A _______ test involves lifting a small sliver of wood with a pocket knife or pick and observing whether or not it splinters or breaks abruptly

• A. Penetration
• B. Nondestructive
• C. Visual
• D. Abrasion

Answer: (A)

The test checks how timber behaves when you probe it with a sharp tool to remove a tiny piece. By lifting a small sliver with a pocket knife or pick and watching whether it splinters or breaks abruptly, you’re assessing the wood’s integrity through a penetration-type check. Sound wood tends to resist damage and the sliver comes off with controlled separation, while wood with internal flaws—decay, voids, or weak grain—will split, splinter, or snap suddenly when pried. This quick on-site method is categorized as a penetration test because it involves inserting or prying into the material to observe its failure behavior. It isn’t just visual and it isn’t an abrasion test, and it does involve removing material, so it’s not nondestructive.