Mass Timber is a term that includes several forms of engineered wood products that:
Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)
Cross Laminate CLT panels are laid up in 3, 5, 7, or 9 ply layers of 2x lumber. The layers are run 90° to each other creating a much stronger and more stable product than a solid timber. These panels can be used for roof, wall and floor panels and can make the actual construction time required significantly less than the time it takes to build with traditional methods. The panels are typically processed on large CNC processors to include all pre cut pieces, cutouts for windows or doors, and drillings for required connectors. Recently, a CLT high rise was constructed on the earthquake “shake table” in California with great results. CLT panels that are 5” thick also offer extremely good fire ratings of up to 2 hours.
Glue Laminated Beams (Glulams)
Glue Laminated Beams have been used for many years and also offer the same environmentally friendly and cost saving benefit of other engineered wood products. Glulams have engineered strength zones (compression zone on the top of the beam, and a tension zone on the bottom). These typically are laid up with a “camber” or curved which is designed flatten out under roof or floor loading to create a level surface once the loading is applied.
Glue Laminated Timber (GLT)
GLT is basically a Glue Laminated Beam that is designed for using as a panel (laying flat) and typically does not have certain engineered “zones” within the timber.
Mass Plywood
Mass Ply is basically a larger version of plywood – up to 24” thick and 12’ (144”) wide and in lengths of up to 48’ or longer. Mass Ply is typically stronger than CLT and is similar to Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL). Mass Ply panels are a good choice when visual appearance of the panel is not seen.
Ryan Wholesale currently operates 2 CNC machines, one of which is capable of processing CLT, GLT, GLB and Mass Ply up to 12” thick by 48” wide, by 40’ in length. We have a third CNC processor that is expected to arrive June 2025. Our 6 axis CNC timber machining centers have incredible accuracy or 0.05mm, and with the 6 axis capability, never have to re-position the piece to work the final side as do 5 axis CNC processors. This reduces known indexing issues that can occur in the re-positioning process.
