Board Foot - A unit for measuring wood volume. A piece of wood 1'x1'x1", or a piece measuring 1"x3"x4' both contain 1 board foot of wood. 

Buck - To saw felled trees into shorter lengths.

 

Butt - The base of a tree, or the lower end of a log.

 

Cant - A portion of a log sawed on all four sides.

 

Cant Hooks - This traditional logger's tool is used to roll, lift, move, and pivot logs using the handle as a pivot lever. Two are recommended for basic log handling capabilities.

 

Check - A lengthwise separation of the wood. It often goes across the rings of annual growth. Checking is usually due to mechanical stresses during drying. 

 

Conifer - Usually evergreen;cone-bearing; and with needles or scale-like leaves. Pines, spruces, firs, and cedars are conifers. 

 

Cord - (1) A standard cord is a stack of cut wood 4' (1.22 m) high, 4' (1.22 m) wide, and 8' (2.44 m) long. (2) A face cord is 4' (12.2 m) by 8' (2.44 m) , but the stack is made of sticks under 4' (1.22 m) long. These are usually 12, 18, or 24" long (304.8, 457.2, or 609.6 mm).

 

Crown - The leaves and branches of a tree.

 

Cull - (1) A tree or log of marketable size but having no market value. (2) A tree or log which cannot be used for the intended product and is not measured. Cull includes such things as rot, crookedness, cavities, and too many branches.

 

Deciduous Tree - A tree which loses all of its leaves at some time during the year. May include some conifers, such as larch.
 

Dimensional Lumber is a term used for lumber that is finished/planed and cut to standardized width and depth specified in inches . Examples of common sizes are 2x4, 2x6, and 4x4.

 

 

Flitch - A portion of a sawn log which is insufficient for finished lumber (due to bark or defects on one or more sides). Usually intended for remanufacturing into lumber or veneer.

 

Grading - Evaluating and sorting trees, logs, or lumber according to quality and value.

 

Hardwood - A term used to describe broadleaf (usually deciduous) trees. Oaks, maples, ashes, and elms are hardwoods. 

 

Heartwood - (The Heart) The inner core of the tree. It is usually darker in color than the outer sapwood.

 

Kerf - The width of a cut made by a saw in a piece of wood.

 

Log Rule - A printed table which has log volume based on log diameter and length.

Pulpwood - Wood cut to be converted into wood pulp to make paper, fiberboard, or other wood-fiber products.

Sapwood - The outer part of a tree. Its main purpose is to carry water and store food.

 

Scale Stick - A flat stick, similar to a yardstick. It is marked so log volumes can be read from it when the stick is placed on the small end of a log of known length.

Seasoning - The process of drying lumber or other forms of wood by natural (air-dried) or artificial (kiln-dried) processes. 

Slash - What is left on the ground after logging, pruning, or other forest operations including tree tops, branches, and bark.

 

Stand - A group of trees in an area that are enough alike in composition, age, and condition to be set apart from the surrounding forest. A forest stand is said to be pure if 80% or more of the trees are of the same species. If less than 80% of all trees are of the same species, the stand is said to be mixed.

 

Urban Forestry - A new field that was developed in the 1970s. It deals with management of urban trees, parks, and green spaces for a better environment.

 

Veneer - A thin sheet of wood cut on a veneer machine. Veneer is often used for plywood facing and requires big, high-quality logs.

 

Windfall - A tree uprooted or broken off by wind.