Also known as seasoning, which is the reduction of the moisture content of wood prior to its use
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Wood drying" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Wood drying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air drying is the more traditional method.
There are two main reasons for drying wood:
Woodworking
When wood is used as a construction material, whether as a structural support in a building or in woodworking objects, it will absorb or expel moisture until it is in equilibrium with its surroundings. Equilibration (usually drying) causes unequal shrinkage in the wood, and can cause damage to the wood if equilibration occurs too rapidly. The equilibration must be controlled to prevent damage to the wood.[citation needed]
Wood burning
When wood is burned (firewood), it is usually best to dry it first. Damage from shrinkage is not a problem here, as it may be in the case of drying for woodworking purposes. Moisture affects the burning process, with unburnt hydrocarbons going up the chimney. If a 50% wet log is burnt at high temperature, with good heat extraction from the exhaust gas leading to a 100 °C exhaust temperature, about 5% of the energy of the log is wasted through evaporating and heating the water vapour. With condensers, the efficiency can be further increased; but, for the normal stove, the key to burning wet wood is to burn it very hot, perhaps starting fire with dry wood.[citation needed]
For some purposes, wood is not dried at all, and is used green. Often, wood must be in equilibrium with the air outside, as for construction wood, or the air indoors, as for wooden furniture.
Wood is air-dried or dried in a purpose built oven (kiln). Usually the wood is sawn before drying, but sometimes the log is dried whole.
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Case hardening describes lumber or timber that has been dried too rapidly. Wood initially dries from the shell (surface), shrinking the shell and putting the core under compression. When this shell is at a low moisture content it will 'set' and resist shrinkage. The core of the wood is still at a higher moisture content. This core will then begin to dry and shrink. However, any shrinkage is resisted by the already 'set' shell. This leads to reversed stresses; compression stresses on the shell and tension stresses in the core. This results in unrelieved stress called case hardening. Case-hardened [wood] may warp considerably and dangerously when the stress is released by sawing.
Wooddrying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product...
called a corn kiln, corn drying kiln Drying green lumber so it can be used immediately Dryingwood for use as firewood Heating wood to the point of pyrolysis...
For instance in wood (timber) drying, air is heated (which speeds up drying) though some steam is also added to it (which hinders drying rate to a certain...
non-fiction book Hel Ved (In English: Solid Wood: All About Chopping, Drying and Stacking Wood – and the Soul of Wood-Burning) by Lars Mytting became a bestseller...
veneer refers to thin slices of wood and sometimes bark that typically are glued onto core panels (typically, wood, particle board or medium-density...
re-caulk when needed. This cleans the deck and prevents it from drying out and the wood shrinking. The salt helps it absorb and retain moisture and prevents...
drying room is a room intended for drying objects. It can act as a replacement or complement for drying cabinets, tumble-dryers, and outdoor drying....
the original solid wood floor still in use today. Solid wood flooring is milled from a single piece of timber that is kiln or air dried before sawing. Depending...
green (not dried), rough (unfinished) boards that eventually became smaller finished lumber through drying and planing (to smooth the wood). Today, the...
chair involve green woodworking, shaping with wood while it contains its natural moisture prior to drying. Cedars are strong, aromatic softwoods that are...
Pressed wood, also known as presswood, is any engineered wood building and furniture construction material made from wood veneers, wood shavings and particles...
from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity...
colouration. Stains that are fast drying will be difficult to apply in hot weather or in direct sunlight. Stains that are slow-drying will be difficult to work...
largest in the world. Maples are important as sources of syrup and wood. Driedwood is often used for the smoking of food. Charcoal from maples is an integral...
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand...
treated timber is kiln-dried to reduce its moisture content. Rubberwood has a dense grain that is easily controlled in the kiln drying process. Rubberwood...
Wood fibres (also spelled wood fibers, see spelling differences) are usually cellulosic elements that are extracted from trees and used to make materials...
traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent plus a metal drier to accelerate the drying. However, different types of varnish...
is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain...
Middle French word meaning "inlaid work". The veneers used are primarily woods, but may include bone, ivory, turtle-shell (conventionally called "tortoiseshell")...
for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large...
This is a list of woods, most commonly used in the timber and lumber trade. Araucaria Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) Monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria...
Engineered wood, also called mass timber, composite wood, human-made wood, or manufactured board, includes a range of derivative wood products which are...
Wood splitting (riving, cleaving) is an ancient technique used in carpentry to make lumber for making wooden objects, some basket weaving, and to make...
Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the...
Deerfield. DryWood Creek was named for the dried-out wood that burned there during a period of drought, according to local history. The Battle of DryWood Creek...