What is “British spruce”?
It is quite common for species with similar timber properties to be lumped into a commercial “species combination” for trade (the species are not differentiated – […]
Standards
Strength grading of timber explained
The paper “Strength grading of sawn timber in Europe: an explanation for engineers and researchers” by Dan Ridley-Ellis, Peter Stapel and Vanesa Baño is now published (online […]
EN 336 and UK customary sizes
The UK National Annex to EN336 is to be reinstated. Is the list of commonly available sizes (see below) still current? Send any comments to […]
The mysterious “TG1”
This week, the committee known as “TG1” met to evaluate some new settings for machine grading and visual grading assignments for EN1912. TG1 stands, simply, […]
Grading standards update (!!)
For the following, it may be helpful to refer to the CEN webpages that explain the various stages of drafting standards. The formal vote on […]
Voting on the revised EN14081-1
The European Standard EN14081-1 “Timber structures – Strength graded structural timber with rectangular cross section – Part 1 General requirements” is entering the final stages of revision, […]
EN338 – what’s happening with grades?
EN338 is a European Standard that specifies strength classes of structural timber (grades with numbers attached for use in design). It is not the only […]
What’s wrong with BS 373:1957?
Sadly, British Standard 373:1957 “Methods of testing small clear specimens of timber” probably won’t get to see it’s 60th birthday due to a rather critical […]
What is TR26?
TR26 is a structural timber grade in common, long standing, use in the UK for trussed rafters. It doesn’t appear in EN338 because it is […]
New rules for machine grading?
The Gradewood Transition project has submitted its proposed redraft of the standard governing machine grading (EN14081-2) to the European Standards Committee responsible for updating it […]