Proper Species Names

[Robson Valley]

Metal-workers know the names of the materials they use.

Why is it that some woodworkers, of every interest group, refuse to find out what the actual real name is for the species of wood they are using?

How about "Oregon" as an example. In the 4 years that I lived in Melbourne, every stick I saw in our wood labs was some sort of pine, a lot of it Pinus radiata. Now I'm told that Oregon refers to Douglas-fir. Now facts: Douglas-fir is not a true fir, it is Pseudotsuga menziesii, P. macrocarpa, P. wilsoniana, P. sinensis or one of the others which I have forgotten.

Are we all rubbing the fir/fur the wrong way?

I will now get down off my Thuja plicata stump and wander away.

[underfoot]

Metal-workers know the names of the materials they use.

Why is it that some woodworkers, refuse to find out real name is for the wood they are using?

Well..at the risk of being hit with a steel post...metalworkers only need to remember about 4 names ...
...and they're not in entirely unpronouncable latin names
...epoxy or pva will glue most woods together....while metal workers need different glues for different metals.
...and when having a chat with other woodworkers and you start rattling off latin botanical names....you may get mistaken for a pretentious w@#ker..

[Woodwould]

Why is it that some woodworkers, of every interest group, refuse to find out what the actual real name is for the species of wood they are using?

I don't refuse to determine the botanical names of the timbers I use (I know them all off by heart), but it's often easier to use the common names in conversation and in forum discussions etc.

[BobL]

I'd say even fewer metal workers know the precise name of the materials they are using. eg Steel is steel and brass is brass to most metal workers I know.

[Scott]

Why is it that some woodworkers, of every interest group, refuse to find out what the actual real name is for the species of wood they are using?

Quite provocative comment? Bit like walking into a metal warehouse, spraying the stock with salty water then walking away.

[mic-d]

Metal-workers know the names of the materials they use.

Why is it that some woodworkers, of every interest group, refuse to find out what the actual real name is for the species of wood they are using?

How about "Oregon" as an example. In the 4 years that I lived in Melbourne, every stick I saw in our wood labs was some sort of pine, a lot of it Pinus radiata. Now I'm told that Oregon refers to Douglas-fir. Now facts: Douglas-fir is not a true fir, it is Pseudotsuga menziesii, P. macrocarpa, P. wilsoniana, P. sinensis or one of the others which I have forgotten.

Are we all rubbing the fir/fur the wrong way?

I will now get down off my Thuja plicata stump and wander away.

If people ask for a wood identification and I can help I usually use the botanical name to disambiguate the ID. I don't think it is necessary to use botanical names all the time for the reasons given by the other respondents above, unless I want to be a pretentious prat. Neither do I think that oregon in the Australian context needs to be defined more precisely than Douglas Fir, although it does need to be defined rather better than the incorrect Pinus radiata, and those who are in error should make rather less ill-mannered replies than this...

[artme]

True Ignnorance comes in th form of a reply i had after an inquirey at a hardware stor many years ago : "We'got two types of wood - yellow stuffand pink stuff"

[mark david]

Interesting question
These trees were growing quite happily for millions of years before humans came along and started giving them names.I suppose like botanists it is best to refer back to the latin names for flora but most names currently given to timbers are probably false or ambiguous at best.
I have only recently arrived in Australia and started using local timbers such a jarrah,tasmanian oak,marri etc.
Most of the timbers over here are members of the eucalypt family anway.
Tasmanian oak is one such timber but when it's light in colour it's called Victorian ash,Jarrah used to be called Swan river mahogany !
Apparently a huge quantitiy of jarrah is shipped to the U.S but I have found no references to anything being made out of it over there,I think it magically transfoms itself into mahogany when it arrives.
Steel is a man made made material refined from iron and other elements so whe know exactly where it come from and it's exact composition.

[jimbur]

Metal-workers know the names of the materials they use.

Why is it that some woodworkers, of every interest group, refuse to find out what the actual real name is for the species of wood they are using?

How about "Oregon" as an example. In the 4 years that I lived in Melbourne, every stick I saw in our wood labs was some sort of pine, a lot of it Pinus radiata. Now I'm told that Oregon refers to Douglas-fir. Now facts: Douglas-fir is not a true fir, it is Pseudotsuga menziesii, P. macrocarpa, P. wilsoniana, P. sinensis or one of the others which I have forgotten.

I looked up Douglas-fir on wiki out of interest and note that they put the hyphen in to recognise that it isn't a true fir. All you have to do in that case is pronounce the hyphen.
cheers,
Jim

[Aerenandmel]

True Ignnorance comes in th form of a reply i had after an inquirey at a hardware stor many years ago : "We'got two types of wood - yellow stuffand pink stuff"

silly bugger forgot about the brown ones

[jimbur]

silly bugger forgot about the brown ones

Heard an antiques programme where it was said that brown furniture wasn't fetching in a good price in the UK as it was out of fashion!
Cheers,
Jim

[mic-d]

Heard an antiques programme where it was said that brown furniture wasn't fetching in a good price in the UK as it was out of fashion!
Cheers,
Jim

Yes these days you either have to paint it gloss red or white wash it and sell it as French provincial.

[jimbur]

How about "homo sapiens" as a misleading species name?
Cheers,
Jim

[mic-d]

too true.
I'm more of a Homo habilis anyway.

[Daniel Woods]

Speaking for myself, I would say I am just too lazy to learn those names. Because at times they are just too complex and scientific for me. But I do know a few though, just can't know them all.

And the reason metal workers know the names of most or all their materials is simply because it is common knowledge and man made by the way so the names are relatively easier. And this is not meant as an excuse of course.