Wood Strength in Breaking?

[Kevin Barkman]

Hello,

I have been enjoying breaking the glued together pine boards, but would like to start graduating to harder woods.

If you were to graph a line, with pine wood on the weakest end, and, say, oak wood on the other end, what woods would lie between?

E.G.

pine
spruce
ceder
ash
birch
walnut
oak

Finally, is one foot by one foot a standard size to start?

Thanks Kindly!

[WongFeHung]

one foot by one foot is good, BUT....you would be better advised to have the boards cut 11" by 12" so when you break multiple boards, you have the grain running the same way-otherwise you will only break bones and not wood. I suggest you stick with pine and when one board is no lo9nger a challenge, go to two, then three, etc. This way, you wil develop penetration as well. Switching to denser wood will only take you so far. Pliability is also a factor. Pine will flex more than oak, which although harder, is brittle in comparison.

[Kevin Barkman]

Thanks Ten Tigers. Last night I learned the hard way that trying to break against the grain is not a good idea (at my level anyway)!

I'll try your idea - breaking multiple pine boards with the grain (once my hand heals).

I think this is a good exercise in learning to apply the least amount of power neccessary to get the job done. Easy to break the board with force, but using softer power is far more interesting!

Cheers - kevin

[Celestial Amiboshi]

Just wanted to chime in with a question. How much skill is needed to break a pine board with a kick? Can most anyone easily accomplish the task?

"Close your eyes. The enemy of the faith stands
before you. Do you feel the warm blood splatter
your body? That is the truth, everything else
deception."