</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> BF</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Board Foot, a unit of 144 cubic inches</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 22 WIDTH="88"><div> CM</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Cubic meter, a measure more commonly used in the description and pricing of logs</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 41 ><NOBR><div> Hoppus ton</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Frequently referred to simply as a ton.  Traditionally equal to 63.65 cubic feet.  Several shippers use a contemporary definition which is equal to 50 cubic feet.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 79 WIDTH="88"><div> FOB</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Freight-on-Board or Free-on-Board.  Means that the price does NOT include shipping costs from the FOB location to the buyer.  FOB Chonburi means that the price includes delivery and loading at the Chonburi docks.  The buyer is responsible for all costs to get the material to its final destination.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 99 WIDTH="88"><div> CIF, CNF</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="601"><div> Indicates that the price includes all freight charges either with insurance (CIF) or not with insurance (CNF) to a specified final destination.  CIF Long Beach would mean that the price includes delivery from Thailand to the Long Beach docks.  However, it does not include any import duties or fees charges by the US customs office or other agencies.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Go to <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="lumber Type">LUMBER TYPES</A> </div> </td> </tr></table></body>