... and comes to a point where its moisture content hardly varies anymore. This drying process is the reason for a loss of volume, called shrinkage and causes the wood to move in different ways.
Let's have a closer look at shrinkage: Freshly cut log / The same log some months or years later.
0 Comments
For aluminum it is 6 miles while for wood it is (depending on type and structure) 6-18 miles. The results for wood are excellent when considering the context between volume, its weight and ability to insulate acoustically and thermally.
Wood - a very peculiar material
Wood is not homogeneous like for example metal, glass or some synthetics. It consists of a variety of ingredients, combination of cells, pores, capillaries and provides a plethora of fantastic characteristics. When are the best days to harvest for building wood? How long should wood be air-dried before you can turn them into furniture? Is it necessary to paint the external cladding of the house? Not everyone can ask their grandfather for advice like I could.
Embracing the gift of our forests is the easy way to bring the mystery of trees into our hearts. Enjoyment, fulfillment and finding our own mystery will be our reward.
Part Three - Information and Service If you are a mother looking for toys for your children, a builder, worker, architect, wood sawyer or forester in the forest, we all can work on this huge task from our points of view. By consciously working with nature, we enrich, enliven and keep her riches for our children.
It is possible to work with wood in ways where synthetic chemicals are not needed. Natural wood can last for hundreds of years and after its usage it still can safely be returned to nature. As ash and mulch it provides nutrients for the next generation of trees and the natural cycle closes.
The decay to humus is the basis of existence for the next generation.
This brings us to the conclusion Trees are living beings and they connect the divine air element with the earthy, dense and dark energies of the soil. It also can be frustrating, worrying and weakening. Crucial here is the question: what has been done to the wood. How was it treated and worked with?
To harvest a tree doesn't mean to kill it. The falling of a mature tree is part of the natural cycle. Of what practical value is it for builders and buyers to know about the secret life of trees? From an ecological building point of view, we know that untreated wood is breathing building material; it absorbs, retains, and releases moisture.
The death of a tree starts with the destruction of its inherent mystery by wiping out the idea of our natural cycles and the connection between heaven and earth. In many religions and cultures we find trees as symbols for life.
The sky's energy floods through the tree into the earth, darkness and light complete each other. A tree is much more than a collection of wooden cells or the sequence of biological reactions.
This energy makes the soil fertile and helps seeds to sprout and grow towards the light of the sun and the cycle closes.
Every tree naturally transmits light into the darkness of the earth and transforms airy energies into solid form. Leaves, needles and branches harness light and the heavenly energies of the sky which then is channeled via the trunk to the roots into the opposite element, the earth. Oxygen, fertility and life reach and penetrate the dark layers of the earth.
The elemental forces touch us when we see how an old oak tree defies a violent autumn storm, when we hear the gentle whisper of Aspen leaves? The language of trees is more beautiful and faceted than anyone could ever put down on paper.
It has been found, that for trees to develop properly, they also need the sound of birds singing!
In this study, it was proven that particular plant cells absorb water and nutrients better with the specific sound frequencies of bird songs. It also affects the sensory world of humans, animals and plants by its form, color and sound.
An example of one of the many ways trees interact with their environment is shown by American research regarding the impact sound frequencies of birds have on the development of plant cells. It carries branches with needles or leaves, flowers and fruit upwards into the sky towards the light of the sun. An exact mirror image to the roots in the soil, the leaves and needles interact with light, air, wind and weather. Trees impact the physical and chemical levels by absorbing carbon monoxide and producing oxygen.
Maybe even before that, when the genetic information for the upcoming flower and seed production is being determined? Is it possible to say when exactly life begins? Grasping the mystery of trees leads us to many magical natural cycles.
Does the life of a tree start when the seed is sprouting or before, when the oak seed, beech nut or cembra nut or a winged seed falls off the tree? Or even earlier, when the seed is ripening on the mother tree?
And this is where our forests have suffered most ill. Polluted air and bark beetles are only symptoms manifesting what has already happened in the hearts of humanity.
Think about the large herds of bison in the northern America prairies. Nowadays, we are able to look at several studies done by governments and forestry departments. We know about the regional dramatic repercussions, for example in the Erz- and Riesengebirge', where whole mountain ranges are bare of trees and are turning into steppe.
Moon calendars, zodiac sign, seasons and the choice of trees are more effective aids for us to befriend nature. However, nature's rules too can be questionable when followed with a very narrow mind.
...but be very concerned about the possibility of glass panels breaking, the wood's slow resistance to insects and fungi as well as toxic residues.
The tools used to grade wood are simply too primitive when we start working within the natural cycles. The largest glass panels we ever installed were about 5 meter high thermal glass panels in one piece. These panels are still intact on after many years and have amazed quite a few.
It would be extremely difficult for us to achieve the required qualities (like durability and stability) by solely relying on industry norms. |
Archives
September 2019
Categories
All
|