3. Chip

3.1 Cutting directions

Wood is an anisotropic material. The wood material (fibres, vessels and rays) is oriented in three main directions (figure 14 ):

• the axial or longitudinal direction, defined by the orientation of the fibers; this is also the general direction of the log (shaft);

• the radial direction, perpendicular to the previous one and passing through the center of the growth rings;

• the tangential direction, perpendicular to the previous two and defined tangentially to the rings.

The direct consequence of this anisotropy is the difference...