As we work in wood, one can not help but find reference to renesance woodworkers. “There is a tendency to dismiss Roman architecture as a shallow derivative of what the Greeks had previously invented, but to the contrary, there was a revolution in architectural thought taking place about two thousand years ago that undermines this mythology. These Romans had developed fresh ideas about spatial planning, ornamental technique, grandiosity in scale, and new kinds of materials to use for construction (like concrete). Many were discussed by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, who, after retiring from Julius Caesar's vanquishing army, changed careers and became an architect.
We know him as Vitruvius, and he wrote Ten Books on Architecture, which became a comprehensive guide of tips and techniques needed to solve all sorts of thorny problems in construction. By the early 1400s, Ten Books on Architecture had become compulsory reading for aspiring architects and builders everywhere.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.htm#Page_29
In Book II, Chapters IX and X, discuss timber used, and some
interesting details about choosing timber/wood for tasks. The
other Books and Chapters offer much to the curious,
CHAPTER IX
TIMBER
1. Timber should be felled between early Autumn and the time when
Favonius begins to blow. For in Spring all trees become pregnant,
and
they are all employing their natural vigour in the production of
leaves
and of the fruits that return every year. The requirements of that
season render them empty and swollen, and so they are weak and
feeble
because of their looseness of texture. This is also the case with
women
who have conceived. Their bodies are not considered perfectly
healthy
until the child is born; hence, pregnant slaves, when offered for
sale,
are not warranted sound, because the fetus as it grows within the
body
takes to itself as nourishment all the best qualities of the
mother's
food, and so the stronger it becomes as the full time for birth
approaches, the less compact it allows that body to be from which
it is
produced. After the birth of the child, what was heretofore taken
to
promote the growth of another creature is now set free by the
delivery
of the newborn, and the channels being now empty and open, the
body will
take it in by lapping up its juices, and thus[59] becomes compact
and
returns to the natural strength which it had before.
2. On the same principle, with the ripening of the fruits in
Autumn the
leaves begin to wither and the trees, taking up their sap from the
earth
through the roots, recover themselves and are restored to their
former
solid texture. But the strong air of winter compresses and
solidifies
them during the time above mentioned. Consequently, if the timber
is
felled on the principle and at the time above mentioned, it will
be
felled at the proper season.
3. In felling a tree we should cut into the trunk of it to the
very
heart, and then leave it standing so that the sap may drain out
drop by
drop throughout the whole of it. In this way the useless liquid
which is
within will run out through the sapwood instead of having to die
in a
mass of decay, thus spoiling the quality of the timber. Then and
not
till then, the tree being drained dry and the sap no longer
dripping,
let it be felled and it will be in the highest state of
usefulness.
4. That this is so may be seen in the case of fruit trees. When
these
are tapped at the base and pruned, each at the proper time, they
pour
out from the heart through the tapholes all the superfluous and
corrupting fluid which they contain, and thus the draining process
makes
them durable. But when the juices of trees have no means of
escape, they
clot and rot in them, making the trees hollow and good for
nothing.
Therefore, if the draining process does not exhaust them while
they are
still alive, there is no doubt that, if the same principle is
followed
in felling them for timber, they will last a long time and be very
useful in buildings.
5. Trees vary and are unlike one another in their qualities. Thus
it is
with the oak, elm, poplar, cypress, fir, and the others which are
most
suitable to use in buildings. The oak, for instance, has not the
efficacy of the fir, nor the cypress that of the elm. Nor in the
case of
other trees, is it natural that they should be alike; but the
individual
kinds are effective in building, some in one way, some in another,
owing
to the different properties of their elements.[60]
6. To begin with fir: it contains a great deal of air and fire
with very
little moisture and the earthy, so that, as its natural properties
are
of the lighter class, it is not heavy. Hence, its consistence
being
naturally stiff, it does not easily bend under the load, and keeps
its
straightness when used in the framework. But it contains so much
heat
that it generates and encourages decay, which spoils it; and it
also
kindles fire quickly because of the air in its body, which is so
open
that it takes in fire and so gives out a great flame.
7. The part which is nearest to the earth before the tree is cut
down
takes up moisture through the roots from the immediate
neighbourhood and
hence is without knots and is "clear." But the upper part, on
account of
the great heat in it, throws up branches into the air through the
knots;
and this, when it is cut off about twenty feet from the ground and
then
hewn, is called "knotwood" because of its hardness and knottiness.
The
lowest part, after the tree is cut down and the sapwood of the
same
thrown away, is split up into four pieces and prepared for
joiner's
work, and so is called "clearstock."
8. Oak, on the other hand, having enough and to spare of the
earthy
among its elements, and containing but little moisture, air, and
fire,
lasts for an unlimited period when buried in underground
structures. It
follows that when exposed to moisture, as its texture is not loose
and
porous, it cannot take in liquid on account of its compactness,
but,
withdrawing from the moisture, it resists it and warps, thus
making
cracks in the structures in which it is used.
9. The winter oak, being composed of a moderate amount of all the
elements, is very useful in buildings, but when in a moist place,
it
takes in water to its centre through its pores, its air and fire
being
expelled by the influence of the moisture, and so it rots. The
Turkey
oak and the beech, both containing a mixture of moisture, fire,
and the
earthy, with a great deal of air, through this loose texture take
in
moisture to their centre and soon decay. White and black poplar,
as well
as willow, linden, and the agnus[61] castus, containing
an abundance of
fire and air, a moderate amount of moisture, and only a small
amount of
the earthy, are composed of a mixture which is proportionately
rather
light, and so they are of great service from their stiffness.
Although
on account of the mixture of the earthy in them they are not hard,
yet
their loose texture makes them gleaming white, and they are a
convenient
material to use in carving.
10. The alder, which is produced close by river banks, and which
seems
to be altogether useless as building material, has really
excellent
qualities. It is composed of a very large proportion of air and
fire,
not much of the earthy, and only a little moisture. Hence, in
swampy
places, alder piles driven close together beneath the foundations
of
buildings take in the water which their own consistence lacks and
remain
imperishable forever, supporting structures of enormous weight and
keeping them from decay. Thus a material which cannot last even a
little
while above ground, endures for a long time when covered with
moisture.
11. One can see this at its best in Ravenna; for there all the
buildings, both public and private, have piles of this sort
beneath
their foundations. The elm and the ash contain a very great amount
of
moisture, a minimum of air and fire, and a moderate mixture of the
earthy in their composition. When put in shape for use in
buildings they
are tough and, having no stiffness on account of the weight of
moisture
in them, soon bend. But when they become dry with age, or are
allowed to
lose their sap and die standing in the open, they get harder, and
from
their toughness supply a strong material for dowels to be used in
joints
and other articulations.
12. The hornbeam, which has a very small amount of fire and of
the
earthy in its composition, but a very great proportion of air and
moisture, is not a wood that breaks easily, and is very convenient
to
handle. Hence, the Greeks call it "zygia," because they make of it
yokes
for their draught-animals, and their word for yoke is ξυγἁ.
Cypress and pine are also just as admirable; for although they
contain
an abundance of moisture mixed with[62] an equivalent
composed of all the
other elements, and so are apt to warp when used in buildings on
account
of this superfluity of moisture, yet they can be kept to a great
age
without rotting, because the liquid contained within their
substances
has a bitter taste which by its pungency prevents the entrance of
decay
or of those little creatures which are destructive. Hence,
buildings
made of these kinds of wood last for an unending period of time.
13. The cedar and the juniper tree have the same uses and good
qualities, but, while the cypress and pine yield resin, from the
cedar
is produced an oil called cedar-oil. Books as well as other things
smeared with this are not hurt by worms or decay. The foliage of
this
tree is like that of the cypress but the grain of the wood is
straight.
The statue of Diana in the temple at Ephesus is made of it, and so
are
the coffered ceilings both there and in all other famous fanes,
because
that wood is everlasting. The tree grows chiefly in Crete, Africa,
and
in some districts of Syria.
14. The larch, known only to the people of the towns on the banks
of the
river Po and the shores of the Adriatic, is not only preserved
from
decay and the worm by the great bitterness of its sap, but also it
cannot be kindled with fire nor ignite of itself, unless like
stone in a
limekiln it is burned with other wood. And even then it does not
take
fire nor produce burning coals, but after a long time it slowly
consumes
away. This is because there is a very small proportion of the
elements
of fire and air in its composition, which is a dense and solid
mass of
moisture and the earthy, so that it has no open pores through
which fire
can find its way; but it repels the force of fire and does not let
itself be harmed by it quickly. Further, its weight will not let
it
float in water, so that when transported it is loaded on shipboard
or on
rafts made of fir.
15. It is worth while to know how this wood was discovered. The
divine
Caesar, being with his army in the neighbourhood of the Alps, and
having
ordered the towns to furnish supplies, the inhabitants of a
fortified
stronghold there, called Larignum, trusting in the natural
strength of
their defences, refused to obey his command. So the general
ordered his
forces to the assault.[63] In front of the gate of this
stronghold there
was a tower, made of beams of this wood laid in alternating
directions
at right angles to each other, like a funeral pyre, and built
high, so
that they could drive off an attacking party by throwing stakes
and
stones from the top. When it was observed that they had no other
missiles than stakes, and that these could not be hurled very far
from
the wall on account of the weight, orders were given to approach
and to
throw bundles of brushwood and lighted torches at this outwork.
These
the soldiers soon got together.
16. The flames soon kindled the brushwood which lay about that
wooden
structure and, rising towards heaven, made everybody think that
the
whole pile had fallen. But when the fire had burned itself out and
subsided, and the tower appeared to view entirely uninjured,
Caesar in
amazement gave orders that they should be surrounded with a
palisade,
built beyond the range of missiles. So the townspeople were
frightened
into surrendering, and were then asked where that wood came from
which
was not harmed by fire. They pointed to trees of the kind under
discussion, of which there are very great numbers in that
vicinity. And
so, as that stronghold was called Larignum, the wood was called
larch.
It is transported by way of the Po to Ravenna, and is to be had in
Fano,
Pesaro, Ancona, and the other towns in that neighbourhood. If
there were
only a ready method of carrying this material to Rome, it would be
of
the greatest use in buildings; if not for general purposes, yet at
least
if the boards used in the eaves running round blocks of houses
were made
of it, the buildings would be free from the danger of fire
spreading
across to them, because such boards can neither take fire from
flames or
from burning coals, nor ignite spontaneously.
17. The leaves of these trees are like those of the pine; timber
from
them comes in long lengths, is as easily wrought in joiner's work
as is
the clearwood of fir, and contains a liquid resin, of the colour
of
Attic honey, which is good for consumptives.
With regard to the different kinds of timber, I have now
explained of
what natural properties they appear to be composed,[64]
and how they were
produced. It remains to consider the question why the highland
fir, as
it is called in Rome, is inferior, while the lowland fir is
extremely
useful in buildings so far as durability is concerned; and further
to
explain how it is that their bad or good qualities seem to be due
to the
peculiarities of their neighbourhood, so that this subject may be
clearer to those who examine it.
CHAPTER X
HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND FIR
1. The first spurs of the Apennines arise from the Tuscan sea
between
the Alps and the most distant borders of Tuscany. The mountain
range
itself bends round and, almost touching the shores of the Adriatic
in
the middle of the curve, completes its circuit by extending to the
strait on the other shore. Hence, this side of the curve, sloping
towards the districts of Tuscany and Campania, lies basking in the
sun,
being constantly exposed to the full force of its rays all day.
But the
further side, sloping towards the Upper Sea and having a northern
exposure, is constantly shrouded in shadowy darkness. Hence the
trees
which grow on that side, being nourished by the moisture, not only
themselves attain to a very large size, but their fibre too,
filled full
of moisture, is swollen and distended with abundance of liquid.
When
they lose their vitality after being felled and hewn, the fibre
retains
its stiffness, and the trees as they dry become hollow and frail
on
account of their porosity, and hence cannot last when used in
buildings.
2. But trees which grow in places facing the course of the sun
are not
of porous fibre but are solid, being drained by the dryness; for
the sun
absorbs moisture and draws it out of trees as well as out of the
earth.
The trees in sunny neighbourhoods, therefore, being solidified by
the
compact texture of their fibre, and not being porous from
moisture, are
very useful, so far as durability goes, when they are hewn into
timber.
Hence the lowland firs,[65] being conveyed from sunny places,
are better
than those highland firs, which are brought here from shady
places.
3. To the best of my mature consideration, I have now treated the
materials which are necessary in the construction of buildings,
the
proportionate amount of the elements which are seen to be
contained in
their natural composition, and the points of excellence and
defects of
each kind, so that they may be not unknown to those who are
engaged in
building. Thus those who can follow the directions contained in
this
treatise will be better informed in advance, and able to select,
among
the different kinds, those which will be of use in their works.
Therefore, since the preliminaries have been explained, the
buildings
themselves will be treated in the remaining books; and first, as
due
order requires, I shall in the next book write of the temples of
the
immortal gods and their symmetrical proportions.
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