Scheitholz is a German term for any log sections that have been split lengthways with an axe or log splitter and that are primarily used for ...
[Read more]
firewood or the manufacture of wood shingles. The individual pieces of timber are called Holzscheite (obs.: Holzscheiter), derived from the Old High German word scît = "piece". Scheitholz boilers are used to burn quantities of Scheithölzer. The expression "auf Scheitholz knien" ("to kneel on scheitholz) was a disciplinary measure used in times when corporal punishment in schools was still permitted.
Very thinly split timber is also called Spanholz or Span, roughly the same as long-fibred wood chips or wood shavings, which may also be a waste by-product of the processes of planning or hewing wood. Span may also refer, however, to long-fibred slips or slices of wood especially of poplar and other softwoods, which are used to make wooden punnets and fruit or vegetable crates.