ABSTRACT
Wood refers to the species of tree that lumber comes from. All lumber is made of wood, but not all wood is made into lumber. Understanding the mechanics of tree growth is important in understanding how wood reacts when you build things with it. Even so it explains why doors are made from smaller panels where the grain runs different directions, and not one slab of wood. Plywood differs from dimension lumber in that it is a product manufactured from wood rather than being wood simply cut into strips. The main advantages of plywood are that it comes in large sheets, it is very strong, and it is less prone to splitting. Several other engineered wood products come in sheets, but are not technically considered to be plywood. A number of other building materials are sold in sheet form. These include hardboard, particleboard, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), Oriented-Strand Board (OSB), foam insulation, and acrylic sheet.
