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Material

Other dimensions as agreed.
Nordic Softwood
Scandinavia is one of the largest exporters of softwood
in the world. Softwood differs from hardwood, or
broadleave wood, by generally being brighter and more
capable of withstanding heavy loads.
Pine and spruce
The Nordic countries produce and export timber from two
conifer species; Nordic Red Pine (Pinus silvetris) and
Nordic White Spruce (Picea abies). They have many basic
properties in common. The fibres are long and the timber
is very strong in relation to its weight. Since Redwood
and Whitewood are som similar in their biological
compositions they are assigned identical, high strength
ratings in European norms and standards. Differences are
for example the colour, optimal cutting angle and to some
extend suitable use.
In Europe, Nordic White Spruce has traditionally been
used for construction work, while Nordic Red Pine, has
dominated in furniture and joinery work. However, there
is no intrinsic reason why it should be so. In general,
both types of wood can be used for all the above
mentioned applications.
Quality Criteria and Grades
The quality of sawn wood can be specified by many
factors: knots, blue stain, fissures, deviations in
dimensions, deformation, wane et cetera.
The factors are judged by visual classification, usually
at the sawmills. The oldest grading rules of sawn wood of
spruce and pine, are often called "the Green Book". These
rules have been revised to "Nordic Timber grading", often
refferd to as "the Blue Book", which is valid in all
Nordic countries. Accordingly, Nordic Timber grading is
the leading system today. New grading rules are being
drawn up. These might become currrent after 1999
throughout Europe.
According to the rules in the Blue Book, sawn wood is
categorised into three grades: A, B, and C. The highest
grade, A, can be divided into sub-grades A1 (Highest) to
A4. Grade A wood is primarily used for visible products
such as windows, furniture, handmade tools, booats and
toys. Wood of grades B and C is used for doors, building
construction, floors, beams, sound proofing partitions
and wind breaks. In the Nordic countries there is also a
grade D, which is the lowest quality wood of this grade
is only used as packaging material.
Standard Measurements
The cross-sectional dimensions of Nordic timber comply
with the standard table of dimensions approved by the
International Organization for Standardization. Other
dimensions are also available, however since the sawmills
have, according to the NTC, a good reputation for sawing
timber to exact sizes specified.
Moisture Content
Moisture content is measured at the weight of the water
in wood expressed in percentage of the weight of the
oven-dry wood.
The sawn wood is dried artificially to give the wood
protection. It is almost always dreied in kilns, to a
moisture content of around 20 per cent or less for sawn
timber and 17 per cent or less for surfaced timber. Many
Nordic sawmills also offer timber specially dried down to
eight per cent. Kiln drying increases the value of sawn
wood and also increases its range of applications. The
low moisture content of the timber permits long-distance
haulage with reduced risk of damage.
Knots
Knots, formed by branches growing in the body of the
tree, are common on spruce and pine. When grading wood,
the type, number and dimensions of the knots are
important factors. According to the Nordic grading rules,
wood with no or few knots recieves a higher grade than
wood with many knots. In Scandinavia, knots are regarded
as giving life to the wood. However, too many and too
large knots make the wood more fragile and reduce the
overall quality of the wood.
Fire resistance
Spruce and pine burn, but burn slowly and do not emit any
poisonous gases, except for carbon monoxide. Wood in
general retains most of its strength at high
temperatures, whereas steel bars and the armouring in
concrete for example softens. Wood is considered as being
a material which can catch fire, whereas for example
plastic floors and textiles are considered being
inflammable according to Scandinavian norms.
Insulation Capability
Wood insulates about ten times better than
concrete/stone, and about 100 times better than
steel/aluminium. Insulation is very important in
countries where the greater part of energy costs relates
to the costs of air conditioning.
Durability
The durability/strength of Nordic softwood is in parity
with most North American types of wood, and twice as good
as most commercial types of broadleave wood. Furthermore,
there are wooden houses in Scandinavia which are over
1000 years old.
The FSC Certificate
The Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, is an international,
independent, non-profit making, non-governmental
organisation founded in 1993 to "support enviromentally
appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable
management of the world's forests". It was founded to
meet consumers' (mainly European consumers') increasing
demands that wood and other forest products purchases
should not contribute to the destruction of forests but
instead helt to secure forest resources for the future.
The FSC has introduced an international labelling scheme
for forest products, which provides a credible guarantee
that the product comes from a well-managed forest. It
endorses both natural forests and plantations. The FSC is
an organisation with members from different enviromental
and social groups, the timber trade and the forestry
profession, indigenous people's organisations, community
forestry groups and forest product certification
organisations from around the world. It certifies
forests, but also follows the product from the forest
through all the stages of the production process until it
reaches the end user; this is done in order to be able to
verify that a product originates from a certified
forest.
Sweden has the largest area of FSC certified forests in
the world, about nine million hectares, which is about
half of the total FSC certified forest area in the
world.

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