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OSB-production before the press

Oriented strand board, also known as OSB (UK & U.S.), Sterling board (UK & Ireland), and by the proprietary eponym Aspenite (U.S. & Canada), is an engineered wood product formed by layering strands (flakes) of wood in specific orientations. In appearance, it may have a rough and variegated surface with the individual strips of around 2.5 x 15 cm / 1 x 6 inch, lying unevenly across each other.

Uses[link]

It is used in furniture and construction.

Manufacturing[link]

Oriented Strand Board is manufactured in wide mats from cross-oriented layers of thin, rectangular wooden strips compressed and bonded together with wax and resin adhesives (95% wood, 5% wax and resin). The layers are created by shredding the wood into strips, which are sifted and then oriented on a belt or wire cauls. The mat is made in a forming line, the layers are built up with the external layers aligned in the panel's strength axis with internal layers cross-oriented. The number of layers placed is determined partly by the thickness of the panel but is limited by the equipment installed at the manufacturing site. However individual layers can also vary in thickness to give different finished panel thicknesses (typically, a 15 cm layer will produce a 15 mm panel thickness). The mat is placed in a thermal press to compress the flakes and bond them by heat activation and curing of the resin that has been coated on the flakes. Individual panels are then cut from the mats into finished sizes. Most of the world's OSB is made in the United States and Canada in large production facilities. The largest production facilities can make over a billion square feet of OSB per day.^{[citation needed]}

Production[link]

In 1980, North American OSB panel production was 751 million square feet (3/4" basis) (0.7 million cubic metres)^{[citation needed]}. By 1990, this figure was 7.6 billion square feet (7.0 million cubic metres)^{[citation needed]}. In 2005, this figure had grown to 25.0 billion square feet (22.1 million cubic metres).^{[citation needed]} Combined European and Latin American production in 2005 was 3.5 billion square feet (3 million cubic metres).^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, 19.4 million m³ of OSB panel was produced in the United States. The U.S. is Canada's largest OSB market, receiving 98% of its export product in 2005.^[1]

Properties[link]

Different qualities in terms of thickness, panel size, strength, and rigidity can be imparted to the OSB by changes in the manufacturing process. OSB panels have no internal gaps or voids, and are water-resistant, although they do require additional membranes to achieve impermeability to water and are not recommended for exterior use. The finished product has similar properties to plywood, but is uniform and cheaper.^[2] When tested to failure, OSB has a greater load bearing capacity than milled wood panels.^[3] It has replaced plywood in many environments, especially the North American structural panel market. The most common uses are as Sheathing in walls, floors, and roofs.

While OSB does not have a continuous grain like a natural wood, it does have a specific axis of strength. This can be seen by observing the alignment of the surface wood chips. The most accurate method for determining the axis of strength is to examine the ink stamps placed on the wood by the manufacturer.

All wood-based structural use panels can be cut and installed with the same ease and types of equipment used with solid wood.

Some manufacturers may treat the wood chips with various borate compounds which are toxic to termites, wood boring beetles, molds, and fungi, but not mammals in applied doses.

Environmental impact[link]

There is some debate over the environmental impact of OSB.^{[not specific enough to verify]} The OSB manufacturing process allows producers to use tree species such as aspen or poplar as standard veneer plywood or lumber. The production method of OSB uses almost all the wood of the harvested trees, and small, young trees and faster growing species can be used. Due to the type of resins used, wood-based structural-use panels like OSB emit very low levels of formaldehyde.^{[further explanation needed]} Emission levels of formaldehyde have been found to be not more than 10% of the criteria^{[clarification needed]} of key national standards.^[4]

See also[link]

• Fiberboard
• Glued laminated timber
• Hardboard
• Masonite
• Medium-density fibreboard
• Particle board
• Plywood
• Pressed wood
• waferboard

References[link]

• APA – The Engineered Wood Association

External links[link]

• http://www.osbguide.com
• http://www.josbdone.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2009)

Sister Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B. is a Benedictine nun,^[1] author^[2] and speaker.^[3]

A member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania, where she served as prioress for 12 years, she writes a web column for the National Catholic Reporter, "From Where I Stand". Chittister holds a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in speech communication theory from Penn State University. She writes and speaks on women in the church and society, human rights, and peace and justice in the areas of war and poverty and religious life and spirituality. She is the foundress of "Benetvision".^[4]

Bibliography[link]

Publications[link]

She has authored over 45 books and has had articles in numerous journals and magazines including: America, US Catholic, Spirituality (Dublin) and The Tablet (London).

Recent publications[link]

• Following the Path: the search for passion, purpose and joy, Random House: New York (2012)
• Happiness, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI. (2011), Novalis: Toronto, ON. (2011)
• The Radical Christian Life, Liturgical Press: Collegeville, MN. (2011)
• Songs of the Heart, Twenty-Third Publications: Mystic, CT (2011), Novalis: Toronto, ON. (2011)
• The Monastery of the Heart, BlueBridge Publishers: New York, NY (2011), Novalis: Toronto, ON. (2011)
• God's Tender Mercy, Twenty-Third Publications: Mystic, CT. (2010), Novalis: Toronto, ON. (2010)
• The Rule of Benedict: a spirituality for the 21st century, revised edition, Crossroad Publications (2010)
• Uncommon Gratitude, Liturgical Press: Collegeville, MN. (2010)
• The Liturgical Year, Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee (2009) ISBN 978-0-8499-4607-3
• The Breath of the Soul, Twenty-Third Publications: Mystic, CT. (2009), Novalis: Toronto, ON (2009)
• Joan Chittister: In My Own Words, Liguori Publications: Liguori, MO. (2008).
• The Gift of Years, BlueBridge Publishers:New York, NY. (2008), Novalis: Toronto, ON (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• NOW with Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers talks with Joan Chittister.
• HuffingtonPost Religion Blog.
• PBS Radio: "Obedience and Action."
• The Benedictine Sisters of Erie website
• Works by or about Joan Chittister in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Video: Joan Chittister on women and progress in religion, Parliament of the World's Religions, Melbourne Dec 2009
• 30 Good Minutes, sermons by Joan Chittister, OSB, from Chicago Sunday Evening Club
• "NPR Interview: Weekend Edition Sunday with Liane Hansen."

Rev. Mother Dolores Hart (born October 20, 1938, Chicago, Illinois) is an American Roman Catholic nun and former actress. She made 10 films in five years, playing opposite Stephen Boyd, Montgomery Clift, George Hamilton and Robert Wagner, having made her movie debut with Elvis Presley in Loving You (1957).^[1][2]

Background[link]

Born Dolores Hicks, she was the only child of actor Bert Hicks and Harriett Hicks, who separated and ultimately divorced, when she was three years old. An only child, she was not raised Catholic, but was converted to the religion when she was 10. She stated, "As a child I was precocious. My parents married when they were 16 and 17 and both were beautiful people. Moss Hart offered my mother, Harriett, a contract but by then they had me and my father, Bert Hicks, a bit player, definitely a Clark Gable type, had movie offers so we moved from Chicago to Hollywood. I was a Hollywood brat. We lived in Beverly Hills and I used to visit the lots with him. He had a bit part in 'Forever Amber.' I always wanted to be part of that life."^[3]

Hart was also related by marriage, through an aunt, to singer Mario Lanza. She lived in Chicago with her grandparents, who sent her to a parochial school, St. Gregory Catholic School in Chicago, not for its religious education but it was closest to home and she stated, "My grandparents didn't want me to get run over by streetcars."^{[citation needed]} It was actually her grandfather, a movie theater projectionist to whom she turned for comfort in light of her parents' marital problems, whose enthusiasm for films influenced her decision to pursue an acting career. She would watch the films, but without sound so as not to disturb his naps in the booth, and her job was to wake him at the end of each reel.^[1]

In Beverly Hills, the eleven year-old Hicks also had lived with her mother, a restaurant greeter, who married owner Al Gordon. She studied at Marymount College and was later engaged to Los Angeles architect Don Robinson, before she entered the convent. She admitted she loved him — "Of course, Don, I love you." But Robinson said, "Every love doesn't have to wind up at the altar." He never married but visited her every year at Christmas and Easter until his death on November 29, 2011, aged 78,^[4] and helped the community.^[5][6]

Using the stage name of 'Dolores Hart', in 1956 she was signed to play a supporting role as the love interest to Elvis Presley in the 1957 release Loving You. After this appearance, Hart found herself in frequent demand, and she made two more films before playing with Presley again in 1958's King Creole. She has denied ever having had an 'intimate' relationship with Presley off-screen. In interviews during her movie career she was often asked, "What is it like kissing Elvis?" She chuckled a bit at the memory, "I think the limit for a screen kiss back then was something like 15 seconds. That one has lasted 40 years." Hart, in 1960, made a sketch of a St. Francis's statue, arms outstretched, while working in Rome on the movie Francis of Assisi.^[3]

Hart then made her debut on Broadway, winning a 1959 Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress for her role in The Pleasure of His Company.

In 1960, Hart starred in Where the Boys Are, a teenage comedy about college students on spring break which developed a near cult-like following. In the film, Hart plays a co-ed who struggles to define herself when confronted with her newly-discovered sexuality and popularity with the opposite sex. Hart starred in the film Francis of Assisi (1961), in which she (prophetically) played Saint Clare of Assisi. She went on to star in four more films, including the lead role in The Inspector (Lisa) which was based on a novel by Jan de Hartog and nominated for a Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Drama". Her last role was opposite Hugh O'Brian in 1963's Come Fly with Me.

At this point she had made up her mind to leave the film industry, and after breaking off her engagement to Don Robinson, the 24-year-old actress became a Roman Catholic nun at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, ultimately becoming its Prioress. Earlier, in a New York promotional stop for Come Fly with Me, she rode a limousine to Bethlehem to discuss joining the order. At 24, her final one-way journey to the abbey in 1963 was in an ordinary car, and not in a limousine as reported.

Vocational calling[link]

While Hart was doing Francis of Assisi in Rome, she met Blessed Pope John XXIII, who was instrumental in her vocation. She told him "I am Dolores Hart, the actress playing Clare." The Pontiff replied, "Tu sei Chiara!" ("No, you are Clare!" in Italian).^[7]

As a novice, she told Abbey founder, Lady Abbess Benedict Duss, "I will never have to worry again about being an actress because it was all over and behind me." But Lady Abbess replied, "I'm sorry, but you're completely wrong. Now you have to take up a role and really work at it." Hart submitted a rejoinder, "I was so mad when she said that because I really emptied my pockets, so to speak, and literally had given away everything that had meant anything to me." The Abbess said, "I'm sorry you did that because there's a lot of things you gave away that you're going to need here." She initially took the religious name Sister Judith", but she changed it to Sister Dolores at her final vows. "Hal Wallis wanted to call me Susan when I started my movie career, but I was under age and my mother would not hear of it. She wanted me to be Dolores."^[3] She took her final vows in 1970.^[1] She chants in Latin eight times a day.^[8]

In 2006, she visited Hollywood again after 43 years in the convent to raise awareness for peripheral idiopathic neuropathy disorder, a neurological disorder that afflicts herself and many Americans. In April 2006, she testified at a Washington congressional hearing on the need for research on the painful and crippling disease amid her ordeal.^[9]

Hart, who was compared to Grace Kelly, was instrumental in developing her Abbey of Regina Laudis's project of expansion of its community connection through the arts, using her fame. Paul Newman helped her with funding for a lighting grid, when she envisioned a year-round arts school and a better-equipped stage. Another friend, the Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal helped support the abbey's theater. Hart's vision was to meet the abbey's needs—development and expansion of its open-air theater and arts program for the Bethlehem community. Every summer, the abbey's 38 nuns on 400 acres (1.6 km²) of rural land, help the community stage a musical, with the 2008 presentation of West Side Story, after previous shows Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man and My Fair Lady.^[1]

The Reverend Mother Dolores Hart is Prioress of the Abbey (since 2001), but she remains a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, having in recent years become the only nun to be an Oscar-voting member.

On 4 October 2008 "The Holy Trinity Apostolate", founded by Rev. John Hardon, S.J., sponsored a "Breakfast with Mother Dolores Hart". Held at Rochester, Michigan's Royal Park Hotel, Hart told her story: "He Led Me Out into an Open Space; He Saved Me Because He Loved Me: The Journey of Mother Dolores Hart to Regina Laudis". Since 1963, when she joined the Bethlehem CT Monastery, she disciplined herself under the Rule of Saint Benedict. At the breakfast, several people spoke, including actress Patricia Neal and Maria Cooper Janis, the daughter of Hollywood leading man Gary Cooper.^[10][11]

A documentary film about Hart's life, God Is the Bigger Elvis is a nominee for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) and is scheduled to be shown on HBO in April 2012.^[12][13]

Hart attended the 2012 Academy Awards for her Oscar nominated documentary "God Is the Bigger Elvis". Her last red carpet Oscar event was in 1959, as a Hollywood starlet.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dolores Hart at the Internet Movie Database
• Abbey of Regina Laudis Web site
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "How A Movie Actress Left Hollywood for a Contract with God"
• Psychology Today: "A Cloistered Life"
• TVNow.com Dolores Hart"