Thread: Clarification needed on a few terms

I think a flitch is the seppo term for a slab and the 1st cut off the saw?

I've always thought 'flitch' was an aussie term for the first slice off a log
Never heard of 'rippings' though

Thanks Guys, will go up and see what they are today.

Wikapedia defines a flitch as a longditudinal cut from the trunk of a tree (or a side of bacon!) which would mean it is a slab perhaps. In veneering they talk about flitches for sawn veneers.

I guess a ripping might be a piece ripped off a flitch?

In saw milling a flitch is the rounded part that is sawn off each side of a log to make a square log before it is sawn up into boards. It's usually waste but I suppose people might refer to a slab as a flitch.

In the veneer trade, it seems to refer to the method of producing veneers by slicing from a flat face rather than a rotary peel.

A flitch is a big thick slab which is intended to be resawn into boards etc.

Rippings are the waste from sawing a log or flitch etc

Originally Posted by echnidna

A flitch is a big thick slab which is intended to be resawn into boards etc.

Rippings are the waste from sawing a log or flitch etc

echnidna was right, thats exactly what they turned out to be.

Thanks guys.

Thought so!

Originally Posted by silentC

In saw milling a flitch is the rounded part that is sawn off each side of a log to make a square log before it is sawn up into boards. It's usually waste but I suppose people might refer to a slab as a flitch.

I work at a sawmill and that's how we define it.

Eg:
Log goes onto canadian sled. Gets a flitch cut off the side. Flitch goes up the rollers. Log goes up the rollers.

Take your pick, it seems like we are all right,
Flitch
1. A portion sawn from a log and normally cut into veneers.
2. Sheets of veneer stacked in the sequence as it is cut from the log.
3. A thick timber cut with bark on one or more edges.

and lastly the only one that I could remember with any confidence

4. The pieces of timber that make up part of a flitch beam.
(they are bolted either side of a steel flitch plate).

I saw some the other day in a recently upgraded heritage building to keep the appearance of the original timber, but with 10mm steel plate sandwiched in for strength.

Definitions from a McGraw Hill (US) Dictionary of Architecture and Construction.

Cheers
Bill