3.1.1

Timber Based Materials

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Functionality & Aesthetics

Timbers are a fundamental and popular choice of materials for many products, furniture and structures.

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Functionality

  • Functionality: (application of use, ease of working.)
  • It is important to consider what the timber based material will be used for.
  • Timbers and manufactured boards can be used for a wide range of applications.
  • Timber and manufactured boards can be used for scaffolding, furniture, door frames and sheds.
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Functionality cont.

  • Timbers in most instances can be easy to work with when using a wide range of hand tools and machinery.
  • Timbers because of their history, can be used for a variety of applications as it was and still is a material that can be sustained and is a cheap material.
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Aesthetics: finishes

  • It is important to understand what finishes, texture and colours you can have with timber based materials.
  • Timbers have natural colours that can be improved or enhanced through different after treatment processes.
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Aesthetics: textures

  • Textures can be improved through a wide range of wasting processes and using additional materials.
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Aesthetics: colours

  • Colours can be completely changed through paints and stains which can make a dramatic difference to timber based materials.

Availability & Cost

Timbers are a fundamental and popular choice of materials for many products, furniture and structures.

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Availability

  • Availability is the ease of sourcing and purchase.
  • Wood is easy to source as it comes in many different stock forms.
  • It can be brought from large retail DIY stores or smaller independent timber merchants.
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Availability cont.

  • Timber can also be found online and can be delivered to and from around the world.
  • Wood is very easy to source as long as the material is common to the country or is a native tree (a tree that grows in that country).
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Cost

  • The cost of timbers and timber based materials are relatively cheap as a resistant material.
  • Unit cost is the price of one of the material.
  • Total costs are the price of all the materials as a collective.
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Cost: bulk buying

  • Buying in bulk can reduce transportation costs overall.
  • Companies have the capabilities of transporting large stock and in order to entice consumers, businesses and tradespeople wood merchants offer a buy in bulk pricing strategy.
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Example

  • E.g. one 2 x 4 length of stripwood may cost £1.10, but if you were to buy 10 pieces then the total should be £11.00.
  • However, companies may give a discount because you are buying more 10 pieces.
  • They usually reduce the unit cost to £1.00 if you are buying a minimum of 10 pieces.
  • Therefore, the total cost is £10.00

Jump to other topics

1Core Technical Principles

2Paper & Board: Specialist Technical Principles

3Timber: Specialist Technical Principles

4Metal: Specialist Technical Principles

5Polymers: Specialist Technical Principles

6Textiles: Specialist Technical Principles

7Designing & Making Principles

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