[hn_throwaway_99]

Kinda feels like you're missing the point of the quoted sentence. That is, it's not that wood is actually a composite material as we define it now, but that wood has the characteristics of a composite, i.e. different substances intertwined in a way to give better properties than any individual material alone, and going with the theme of the article, this is a direct contrast to materials like steel or plastic.

[jaggederest]

The other important property that wood shares with modern manmade composites is that it is anisotropic - i.e., it is stronger in some directions of force than others. You can use bodyweight to snap a short grain board that would, if it were long grain, hold up under a ton or more.

[fifticon]

note when you make OSB2 and OSB3, you to some degree can make up for this(?)