Editing v0.31:Wood industry

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[[Image:WoodIndustry1.jpg|thumb|500px|Wood Industry Flowchart.]]

The '''wood industry''' deals with the harvesting and use of [[wood]] and wood-related products: [[ash]], [[potash]], [[pearlash]], and [[charcoal]]. Dwarves prefer to use [[stone]] or [[metal]] when possible, due to their durability and variety. Wood is weak by comparison (and usually flammable), but it is a renewable resource and sometimes the only option available for making certain items before the [[metal industry]] starts up.

==Log Production==

===Finding Trees===
Most [[biome]]s with [[soil]] on the surface have [[tree]]s growing on them. Surface trees will randomly spawn in surface soil. [[caverns#vegetation|Underground trees]] (actually forms of giant fungus) also exist in the [[caverns]] beneath the surface. Underground trees will randomly spawn in any underground muddy soil once the appropriate cavern level is breached. Some rare trees will only grow in certain biomes, or ones with a particular alignment, or underground.

====Tree Farming====
Tree farming is a matter of patience and luck more than resources or skill, since saplings spawn completely at random. The best that you can do is isolate a suitable area, ensure random dwarves and critters don't trample the saplings, and hope the trees grow. On the surface, this could involve walling off a section of forest or [[dig|digging]] to cut off a wooded area from regular contact, creating an artificial plateau or hill only accessible through some other means (like a [[bridge|draw bridge]] or a locked [[hatch]]). Underground, you'll need to breach at least the first cavern level, and create a room with muddy soil through [[irrigation]] and restrict access to it, giving the saplings a chance to grow.

===Woodcutting===
Once you have located a source of trees, all you need to get started is a [[dwarf]] and a [[battle axe]]. [[designation|{{Key|d}}esignate]] the [[tree|{{Key|t}}rees]] to be chopped down, and enable the [[wood cutting]] [[labor]] on the dwarf. Provided the dwarf can reach the tree and the axe, the dwarf will go get the axe, go to the tree, and start chopping.  A dwarf with the [[Hauling#Wood_hauling|wood hauling]] labor will then haul the resulting [[log]] back to a [[stockpile|wood stockpile]]. The quality and material of the [[axe]] is not relevant to [[wood cutting]] - even a wooden training axe can fell a tree.

===Trading===
Most [[caravan]]s will bring [[logs]], particularly if they are requested. [[Trading]] for logs can save you from having to cut your own, make up the difference if your local area cannot provide enough wood to support your fortress' needs, and can bring varieties of wood that your local biome cannot provide. Note however that trees that only grow in evil biomes ([[glumprong]]) or below the first cavern level ([[Black-cap]], [[Blood thorn]], [[Goblin-cap]], [[Nether-cap]], [[Spore tree]], [[Tunnel tube]]) will never be available for trading, since no trading race lives in an evil biome or penetrates the second cavern level.

====Elves====
[[Elves]] have a thing for [[tree]]s, and get pissy when you cut down too many of them. They'll happily sell you logs though, leading some dwarf economists to believe the elves are really looking to secure a monopoly on wood. Whatever the case, be aware that if you trade with elves they might ask you to restrict the number of trees you chop down.

==A Log Is A Log==
For the most part, all wood is effectively interchangeable - an [[oak]] log can be used to make all the same things as an [[alder]] log. However, certain woods have distinct properties that may make them more aesthetically pleasing or useful in certain specific applications; they also tend to be more valuable. Since it is not possible to specify which type of wood you want to use to build any given object, you may want to designate special [[stockpile]]s for these rare woods adjacent to the necessary shop, and make them part of a [[burrow]] so that only your most-skilled or [[strange mood|moody]] dwarves have access to them.

===Color===
Most logs are brown, and any [[furniture]], objects, or [[building]]s made from them will be brown as well. However, some trees will yield logs of a different color, and objects made from those logs will share that color. The following colors besides brown are available: black ([[Black-cap]]), cream ([[Feather tree]]), crimson ([[Blood thorn]]), indigo ([[Nether-cap]]), lemon ([[Fungiwood]]), purple ([[Glumprong]]), red ([[Goblin-cap]]), teal ([[Spore tree]]), violet ([[Tunnel tube]]), and white ([[Tower-cap]]).

===Temperature===
Wood can catch on [[fire]], and generally should not be used around [[magma]] or [[dragon]]s. [[Nether-cap]]s, however, has a fixed temperate set just around freezing. While it is not clear if this makes items made from nether-cap wood [[magma-safe]], such items are at least [[fire-safe]] and appropriate for use in areas where fire is a major concern. Nether-cap [[barrel]]s are thus preferred for storing [[booze]].

===Weight===
The [[weight]] of a wood log or wooden object is based on the density of the wood. The average density is ~0.575 g/cm^3, but some species have much higher or lower densities than this average. [[Feather tree]] wood is the lightest in the game, with a density of 0.1 g/cm^3, making it ideal for crafting wooden [[training weapon]]s and items that need to be moved frequently, such as [[bucket]]s, [[barrel]]s, [[crutch]]es, and [[splint]]s. [[Blood thorn]] (1.25 g/cm^3) and [[glumprong]] (1.2 g/cm^3) are the densest woods in the game, and are considered more appropriate for [[ballista]] bolts or other weapons where weight influences damage.

==Uses of Wood==
Wood [[logs]] may be used directly as a building material, where it is as good as [[stone]] or [[metal]] for most purposes, though generally less valuable. Logs may also be turned into various useful objects at the following workshops:

===[[Bowyer's workshop]]===
Used for creating wooden [[Crossbow|crossbow]]s

===[[Carpenter's workshop]]===
Used for creating:
*Wooden [[Furniture|furniture]]
*Wooden [[Shield|bucklers and shields]]
*Wooden [[Training weapon|training weapons]]
*Wooden [[Weapon#Trap weapon statistics|trap components]]
*Wooden [[crutch]]es and [[splint]]s

===[[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]===
Used for creating:
*Wooden [[Craft|crafts]]
*Wooden [[Bolt|bolts]]
*[[Obsidian]] Short Swords

===[[Siege workshop]]===
Used for creating [[Siege engine|siege engine parts]]

===[[Wood furnace]]===
Used for creating:
*[[Ash]]
*[[Charcoal]]

===[[Machinery]]===
Used for constructing:
*[[Screw pump]]
*[[Axle]]
*[[Windmill]]
*[[Water wheel]]

==Wood Products and Related Industries==
Aside from its use in crafting objects or building, wood may be changed into a variety of substances essential to the [[glass industry|glass]], [[soap]] and [[metal industry|metal]] industries.

===Ash===
One log of wood can be used to create one [[bar]] of [[ash]] at a [[wood furnace]] by a dwarf with the [[wood burning]] labor enabled. Ash may be turned into either [[lye]] or [[potash]] at an [[ashery]].

===Lye===
One bar of ash may be used to create one [[bucket]] of [[lye]] at an [[ashery]] by a dwarf with the [[wood burning]] labor enabled. This task requires an unused [[bucket]]. Lye may be combined with [[tallow]] to make [[soap]], or converted into [[potash]].

===Potash===
One bar of ash or one bucket of lye may be used to create one bar of [[potash]] at an an [[ashery]] by a dwarf with the [[potash maker|potash making]] labor enabled. Potash may be used as [[fertilizer]] on a [[farm plot]], or converted into [[pearlash]] at a [[kiln]].

===Pearlash===
One bar of potash may be used to create one bar of [[pearlash]] at a [[kiln]] by a dwarf with the [[furnace operator]] labor enabled. This task consumes one bar of [[fuel]] as well.  Alternatively, a [[magma kiln]] can be used, in which case no fuel is required.  Pearlash is used exclusively in the [[glass industry]] for making items out of high-value sorts of [[glass]].

===Charcoal===
One log of wood can be used to create one [[bar]] of [[charcoal]] at a [[wood furnace]] by a dwarf with the [[wood burning]] labor enabled. Charcoal is a [[fuel]] and is used extensively in the [[metal industry]] and [[glass industry]].

{{Category|Materials}}
{{Category|Industry}}