118 – Wood Strength??

Wood Strength and rate of growth don't relate

Myth busting time.  How fast a tree grows doesn't have anything to do with the strength of the wood.  Well, kinda.  It depends...sorta.  And it is that wishy washy language that makes this a loaded topic.  Fast grown softwoods are stronger and fast grown hardwoods are weaker.  That's true in some cases.  False in others.  The fact is strength has mostly to do with the application and whether the load is dynamic or static and whether it is perpendicular or parallel to the grain.  

But that is complex math for the engineers to figure out.

In this episode I want to focus entirely on density as a measure of strength and dispel the myth that rate of growth correlates.  Hang on tight, this is an information dense episode!