Trees are a form of woody plant consisting of a root, trunk and crown. In 2015, there were three trillion trees on our planet. Russia ranks first in terms of their number - 640 billion. But every year due to climate change and deforestation, their number is decreasing.

Tree classification

Conifers.

1. Conifers (evergreens) - these trees belong to the domain - eukaryotes, kingdom - plants, department - conifers. They grow in a temperate climate zone, as they love a moderately warm climate and sufficient moisture. The largest number of species is found in the northern hemisphere. Their sizes can range from dwarf to giant.

IN modern world classified as conifers woody plants with one trunk and lateral branches located on it. These are araucariaceae, pine and cypress trees such as spruce, cypress, juniper, sequoia, yew, kauri, fir, cedar, pine and larch. If a plant has cones in which seeds develop, and the leaves look like long needles, then it can safely be called a conifer.

Araucaria.

Pine.

Cedar

Cypress

Exactly to coniferous plants include the oldest and tallest trees.

The oldest tree Methuselah

This bristlecone pine was discovered by botanist Edmund Shulman in 1953. The approximate age of the tree is 4846 years. It was planted in 2831 BC. Today, this tree is considered alive and grows in the Inyo National Forest in California (USA) at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level.

Tallest tree - Hyperion

The height of this tree is 115m. The trunk diameter is 4.84 m. It grows in the US state of California. Approximate age 700 – 800 years. This tree was discovered in 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor.

Deciduous.

2. Deciduous (small-leaved and broad-leaved) differ in the shape of the crown, the color of the leaves and the presence of fruits. These include trees such as maple, aspen, linden, and ash. Trees are also divided according to the lifespan of their leaves into evergreen and deciduous. Deciduous plants shed their foliage closer to winter, and in the spring they again produce buds, from which green leaves again grow. Evergreen trees change their leaves gradually at any time of the year.

Types of trees (photos and pictures).

Maple.

Oak.

Chestnut.

Linden.

Among deciduous trees there are also famous trees.

The largest tree is the Hundred Horse Chestnut.

One of the oldest chestnut trees in the world is known as Castagno dei cento cavalli. It grows on east coast Sicily, eight kilometers from the active crater of Mount Etna. The chestnut was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the tree with the largest trunk circumference (in 1780 its circumference was 57.9 m). This tree has one root and several trunks above the ground. If you believe the legend, Giovanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples, along with a hundred knights was caught in a thunderstorm. All 100 travelers were then able to hide under this tree. Since then, he began to be called Chestnut “hundreds of horses.”

Chestnut "hundreds of horses". Collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

Jean Pierre Uel - French artist and engraver (1735 - 1813)

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Introduction

Many different types of wood should not be used in one design (unless this is due to the need to document the original when making a museum model), as this complicates the work. By using the same materials (two or three types, for example pine and birch veneer), the modeler gains experience in working with them, which allows him to create good flying models. The lightest indoor models are sometimes made entirely of straw, and many models are made of balsa.

Some types of wood, commonly available, such as pine and linden, have become universal in aircraft modeling and are well adopted by modellers.

Conifers

Coniferous wood is one of the main materials in the construction of flying models of all types. When choosing a material for the manufacture of certain parts, you should remember that before painting with nitro-varnishes, products made from coniferous wood must be completely puttied or primed. Otherwise, due to uneven absorption of paint, the layered structure of the wood will appear. Products made from coniferous wood are poorly polished.

The physical and mechanical qualities of wood of various species are shown in the table below.

Scots pine. Pine has resinous, straight-grained wood that is white or Pink colour with a small number of knots.

Pine, the most common material for the manufacture of many parts of flying models, has high mechanical qualities and is well processed by cutting tools.

Pine bends well. Slats with a cross section of 2x3 mm, soaked in water room temperature within 6 hours, it can be easily bent to a radius of up to 30 mm without causing cracks. Slats that are boiled in water for 15-20 minutes bend even more easily. After drying, the slats stably retain their given shape.

The least resinous wood with straight, fine layers should be selected.

Spruce. Spruce wood white with a slight shine, low resin, knotty, but straight-layered in the spaces between the knots. These sections make excellent slats for the frames of flying models. Spruce splits easily and bends just as well as pine.

Spruce (a type of spruce), having straight flexible wood of white or pink color, was widely used in foreign wooden aircraft construction. In flying models, spruce is used to make frames.

Fir. Fir wood is soft and light, light in color, almost white with a pink or yellowish tint. In terms of its qualities, the wood is close to spruce wood.

Hardwood

Hardwood is widely used for many parts of flying models, such as propellers, bosses, fuselages, turned parts, blanks and all parts of non-flying models.

Panels, bases and display parts are made from hardwood varieties with a beautiful texture. Most rocks are well polished and varnished.

Linden is one of the lightest species. The color of southern linden wood is white, northern linden is yellow-pink. Its wood is soft, with a fine-fiber structure; It cuts well and polishes well. Linden is painted, but not deeply, with water and alcohol dyes.

Under the outer part of the linden bark is a fibrous layer of bast. This is a valuable material; glue brushes are made from it. The ends of dry bast plates are used to smooth out the pile after staining and staining on the surface of the wood during finishing.

Linden is used as the main material for the manufacture of flightless models. In flying models, propellers, ribs, fuselages, bosses, blanks, and fairings are made from linden.

Poplar wood is porous, soft, elastic. It is used if there is no linden tree.

Aspen has soft, fine-grained wood, white in color. Aspen is superior in quality to poplar and is also used as a substitute for linden.

Birch wood is white, dense, strong. young tree flexible, old fragile. Handles well lathe and polished. Painted with nitro varnishes, water and alcohol dyes. Finished in walnut and mahogany. It warps a lot when it dries.

Made from birch the best varieties aircraft plywood, veneer for gluing monocoques and so-called flower shavings. They produce screws for models with piston engines, parts for sub-bases, and handles for tools.

It is rarely used in the designs of flying and non-flying models.

Karelian birch is a variety of common birch. It is distinguished by its reddish-yellow color and curliness. Especially strongly entangled fibers on the sagging at the butt and branch nodes give a beautiful pattern in the cut and veneer. This kind of wood is especially valued; it is used to decorate artistic stands for models and models.

Alder. Alder wood is straight-grained, brittle, without pores, with very fine layers, and has a color ranging from white to brown. Alder is softer and lighter than birch. It is well processed with cutting tools, gives a clean surface, and is well polished. Alder can be painted in various colors - walnut, mahogany and other species. Alder bends poorly and is susceptible to fungal diseases and wormholes. It is the best material for making flightless museum and tactical models. Used for coasters and all kinds of crafts. Alder wood is fragile, so it should not be used for making propellers and other critical parts of flying models.

Maple has a hard, homogeneous, beautiful white wood that is difficult to split, polishes well, and can be painted with mordants and dyes.

Nut. Walnut wood is hard, brittle, and has a color ranging from light gray to Brown with very beautiful layers, homogeneous, perfectly polished, varnished and waxed. Due to the natural play of colors and the beauty of the structure, walnut parts are usually not painted. In aircraft models, walnut is used to make screws, all kinds of stands and as a finishing material.

Beech wood is pinkish-white in color, fine-grained, can be easily processed with cutting tools and is well polished. When steamed, it bends well. Beech is often used to make propellers for models with piston internal combustion engines.

The disadvantages of beech include its tendency to change shape, cracking, and warping.

Hornbeam, or white beech, has white wood, very hard, difficult to process. It polishes well and is the best material for propellers of piston engines of flying models.

Oak. Oak is not used in flying models; it is used only for baseboards and finishing work. Oak wood is light brown in color, durable, and can be easily painted with water mordant (stain) in various tones - from light to brown-black. Oak products are varnished or waxed.

Its wood must be gradually dried over a long period of time, as it is prone to cracking.

Ash wood is similar to oak wood, has high mechanical properties, is hard and tough. When steamed, it bends easily. Ash is finished in the same way as oak.

Balsa. A rare species, its dry wood is extremely soft and light.

Balsa does not grow in Russia. Its homeland is the equatorial part of South America, Trinidad, Burma.

Balsa is extremely simple and easy to process. For the same weight, balsa structures are more rigid than, for example, pine.

To process balsa, a special tool is used that has a small pointed angle and a thin blade.

Balsa is poorly polished and painted with covering paints and varnishes, but satisfactorily with water dyes and alcohol mordants.

Balsa can be used to make all parts of flying models, for example, ribs, helicopter blades and rubber propellers.

Some modellers in the recent past considered balsa an indispensable material, which is wrong. Balsa fibers are very weak, easily wrinkle, and swell when exposed to water.

The density and physical and mechanical properties of balsa wood are very heterogeneous. When freshly cut, balsa contains up to 95% water, it is very heavy, but quickly loses water after felling the tree and drying. In the ridge at the butt and in the core the wood is dense and quite strong, the density can reach up to 0.3 g/cm3, young sapwood is very light, with a density of 0.01 g/cm3. Accordingly, the strength changes with density. These qualities oblige the modeler to be extremely careful in the selection of sections of slats and other parts of flying models.

Red tree. Under this name there are many species with reddish wood. These include brazil tree, acatu, gambia, sequoia; of those growing in Russia - yew. Of the listed species, some are deciduous, others are coniferous. They all have different densities and various mechanical qualities.

Mahogany grows mainly in Africa, the Antilles and America. Found in small quantities in Transcaucasia.

Mahogany wood is valued for beautiful colour, texture and water resistance. It is easier to process with cutting tools than walnut and polishes well.

Pear wood has different colors- from light pink to red, fine texture, very dense and uniform. The density and mechanical properties of pears vary depending on age and variety. The pear is perfectly processed with cutting tools and is well polished.

Boxwood (Caucasian palm from the Buxus family). Boxwood wood is pale yellow in color, uniform, dense and very hard, easy to turn and polish. It is used in the manufacture of small blanks for stamping organic glass and celluloid. In addition, miniature models and crafts are made from it, which require special strength and sharp edges.

The tung tree is grown in the People's Republic of China to produce tung oil, a valuable raw material in the paint and varnish industry. It also grows in the subtropics of Russia and has fairly strong, homogeneous wood, approximately two times lighter than linden, that is, its density is about 0.25-0.3 g/cm3. Tung wood can be used to create good designs flying models, making propellers, edges, blades. Chinese aircraft modelers widely and successfully use tung wood.

Bamboo is a tree-like grass that grows in subtropical countries. There are more than two hundred species of bamboo, some of them reach a height of 40 m and a diameter of 50 cm. The structure of the bamboo stem is the same as that of cereal straw. In the designs of flying models, dried bamboo stems with bends of the greatest possible length and diameter are used.

The most valuable are the thick yellow-white stems with long knees with a diameter of 50 - 60 mm.

The business part of the wood is very strong and elastic. Bamboo splits perfectly along the fibers and bends over a flame without preliminary steaming.

Cane. Along the banks of rivers, lakes and in swamps, many types of reeds grow, bearing various local names - reed, reed, etc.

Reed, like bamboo, belongs to the perennial grass family. In terms of its mechanical properties, reed stands between bamboo and cereal straw.

Reed is the best material for the fuselage slats of schematic flying models, as it resists torsion well and has high rigidity at low density. Reed is used for kite slats and braces in the frames of large flying models.

The twisted stems straighten over the fire.

You should choose straight, fully mature stems with a diameter of 8 to 10 mm, white or light yellow. Greenish-gray hues at the root indicate that the cane was cut early and has begun to rot. Since the reed ripens in late autumn, it is convenient to cut it after the ponds freeze.

Chiy is a perennial grass reaching 3 m in height. Grows in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Stems with a diameter of 1 to 5 mm are used. Chiy has a thin, durable outer shell and a soft white core. In terms of its qualities, it is much better than reed and second only to bamboo. Chia can be used to make stringers, porch roundings, braces, ribs and other parts.

Small schematic models can be made entirely from chia.

The disadvantages of chia, like all cereals, include its knotty nature and inconsistent thickness.

Straw. To build indoor models, dry ripe rye straw is used. Dry stems of other cereals can also be successfully used: timothy, bentgrass, bluegrass, and fescue.

In the designs of larger flying models, straw is used only in the manufacture of braces for light trusses, as it resists compression well.

In order to increase the strength and straighten the straw, it should be pulled tightly in your hands, in this position heated over an electric stove and cooled without reducing the tension.

Table "Physico-mechanical qualities of wood of various species"

	volumetric mass, g/cm³	compression along the fibers, kgf/mm²	tensile strength along the fibers, kgf/mm²	bending, kgf/mm²	Growing areas	Note
Scots pine					European part of Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia, Far East, Central Asia, Crimea	Flying model frames
Norway spruce					european part of Russia	Pine substitute
Siberian cedar					Eastern regions of Russia	Pine substitute
					Doesn't grow in Russia	Model frames
					Eastern regions of Russia, Caucasus	Spruce substitute
					European part of Russia, Siberia, Altai, Caucasus	Various parts of tactical models, screws, all kinds of blanks
					Central and southern zone of Russia	Linden substitute
						Linden substitute
					European part of Russia, Altai, Transbaikalia	Museum and tactical models, power units of flying models, screws, blocks and tool handles
					European part of Russia, Transbaikalia, Altai, Caucasus	Museum and tactical models

1. Mahogany is wood of various red shades.

The most famous type of mahogany is called mahogany. Mahogany is easy to cut and process, it is ideal for finishing works. But it does not have high strength. It can be fiery, patterned, striped, smooth, speckled, knotty, etc.

The wood of this species is fragile, but at the same time hard. This decorative material, very valuable, from which furniture has been made since ancient times. The cost of such products is very high. Is it true, lemon Tree very difficult to process due to its structure.

Has a pattern with dark veins, sometimes shimmering purple. The hardness is approximately twice that of oak. Excellent polish, very durable wood. Can be used for making musical instruments, furniture, parquet, etc. The type of wood is classified as elite.

This type of wood has been equated to semi-precious. An unusual pattern with a characteristic reddish-yellow hue. Durable, lasts a very long time, but processing is complicated by the structural features. Products made from Karelian birch have virtually no equal in beauty.

A tree with this exotic name grows in Madagascar, Southeast Asia and Oceania. A material of stunning beauty and durability. Ideal wood for carpentry and finishing work. But for our country, products made from it are truly exotic.

These are tropical trees, the wood of which is characterized by increased rigidity. Teak products are durable, strong, and moisture resistant. Teak looks very nice. This could be parquet, furniture, etc.

This is an African tree species that can grow up to 30 m in height. Both premium and regular furniture are made from wood. But mainly it is used to make decorative veneer for cladding.

Another name that is sometimes found is iron wood. Its color usually depends on the place where it grows. From light brown with a yellow tint to almost black. It can be found in the regions of Central and South America. The wood is resistant to mold and rot, chemical treatment, and lasts a very long time.

It’s a fairly general name, because even scientists have not yet agreed on what to call it. This giant tree, originally from Africa, has a huge number of names. Grows up to 50 m tall. In terms of a number of properties, it is comparable to oak and teak, but it costs a little less.

Grows in tropical forests of Africa. The wood is dark in color and has a high density. Wenge is widely used for decorative coatings, making guitar fingerboards, knife handles, parquet. It can also be grown as an ornamental plant.

A Brazilian tree that can grow for hundreds of years. The wood is heavy and dense, ideal for exclusive parquet. Can be treated with oil and wax. Widely used in construction, not afraid of moisture.

Very hard wood with high density. Another name is racelo. Externally very beautiful. Mainly used for block parquet, yacht finishing, exterior and interior carpentry, furniture making.

Sequoia is also called the mammoth tree. Gigantic coniferous trees with a trunk diameter of about 12 m and a height of up to 110 m. They can live up to 5 thousand years. Wood attractive appearance, suitable for a variety of purposes. It is very lightweight and does not rot.

A hard and durable wood, although not easy to work with. But paint sticks well to it, you can imitate it ebony. Used for the manufacture of all kinds of parts.

Deciduous evergreen crops always create a good microclimate, improve the environment, and are always planted in places where people live. Deciduous trees have a large number decorative characteristics. You can find crops with a large and beautifully colored crown, attractive inflorescences and unusual fruits. Large deciduous trees are best planted in a park or square, and slow-growing dwarf trees are best planted in summer cottages. It is important to know what types of deciduous trees there are and their names.

Features of cultivation

Deciduous wood is easy and simple to process, so it is also often used in the woodworking industry and construction. Some useful components of such plants are widely used in medicine. Many of them give a person a large number of fruits and berries, while others are attractively decorated summer cottages and free space, creating unusual compositions.

List of common plants

Trees are divided into two main groups: soft-leaved and hard-leaved. The first group includes the following names of deciduous trees: birch, poplar, alder, linden. The names of trees in the city are ash, oak and maple. In the conditions of our country, birch, poplar, ash, maple, bird cherry, linden, cherry and apple trees adapt best.

Evergreen acacia

Acacia can be classified as an evergreen crop. There are 400 in this plant genus various types. The culture has a negative attitude towards low temperatures, therefore it grows only in subtropical and tropical climates. Acacias can be of tall and short type. Some crops reach a height of 25 m.

Most acacia species shed their leaves in dry weather. The whitish variety acts in the opposite way: during drought, the leaves of the plant bloom, and with the onset of the rainy season they fall off. This crop, like linden, is a good honey plant. After 30 years of growth, the crop begins to noticeably slow down in growth, and its bark begins to become covered with cracks.

The most popular types of acacia in Russia include silver and white. The last variety is popularly called mimosa. The white acacia species grows in South Africa and is an evergreen crop.

Apricot wild and fruit

Apricot belongs to the Rosaceae family. All varieties and main subspecies of this plant are classified as deciduous. deciduous crops. The culture blooms with attractive pink or white inflorescences.

The main parameters by which industrial wood is selected for furniture production: strength, resistance to deformation, wear resistance. All these three qualities are combined into one indicator - wood density, that is, the ratio of the mass of the tree to its volume.

Types of wood depending on density:

A) Soft (up to 540 kg/m3) – spruce, pine, aspen, linden, fir, poplar, chestnut, alder, cedar;

B) Hard (550-740kg/m3) – larch, birch, oak, elm, beech, sycamore, Walnut, maple, apple, ash;

B) Very hard (from 750 kg/m 3) – iron birch, rowan, white acacia, hornbeam, dogwood, boxwood, pistachio tree.

Let's consider the breeds most in demand in furniture production:

1. Pine

Wood color– brown, beige-yellow, white with light pink streaks. The best material for making furniture is considered to be pine trees growing on hills with sandy soils or on dry hills. In such wood, the annual layers will be pronounced and narrow, close to each other. Pine grown in an area with high humidity will have a loose structure, and blanks from it will have to be dried for a long time before being put into production. Pine wood is soft, easily scratched and damaged.

Pros:

• flexibility in processing. Pine is easily planed along the grain, but difficult to plan in the transverse direction. When cutting, the opposite is true—a log cuts across easily, but poorly along lengths.
• easy to glue;
• depending on the color and structure of the wood, pine is used both for the manufacture of furniture with subsequent varnishing, and for frames, and various structures with hardwood veneer;
• like all conifers, it has a pleasant smell and releases phytocindes, which are considered medicinal.

2. Spruce

Spruce wood is softer than pine. In addition, there are a large number of knots in the trunk, making it difficult to process the wood for manufacturing. furniture panels. Compared to pine, spruce absorbs moisture better and begins to rot faster. Due to its inexpressive texture and low strength, spruce is most often used for mosaic finishing or in structures that do not experience significant loads during operation.
Pros:

• spruce wood is practically not subject to warping;
• sticks well.

Along with spruce, Siberian fir is also used - these two trees have similar indicators.

3. Larch

The wood of this coniferous tree is valued for its unusual reddish-brown color and high performance. From disadvantages of larch– a large amount of resins, which quickly damages tools and causes difficulties in processing. If improperly dried, internal cracks form on larch wood.

Pros:

• high moisture resistance;
• excellent strength indicators (the best among conifers);
• little subject to warping;
• used for making carved parts.

4. Cedar

Yellowish-white cedar wood is not very strong and dense, so it cannot withstand heavy loads.

Pros:

• resistance to rot and wormhole;
• suitable for carving;
• has a specific woody aroma.

5. Yew

Red-brown with light and dark veins, yew wood has high strength, but also a large number of knots.
Pros:

• not subject to wormhole,
• easy to plan and sand,
• insensitive to atmospheric changes.

6. Oak

On a radial section of an oak trunk, large pith rays and light sapwood are clearly visible. Oak is the most widely used hardwood in the manufacture of solid wood furniture, due to its excellent combination of strength and beautiful texture. If oak lies in water for a long time (several decades), its wood acquires a rare dark purple color with a green tint. Oak wood is difficult to polish and requires equipment with highly hardened cutters.

Pros:

• despite the high viscosity of wood, it is processed quite well;
• bends easily;
• resistant to rotting;
• lends itself well to artificial aging techniques.

7. Ash

Wood for many qualities looks like oak, but lighter and does not have pronounced medullary rays. Ash must be subjected to antiseptic treatment, since in humid conditions the wood is quickly damaged by wormholes. Poorly polished.

Pros:

• bends well after steaming;
• cracks little when dried;
• when discolored it acquires unusual shade gray hair.

8. Beech

Beech wood strength is not inferior to oak, but is highly hygroscopic, so it is not recommended for the manufacture of furniture that will be used in high humidity(bath, kitchen). Poorly polished.

Pros:

• high decorative qualities: beautiful texture both in radial and tangential cuts,
• quick to dry, does not crack;
• easy to process: pricks, saws, cuts, bends;
• bleaches perfectly and is painted using special solutions - practically does not change the beautiful natural shade when varnishing.

9. Hornbeam

It has hard, dense wood of a grayish-white color. It is often called white beech, but hornbeam has a less pronounced texture and often has a cross-ply structure, which makes the tree difficult to split.

Pros:

• after proper drying, the hornbeam becomes harder than oak;
• not subject to warping;
• lends itself well to etching and finishing.

10. Common birch

Birch wood, despite its high density, is not resistant to rotting, therefore it is used mainly for the manufacture of plywood, peeled veneer, and chipboard. It takes a long time and does not dry well, is susceptible to wormholes, cracks badly, and warps.

Pros:

• uniform structure and beautiful color of wood;
• bends well;
• in the production of solid wood furniture it is used as an imitation of valuable wood (it is well colored when etched).

Karelian birch is distinguished separately, which has higher performance indicators, is known for its unusual texture and pink wood. It is expensive, so it is used mainly for veneering solid wood furniture.

11. Maple

Despite the fact that it is dense Maple wood rarely cracks, He not resistant to dampness. Bird's eye and sugar maple are the most prized maples because of their characteristic beautiful structure.

Pros:

• easy to prick, well processed: cut, polished;
• has a homogeneous structure without pronounced fibers;
• when painted, it successfully imitates valuable species;
• Maple wood does not have a pronounced core, so it is easily painted, varnished, and stained.

12. Alder

Soft breed, without a pronounced structure. Alder wood quickly darkens in air, so it is used mainly in painted form (black or mahogany). Feature of alder: susceptible to wormhole in dry places, but resistant to rot in wet conditions.

Pros:

• dries quickly,
• easy to carpenter,
• polishes well
• warps slightly.

13. White acacia

The hardest hardwood, therefore, has high friction resistance and is elastic. In dry form it is difficult to process, so it is used mainly for facing soft rocks.

Pros:

• perfectly polished;
• When exposed to air, the wood darkens, causing the texture to acquire a bright yellow-brown color and expressive texture.

14. Walnut

The older the tree, the more valuable and darker its wood. The most expensive variety is American black walnut.

Pros:

• a wide variety of shades;
• dense but malleable wood;
• easy to paint, thanks to the high content of tannins (from ebony tint to even white color).

15. Linden

It is used in production for the production of figured turned elements. It contains little tannins, so it practically does not stain, but it can be easily stained (with correct concentration solution, linden wood can be given the appearance of more valuable wood species). Needs antiseptic impregnation, as it is highly susceptible to wormholes.

Pros:

• resists moisture well,
• wood is durable and plastic,
• has a beautiful white and creamy hue.

As you can see, each wood has its own advantages and disadvantages, based on which you can choose a certain type for making furniture from solid wood.