Face Ply: Wednesday's Word(s) of the Week

Last week, we made the distinction between sides and faces of glulam members. When a member face will be exposed to view in the finished structure of an Architectural or Premium appearance grade project, it is important that this piece of lumber be as free from visual defects as possible. These plies, chosen for their appearance characteristics, are referred to as Face Plies.

Although frequently the same, these Face Plies should not be confused with the Tension Plies discussed in proof loading. Tension Plies refer to their structural use (so they are present on the tension side of bending layups regardless of project appearance grade or whether a specific beam face is exposed to view in the completed structure.) Face Plies refer to their aesthetic use (so they are only used in Architectural and Premium grade projects, but on all exposed member faces in those projects regardless of the bending tension stresses expected.)
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.